Minnesota Vikings stadium bill continues to get stalled in State Capitol - NFL News
The bill to approve State funding for the proposed new Minnesota Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis took another big hit on Wednesday after Republican leaders in the state legislature proposed another funding measure for the long overdue stadium.
The Republicans new proposal calls for a much smaller state contribution to the cost of the $ 975 million stadium.
A new bill by the Republicans calls for the state to provide $ 250 million to the cost of the stadium instead of the earlier proposed $ 400 million. The Republicans also included an extra undisclosed cost for the roof of the new stadium.
They also called for the shifting of generating funds for the stadium from an increase in gambling to borrowing the money in the form of “general obligation bonds”.
However, the new funding method will require the bill to be passed with a Supermajority in both houses of the State instead of a simple majority as required by the earlier proposal.
"This is the way we pay for infrastructure all across the state of Minnesota," said House Majority Leader Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, the architect of the new proposal.
The floating of the new bill led Governor Mark Dayton a key backer of the stadium to lash out at Republican lawmakers for playing politics and he also called the new proposal as a “hare-brained scheme” and a “fiasco”.
However, he later said that he is ready to hear the new proposal.
"They're in the majority -- they control the floor, they control the agenda. They have the majority of the votes. I want to see a stadium that's structurally sound and financially sound, that puts thousands of people to work and keeps the Minnesota Vikings
here. If it means continuing to work, and looking at another possibility, we're willing to do that."
Without the bill passing the Minnesota Vikings will be left with little choice.
The franchise has been lobbying for years for a new home and this month it seemed that progress is finally being made.
However, with the continued stalling of lawmakers the franchise could decide to move to a new city such as Los Angeles after the 2012-13 season.
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