By Tim Pugmire

Minnesota Public Radio News

Today will be another big day for Vikings fans as Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signs the stadium bill into law during a noon ceremony at the state Capitol.

The decade-long debate over the new, publicly-subsidized Minnesota Vikings stadium reached a conclusion Thursday when the Minnesota Senate passed a bill to finance a $975 million facility in Minneapolis. The Senate voted 36 to 30 to approve the bill.

Austin area DFL legislators Rep. Jeanne Poppe and Sen. Dan Sparks both voted in favor of the bill. Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea, also voted yes.

“I think they want to stay in Minnesota as much as Minnesotans want them to stay here,” Poppe said. “The Vikings know this isn’t a slam dunk or an easy field goal. It’s something they have had to work at, and people are still concerned about what the state is providing in order for them to be able to have this facility.”

Murray originally voted against it as part of the House committee that rejected the bill. Increasing the required private contribution from the Vikings lowered the amount for which the state could be liable and brought the bill to his comfort zone, he said.

“It looked a lot better than it did a month ago,” Murray said.

Sparks said earlier in the session that he would be in favor of the bill as long as there were no general fund dollars involved and local charities were OK with the charitable gambling language in the bill.

Senate stadium opponents appeared resigned to the bill’s ultimate passage, but did not make the last vote easy and stretched the debate to three hours. Under the final deal, the Vikings will pay $477 million, the state $348 million and the city of Minneapolis $150 million. The state share is financed by charitable gambling revenue, with newly authorized electronic pull-tabs.

Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, said he wanted to build a stadium, but thought the cost was too high under the bill.

“We’ve got money in the bill for gambling addiction. So, we know we’re going to devastate some families,” Howe said. “We know there are going to be families who are going to lose their house, probably their marriages, their cars, their livelihoods so we can enjoy football.”

Opponents also continued to question the reliability of that projected revenue stream. State Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, said she thinks the stadium will become a burden on state finances. Ortman urged her colleagues to recognize the true cost of the bill.

“This is a good deal for the Vikings. It’s a great deal for the fans, the NFL. Good deal for the governor, good deal for labor, good deal for big business,” Ortman said. “But the truth is, it’s not a good deal for the state of Minnesota.”

There were also pointed questions about the closed-door process that resulted in the final version of the bill. House and Senate negotiators met privately with Vikings officials throughout the day Wednesday. They then held a public meeting at midnight to approve completed conference committee report.

Stadium supporters defended the process, and the final bill. State. Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said he’s been hearing about the stadium since he was first elected 10 years ago. Michel said he was amazed anyone would describe it as a rushed process.

“We have introduced over 3,000 bills this session — 3,000,” Michel said. “I would submit there’s not another bill that has had more testimony, more input, more vetting, more committee hearings, more media coverage, more transparency than the bill and the product that is before you now.”

In those final negotiations, the Vikings agreed to increase the team contribution by $50 million, which lowered the state share.

—Kevin Coss contributed to this report.