Moda Center Renovation Bill Passes Oregon State Legislature: What Comes Next?

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The first and most important step of the Trail Blazers' proposed sweeping renovations to the Moda Center has been cleared.

On Friday, Senate Bill 1501, which commits $365 million in state bonds to the arena update effort, officially made it out of the Oregon state legislature. Earlier this week, the bill passed a vote in the state senate by a 24-6 margin; today, it was approved by the House of Representatives by a similarly overwhelming margin of 43-13.

The bill locks in $365 million of the $600 million estimated total cost of the project, to be paid for using revenue from income taxes on Blazers players and staff, as well as "jock tax" money from the salaries of visiting players and other performers who use the arena. The remaining $235 million will come from the city of Portland and Multnomah County, whose contributions the bill requires in order for the renovations to move forward.

There is no commitment in the bill for a private contribution from the Blazers towards the renovations, except for language saying the state will not be responsible for cost overruns beyond the $600 million budget. Those would presumably be paid by ownership.

In the immediate future, SB 1501 is now set to go to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek to sign into law. This is a pure formality—Gov. Kotek has been a vocal supporter of the bill from the beginning and has already said publicly that she will sign it when it gets to her desk.

So, what comes after that?

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