Privately owned, for-profit Hillsboro Hops baseball team allocated $15.2 million by state, Bend's non-profit High Desert Museum awarded $0 as it and other arts orgs struggle to stay afloat.
On Thursday, key budget bills to deliver substantial increases in some programs and a host of lawmakers’ pet community projects gained approval in both the House and Senate.
MLB made rules about their stadium that made it not up to code and they'd have to move if they didn't build a new one. The city, the county, and now the state put up funds for a the new stadium, which they will also use as a venue and get a piece of that pie. Plus people LOVE the Hops
The people here passed an arts tax. We like arts. We can like baseball, too. It's okay. Conflating the two in this biased way was pretty ridiculous to begin with.
The legislation referenced here gave money to tons of arts organizations, including the high desert museum (yep they did get money). They have gotten several millions from the state over the years. Only one of their projects this year was rejected. The baseball stadium has urgency, a deadline that would have passed within days of the state didn't fill the gap.
The stadium makes money for the state. It is earning the state money. Not a money pit. Money that can use for the arts. Does that make you feel better? I mean, we could be arguing that the money should go to wildfire protection and housing the homeless or mental health. But no, it's arts vs baseball for some reason.
And same should happen here: money in exchange for corporate equity. Probably should be sold at a discount when it’s public money to reduce tomfoolery.