Did you ever find money in the pocket of a jacket you haven’t worn in a long time? It’s a nice feeling, like an unexpected gift from your past self. The State of Ohio offers a similar experience through the Division of Unclaimed Funds. But now Republican state lawmakers want to divert some of that money to billionaire Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam to help build a new domed stadium.

There’s still time to see if you have money in the fund and if so, take it back.

When Ohio residents forget about security deposits, last paychecks, stock dividends and insurance policies, those companies eventually send the money to Unclaimed Funds, which holds it like a shelter for lost cash. Last year, the fund reunited $149 million in stray capital with its rightful owners.

And that’s just a fraction of the total the state is caring for, $4.8 billion.

Find your unclaimed funds

To find out if you have unclaimed funds, visit the web site and enter your name (or business name) and where you live (or have lived in Ohio). If the search engine turns up funds, you can click the “claim” button to start the process. The state will send an email explaining what documents you’ll need to provide to prove that it’s your money.

Then, be patient. The fund saw a huge spike in claims in June, right after news of the stadium funding plan broke, according to our news partner WKYC.

What does this have to do with the Browns?

Historically, the state has held unclaimed funds indefinitely. But the new state budget — passed by the Republican majorities in the state legislature and signed last week by Gov. Mike DeWine — includes a provision allowing the state to “escheat” (claim) funds that have been unclaimed for 10 years, starting in 2026. That money, an estimated $1.7 billion, will be redirected into the new Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund, which will then kick $600 million over to the Browns for the proposed new stadium in Brook Park.

The fund would also support other sports and cultural facilities. Creative Ohio, an arts advocacy organization, called it “an intriguing new capital funding opportunity for arts organizations.”

On Monday, two attorneys and former Democratic state officials, Marc Dann and Jeff Crossman, filed a lawsuit to stop the state from tapping the unclaimed funds. Dann told Signal Ohio that they intend to force the state to contact every citizen who is owed funds and offer them a hearing.

This would be “so impractical that it would functionally stop their ability to steal this money,” Dann said.

At least one Ohio Republican official opposes what he calls the “handout.”

“Billionaires should finance their own stadiums — full stop,” wrote Attorney General Dave Yost in a letter to DeWine. (Jimmy Haslam, who inherited the company he ran, Pilot Flying J, is worth $8.5 billion, according to Forbes.)

Yost said the multi-million-dollar gift to Haslam would be better used for “lowering childcare costs to boost workforce participation or easing the property tax burdens that weigh heavily on every Ohio homeowner.”