State Sen. Ed Hooper, who leads the Senate budget committee, said that he “didn’t think the state should be assigning any money to the effort until local governments reach agreements with the Rays.” Rays
A key Florida state senator on Tuesday “threw cold water on the Legislature assigning” $150M to help the Rays build a ballpark in Hillsborough County, according to Lawrence Mower of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. State Sen. Ed Hooper, who leads the Senate budget committee, said that he “didn’t think the state should be assigning any money to the effort until local governments reach agreements with the Rays.” Hooper’s comments, on the opening day of the legislature’s budget negotiations, “add additional pressure on the Rays to reach non-binding agreements with Tampa and Hillsborough County” to assign $1B in public funding for a new ballpark. Earlier this month, Rays CEO Ken Babby said that the team’s “priority is securing the commitments by the end of May.” However, Hillsborough County has said that it is “unlikely to meet the team’s June 1 deadline.” Mower notes Hooper’s statements “doesn’t mean the funding is dead.” The legislature’s budget negotiations are “expected to wrap up by the end of this month.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has “come out in strong support” for the Rays’ new ballpark (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 5/12).