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Stadium bill passes Senate
BRIAN BAKST
Associated Press
May 10, 2006
ST. PAUL - The state Senate went on a stadium spending spree Tuesday, agreeing to devote more than $1.1 billion in taxes to new homes for the Twins, Vikings and University of Minnesota football team.
Combined, team owners and private university donors would kick in at least $486 million. The votes were as close as they could be - 34-32 - because a tie would have doomed them.
"It gets us past the stadium issue this year," said Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, alluding to a debate that has consumed the Legislature's attention for more than a decade.
But none of the proposals match stadium measures that have passed the House or are on the move in that chamber. Tuesday's actions set up negotiations that must be concluded within 12 days for the stadiums to become a reality.
"There's a huge train wreck that's coming," said Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, adding, "You're betting on a conference committee to solve it all."
The stadium line-up looks like this: the Twins would get a retractable-roof ballpark in downtown Minneapolis; the Vikings would get a stadium in Blaine, also with a roof; and the Gophers would get an open-air stadium on the Minneapolis campus.
All three teams - currently housed in the Metrodome - would have new buildings by 2011 if the bills were to continue on course.
Two taxes would be used to pay for it all.
The professional sports teams would have most of their stadium costs paid by a 0.5 percent sales tax in seven metropolitan counties, provided that voters consent in a referendum. The envisioned tax for the university plan is a 13 percent sports memorabilia tax imposed at the wholesale level.
Besides the stadiums, the metrowide sales tax would pump billions into regional mass transit projects.
"I really see this as a transit bill more than a stadium bill," said Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul. "Some might view this bill as a marriage of convenience."
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty reiterated his opposition to the proposals because of the taxes involved and because the two sports teams weren't dealt with separately.
"To piggyback the Vikings onto the Twins endangers the Twins bill," Pawlenty said.
Pawlenty favors the House version of a Twins bill, which relies on 0.15 percent sales tax enacted in Hennepin County without a referendum. The governor is less enthusiastic about a Vikings stadium plan moving in the House that would levy a 0.75 percent sales tax in Anoka county for the stadium.
Jerry Bell, president of the Twins parent company, said the team doesn't mind the combined bill as long as it doesn't damage the Twins chances. He's more concerned with the referendum on the sales tax, which he calls a deal killer.
"There's warts on a lot of things," Bell said.
Lester Bagley, the Vikings stadium point man, said he is happy the football team is still in the mix. He said the team understands the Twins are the top priority.
"We don't want to cause the Twins trouble," Bagley said.
The on-campus football stadium passed also by a 34-32 vote, a far cry from the wide margin a companion bill enjoyed in the House. But the Senate's version is different from one proposed by the school and supported by the GOP-controlled House and Pawlenty.
The Senate's bill would have the state pay nearly $13 million a year for a building that would cost $248 million before interest. That money would come from a new tax on licensed college and pro sports merchandise - ranging from jerseys to golf club covers. The tax will be included in a separate bill.
The bill the Senate passed Tuesday also requires that the stadium have the name Veteran's Memorial Stadium instead of a corporate moniker. Student fees couldn't be used toward construction.
The House version would have the state chip in up to $9.4 million a year. It didn't specify where that money would come from. In addition, the state would gain access to 2,840 acres of university-owned property in Dakota County that is considered an environmental gem.
In the Senate, Republicans and Democrats didn't fall entirely along party lines.
Many GOP senators said they were upset that the bill forfeits a $35 million private contribution TCF Financial Corp. was willing to make to get its name on the structure. Some Democrats said a stadium shouldn't be a priority for the university.
Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, who voted against the bill, calculated the public cost at more than $2 million a game for the 50,000 seat stadium.
"Is it really worth $43 for every ticket for every Gopher game for the next 25 years?" Marty asked. "I don't believe it is."
BRIAN BAKST
Associated Press
May 10, 2006
ST. PAUL - The state Senate went on a stadium spending spree Tuesday, agreeing to devote more than $1.1 billion in taxes to new homes for the Twins, Vikings and University of Minnesota football team.
Combined, team owners and private university donors would kick in at least $486 million. The votes were as close as they could be - 34-32 - because a tie would have doomed them.
"It gets us past the stadium issue this year," said Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, alluding to a debate that has consumed the Legislature's attention for more than a decade.
But none of the proposals match stadium measures that have passed the House or are on the move in that chamber. Tuesday's actions set up negotiations that must be concluded within 12 days for the stadiums to become a reality.
"There's a huge train wreck that's coming," said Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, adding, "You're betting on a conference committee to solve it all."
The stadium line-up looks like this: the Twins would get a retractable-roof ballpark in downtown Minneapolis; the Vikings would get a stadium in Blaine, also with a roof; and the Gophers would get an open-air stadium on the Minneapolis campus.
All three teams - currently housed in the Metrodome - would have new buildings by 2011 if the bills were to continue on course.
Two taxes would be used to pay for it all.
The professional sports teams would have most of their stadium costs paid by a 0.5 percent sales tax in seven metropolitan counties, provided that voters consent in a referendum. The envisioned tax for the university plan is a 13 percent sports memorabilia tax imposed at the wholesale level.
Besides the stadiums, the metrowide sales tax would pump billions into regional mass transit projects.
"I really see this as a transit bill more than a stadium bill," said Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul. "Some might view this bill as a marriage of convenience."
Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty reiterated his opposition to the proposals because of the taxes involved and because the two sports teams weren't dealt with separately.
"To piggyback the Vikings onto the Twins endangers the Twins bill," Pawlenty said.
Pawlenty favors the House version of a Twins bill, which relies on 0.15 percent sales tax enacted in Hennepin County without a referendum. The governor is less enthusiastic about a Vikings stadium plan moving in the House that would levy a 0.75 percent sales tax in Anoka county for the stadium.
Jerry Bell, president of the Twins parent company, said the team doesn't mind the combined bill as long as it doesn't damage the Twins chances. He's more concerned with the referendum on the sales tax, which he calls a deal killer.
"There's warts on a lot of things," Bell said.
Lester Bagley, the Vikings stadium point man, said he is happy the football team is still in the mix. He said the team understands the Twins are the top priority.
"We don't want to cause the Twins trouble," Bagley said.
The on-campus football stadium passed also by a 34-32 vote, a far cry from the wide margin a companion bill enjoyed in the House. But the Senate's version is different from one proposed by the school and supported by the GOP-controlled House and Pawlenty.
The Senate's bill would have the state pay nearly $13 million a year for a building that would cost $248 million before interest. That money would come from a new tax on licensed college and pro sports merchandise - ranging from jerseys to golf club covers. The tax will be included in a separate bill.
The bill the Senate passed Tuesday also requires that the stadium have the name Veteran's Memorial Stadium instead of a corporate moniker. Student fees couldn't be used toward construction.
The House version would have the state chip in up to $9.4 million a year. It didn't specify where that money would come from. In addition, the state would gain access to 2,840 acres of university-owned property in Dakota County that is considered an environmental gem.
In the Senate, Republicans and Democrats didn't fall entirely along party lines.
Many GOP senators said they were upset that the bill forfeits a $35 million private contribution TCF Financial Corp. was willing to make to get its name on the structure. Some Democrats said a stadium shouldn't be a priority for the university.
Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, who voted against the bill, calculated the public cost at more than $2 million a game for the 50,000 seat stadium.
"Is it really worth $43 for every ticket for every Gopher game for the next 25 years?" Marty asked. "I don't believe it is."
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