Senate bill would prohibit tax money for sports stadium projects

A recently introduced Senate bill would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to construct sports stadiums for professional teams.

Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., and James Lankford, R-Okla., are sponsoring the bill that would stop teams from using municipal bonds on stadium projects. Municipal bond interest is exempt from federal taxes.

A report by the Brookings Institution found that $3.2 billion in federal taxpayer money, through municipal bonds, has been used to fund 36 newly built or renovated sports stadiums since 2000. “Professional sports teams generate billions of dollars in revenue,” Booker said in a news release. “There's no reason why we should give these multimillion-dollar businesses a federal tax break to build new stadiums.”

A similar bill was introduced by Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., in the House of Representatives in March 2016.