By T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Hopes for a Vikings stadium in Blaine crashed late Wednesday (May 17) night when Senate conferees removed Vikings stadium language from their Twins ballpark bill.

In all likelihood, Vikings stadium supporters will have to wait until next year for another chance at a stadium.

Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, Senate Twins/Vikings stadium conference committee chairman, said Senate conferees decided not to risk having the Vikings stadium fail on the House floor.

ìI was afraid that if there was a separate bill, given the indications that we were receiving, there would be a negative vote that would actually harm the future prospects of solving the problem,î said Kelley.

The most the Senate is likely to get for the Vikings this session is placeholder language, Kelley explained.

But future Legislatures are under no obligation to act on it.

Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, Senate Vikings bill author, sees the struggle for a Vikings stadium this year as over. ìI think so,î he said, huddling with tired Anoka County officials after the conference committee.

ìIíve said all along itís up to the governor to decide whether it happens or doesnít. Apparently, he doesnít want it happen,î said Betzold.

As for a Twins ballpark, ìthat will get done,î he said.

Minnesota Twins President Jerry Bell was smiling after the Senate decision to remove the Vikings language from the Twins bill.

ìI think we made progress tonight,î said Bell.

ìThat was getting complicated,î he said of the combined Twins/Vikings legislation.

ìI think most folks realized that,î he said.

The removal of the Vikings legislation came after a night of swapped offers between House and Senate conferees.

Anoka County and the Minnesota Vikings had presented a retooled stadium financing proposal that included using revenue from the sale of the Metrodome to finance a $675 million, retractable-roof Vikings stadium in Blaine.

In addition to using Metrodome sales proceeds, the proposal also included a property tax exemption on the 740-acre stadium development area.

Other financing measures were proposed.

But the question of separating the Vikings Twins stadium legislation lingered through conference committee negotiations Wednesday night.

Indeed, jokes were made about separating the ìconjoined twins.î

Anoka County officials opposed separation.

ìItís a terrible idea,î said Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart during one recess.

ìThey (the House) want done with it,î he said. ìI donít believe there is a next year (for the proposal),î said Erhart.

Yet Kelley after the third offer was exchanged between House and Senate conferees abruptly began to ask whether the House would be agreeable to withholding the conference committee report while letting the Vikings legislation go forward for a House floor vote.

Rep. Brad Finstad, R-New Ulm, House conference committee chairman and House Twins bill author, replied that House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, and House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, were agreeable to such a proposal.

But House conferees insisted they could not guarantee a positive vote for the Vikings.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sviggum, asked about the number of Vikings votes in the House, said it wasnít his business to count them.

Finstad said he honestly didnít know how the vote count would break down.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday (May 16) explained that a Twins ballpark bill was a top priority.

Vikings and Golden Gopher stadiums did not rise to the same level, he said.

Indeed, hopes for Vikings stadium supporters seemed flagging for some days.

Late last week Sviggum said the fact the Vikings and Anoka County were reworking their stadium finances so late in the session showed they werenít ready for prime time.

Betzold believes getting the Vikings legislation amended onto the Senate Twins bill kept the initiative alive.

The now Twins conference committee isnít finished. But Finstad believes it will be able to complete its work quickly.

In addition to the Vikings placeholder language, the Senateís last offer contained a metrowide one-quarter of one percent sales tax proposal, without a referendum, that would be enacted by majority votes on the seven county boards.

Itís designed to be used for stadium financing and metro transit. Finstad indicated House conferees would not accept it.