Gambling dollars possible for Vikings stadium

Published 10:16 am Friday, November 4, 2011

ST. PAUL — The drive by the Minnesota Vikings to line up state money toward building a new football stadium regained momentum Thursday, just several hours after it seemed to fall apart for the year.

Gov. Mark Dayton, who a day earlier had proclaimed the effort in “limbo,” met with state lawmakers who support the stadium subsidy. The team’s lead allies in the House and Senate said they would introduce a detailed stadium proposal soon — with tax proceeds from some type of gambling expansion as the likeliest chief funding source — then air it in public hearings, with a goal of passing a plan before the regular legislative session starts in late January.

“I would hope this would all be wrapped up and put away and done, and in a bipartisan spirit, before session starts,” said Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the lead Senate supporter. Dayton said he’d let lawmakers take the lead on the issue for now; despite Rosen’s optimism, House Speaker Kurt Zellers reaffirmed in an interview on WCCO-AM that he was not in favor of a stadium session.

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Rosen and her House colleague, Rep. Morrie Lanning, said the main sticking point to introducing a stadium bill is nailing down funding sources. Dayton and lawmakers have agreed to not use any state general fund dollars, and the prospect of participation from a local government host site went out the window earlier in the week because too few lawmakers opposed exempting such participation from a voter referendum.

That leaves the Vikings’ preferred approach, a $1.1 billion stadium in a suburban area north of the Twin Cities, lacking a $350 million chunk that the prospective Ramsey County hosts promised to raise via a half-cent sales tax hike. Three other sites in downtown Minneapolis are also under consideration. The Vikings have committed to spending $407 million and possibly more on the site in Arden Hills, which team owners prefer over the Minneapolis options.