11th Hour Life For Vikings Stadium Bill
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- The final week of the legislative session is starting off with a double dose of Vikings stadium hearings.
That plan has lurched back to life and it's moving closer to votes by the full House and Senate.
Although things are looking up for the Vikings, some lawmakers still are against this bill.
The Senate Jobs and Economic Growth Committee will took up the Vikings stadium bill late Tuesday morning and passed it by a voice vote early Tuesday afternoon. The bill will now head to a Senate Finance Committee.
After Monday night's vote in the House Ways and Means Committee, the bill is expected to come up for a vote on the House floor later this week.
To pay for the Vikings stadium, the bill calls for up to 16,000 electronic pull tab devices to pay off the state's portion of the cost.
The total cost is nearly $1 billion split between the Vikings, the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis.
In Monday night's hearing, some lawmakers raised concerns about how it would be paid for.
"We are told that the Vikings are a statewide resource, but yet the cost of it falls overwhelmingly on the city of Minneapolis and the county of Hennepin, and i just think that's manifestly unfair," said Rep. Phyllis Kahn. "If it's a statewide resource then the state should pay for it."
"The electronic pulltab bingo revenue is going to come from people all over Minnesota, not just Minneapolis. And so to say that its only Minneapolis revenue here is going to this i don't think is accurate," said Rep. Morrie Lanning.
Some lawmakers are worried pulltabs won't cover the cost of the state's portion.
The way this is shaping up, we could see votes in the full House and Senate by the end of the week. The session ends on Monday.
