The House Ways and Means Committee voted 18-2 Thursday afternoon in favor of a bill that would facilitate a new downtown soccer stadium for Indy Eleven.

The vote came without discussion, but Chairman Tim Brown amended it in a way that he said will give the Senate a chance to weigh in on the proposal. The amendment raises the debt limit for the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board by $2 million, which is not enough to finance the $87 million stadium proposed by team owner Ersal Ozdemir.

Further amendments could be offered on the House floor, or when the two chambers huddle in conference committee at the end of the session.

Senate Bill 308 originally dealt only with financing a renovation to Fort Wayne’s Memorial Coliseum, but it was targeted for an amendment that would also allow the soccer team to build in Indianapolis’ professional sports development area, capturing local and state tax revenue for its financing.

