Oregon Senate passes a funding bill that would support the construction a new ballpark on Portland’s South Waterfront.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Diamond Project has rounded another base in the effort to bring a Major League Baseball team to the Rose City.
On Thursday, the Oregon Senate passed a funding bill that would support the construction a new ballpark on Portland’s South Waterfront. The bill passed with a 24 to 5 vote.
Senate Bill 110 clears the way for the state to provide Portland Diamond Project with up to $800 million in state bonds for the ballpark’s construction — with an unique payback option.
The Portland Diamond Project has been trying to get a MLB team in Portland since 2017, with some significant ups and downs and multiple different sites proposed along the way. But a recent new proposal has brought the project back to life and energized the city’s enthusiasm in making Portland a MLB home.
The proposed 32,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof would sit right on on the western bank of the Willamette River, on the Zidell Yards property. The former shipyard plot covers 33 acres beneath the Ross Island Bridge, between Tilikum Crossing and the OHSU tram — making public transit a big part of the stadium concept.
While this is the farthest the Portland Diamond Project has gotten in their near decades-long push — the state had their eye on the ball a long time ago. In 2003, a law passed, which allowed for up to $150 million in bonds to help fund a baseball stadium’s construction.
The new bill raises the bonding up to $800 million to better meet current financial needs of a new stadium, with the bonds to be repaid over 30 years by a “jock tax.” This would be an extra tax on the MLB team’s players and staff, as well as those of visiting teams, that goes toward paying off the stadium bonds; instead of ordinary Oregon taxpayers footing the cost.
Once the bonds are repaid, funds collected through the tax would go directly into Oregon’s General Fund. And if an MLB team were to come to Portland and then leave for whatever reason, the state treasurer’s office said that Oregon taxpayers won’t be stuck with the bill.
Nothing official has been said about MLB expanding to Portland, but the project has received the blessing of the previous Portland City Council and has a big supporter in current Mayor Keith Wilson, as well as state Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, Sen. Kate Lieber, the Portland Metro Chamber, Travel Portland and Sport Oregon. And now, the Oregon State Senate can be added to the list.
Now, Senate Bill 110 heads to the Oregon House. If it makes it out, it’ll then go in front of the governor to be signed. At a press conference in late-March, Gov. Kotek signaled her support of the project, saying “I think we have a very unique financing tool that I can support.”
