Senate Bill 110 passed the Oregon Senate 24-5 on Thursday, a measure aimed at helping fund a potential Major League Baseball stadium in Portland.

Backers of the bill, nicknamed as a “jock tax,” believe it will bring in $800 million to help fund the new stadium that the Portland Diamond Project has designed on the old Zidell Yards space between the Tilikum Crossing and Ross Island bridges on the west side of the South Waterfront.

The bill now moves to the Oregon House, where it already has the support of Gov. Tina Kotek.

SB 110 updates previous legislation passed in 2003, which allocated $150 million from income taxes paid by baseball players, and is becoming a more common avenue to fund sports ventures.

The update raises the ceiling to $800 million to help fund what is projected to be a $2 billion stadium. The difference in funds and price tag is expected to be made up by the potential ownership group of the team.

The designs for the stadium include a retractable roof and 32,000 seats, as well as plans to utilize it throughout the year, not only for baseball games in the summer.

More specifically, a “jock tax” is levied on any visitor to a city or state who makes money from that place. However, tracking that money is a difficult task except for professional athletes and team staff who have a public schedule of where and when they are at a location. SB 110 is aimed explicitly at potential MLB players and their spouses.

The easy victory for the bill comes with bipartisan support thanks to the avoidance of adding new taxes to everyday taxpayers.

As for MLB expansion itself, it’s currently a long way off, as MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred has stated that he would like potential expansion cities to be selected by 2029, the year he plans to retire. Teams wouldn’t begin play until 2031.

However, MLB is dealing with two teams, the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays, who are playing in minor league stadiums this year. The A’s are aiming to relocate to Las Vegas, and the Rays are awaiting a potential new stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Those two stadium situations are a current hurdle for any expansion talk to heat up within the MLB office. The current 30 team owners would have to approve an expansion, with 75% voting in favor.

Manfred said that expansion would also require one team in an Eastern Time Zone locale and the other to be in the Mountain or Pacific Time Zone.

Currently, Salt Lake City and Sacramento pose the biggest threat to Portland as the SLC pitch already has a strong ownership group in place, something Manfred outlined as a requirement. The Portland Diamond Project has declined to name the person who plans to be the majority owner in Portland.

Sacramento is currently hosting the A’s and plans to keep them there for two more seasons after 2025, as the team awaits the construction of a Las Vegas stadium, providing the city with a three-year trial period.

A first reading was also held on Thursday for the Oregon House of Representatives. As of Thursday afternoon, no other meetings are currently scheduled.