DeWine signs nearly $4 billion capital budget
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine on Monday signed the capital budget bill for fiscal years 2027 and 2028, a nearly multi-billion spending plan that funds projects in all 88 Ohio counties.
In a post on X, DeWine said that Senate Bill 450, which he signed, will “impact Ohioans today and in the future.”
Today, I signed Ohio's two-year capital budget, which will invest $3.7 billion to strengthen our communities, support our workforce, and grow the economy. These investments will impact Ohioans today and in the future. https://t.co/iHytw4E8YO pic.twitter.com/AobAPzW39M
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) June 15, 2026
“The investments we are announcing today build upon the work we have done to strengthen communities, support our workforce, and grow the economy over the last seven years,” the governor said in a release. “The projects outlined in this budget will improve our parks, county fairgrounds, and historical sites; upgrade schools and classrooms to support the future workforce; promote safe and independent living for Ohioans with disabilities; continue building the mental healthcare system; and more.”
Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel added in a release that “this capital budget is about investing in the things that make strong communities possible.”
“It reflects our commitment to creating opportunities for Ohio families in every aspect. From schools to workforce development, to local infrastructure and community spaces. These investments will serve Ohioans for years to come,” he wrote.
The capital budget includes nearly $3.7 billion in appropriations. Of that total, roughly $3.4 billion is supported by additional debt, while $0.26 billion is funded by cash, according to an Ohio Legislative Service Commission analysis.
The largest line items are nearly $753.2 million for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, $720 million for the Ohio Public Works Commission, $560.4 million for the Department of Higher Education, and $400.4 million for the Department of Behavioral Health.
Among those investments that DeWine and Tressel highlighted are upgrading college and university classrooms, laboratories, and buildings in the state “to improve campus safety and efficiency and support the state’s future workforce,” investing in the construction and renovation to strengthen Ohio’s behavioral health hospitals and develop a youth specialty care facility, and moderning and improving the state’s “76 state parks, which are nationally recognized as the best state park system in the country,” the press release said.
According to the release, other investments, such as promoting safer and functional places where Ohioans with developmental abilities can live, renovating prisons and other correctional institutions in Ohio to ensure that both inmates and staff are safe, constructing and renovating Ohio’s historical sites and museums, enhancing training facilities for Ohio’s Fire Academy, and improving Ohio’s “parks, trails, historical sites, and county fairgrounds to support recreation and tourism across the state.”
In a release last week, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, celebrated the passing of the bill in the state House, saying that “the projects funded through this budget plan will benefit both rural and urban communities across the state.”
State Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, and state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, the bill’s sponsor, also celebrated the House’s passage of the bill, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.
