Rep. Brennan: Senate Budget Provision Violates Ohio Constitution's Single-Subject Rule

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (D-Parma) today raised serious constitutional concerns about a provision buried in the Senate version of House Bill (HB) 96, Ohio’s proposed 2026-2027 biennium operating budget. Specifically, Rep. Brennan criticized a controversial escheatment provision that fundamentally alters the state’s treatment of unclaimed funds—calling it a violation of the Ohio Constitution’s single-subject rule.

Under the Senate proposal, unclaimed funds that go unclaimed for 10 years would be permanently seized by the state and redirected to the Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund to provide a government subsidy for sports stadiums like the proposed Cleveland Browns stadium in Brookpark and the newly created Ohio Escheatment Fund. While a ten-year grace period would allow former owners to claim their funds and interest, any claims made after that period would be void—meaning Ohioans could permanently lose access to their own money.

“This is a massive change in property law and it has no business being stuffed into a state budget bill,” said Rep. Brennan. “It’s a textbook example of what the single-subject rule was written to prevent—unrelated, far-reaching policy changes snuck into must-pass legislation with limited public scrutiny.”

The Ohio Constitution prohibits legislation from addressing more than one subject, a safeguard designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and a fair legislative process. Courts have repeatedly ruled that this rule bars combining unrelated provisions in a single bill, even if they loosely relate to state finances.

“This isn’t budget-making—it’s property law reform,” added Rep. Brennan. “If the General Assembly wants to change the rules for how Ohioans reclaim their money, that’s a debate we can have out in the open. But it shouldn’t happen in the shadows of a 5,000-plus page budget bill.”

Rep. Brennan is urging his colleagues in the Ohio General Assembly to reject the escheatment provision and ensure that HB 96 complies fully with both the letter and the spirit of the Ohio Constitution.