January 30, 2004

MN committee: No gambling, no public vote, no state money

The results of the Minnesota Stadium Screening Committee's deliberations are in, and they include: a rejection of gambling casinos as a funding source; a recommendation not to hold public referendums on Twins and Vikings stadium proposals, as these might make the teams' task "more difficult than it already is" (in other words, they might lose); and a recommendation not to spend state money on any new stadiums. The committee did recommend building a Twins stadium in either Minnesota or St. Paul, and a Vikings stadium in suburban Anoka County or Eden Prairie, but given that all funding schemes proposed so far would involve state money - and casinos are the only public financing scheme with any public support - the report still leaves a stadium finance gap of several hundred million dollars. It should be interesting to see what if anything Gov. Tim Pawlenty submits to the state legislature next week.