Another special session? Not so fast

08/16/2005

Dane Smith,
Star Tribune
August 16, 2005

The top leaders of the Minnesota House and Senate have begun talking up a special legislative session to consider sports stadiums and other unfinished business, but a spokesman for Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Monday essentially advised legislators to chill out.

“It’s only been a month and two days since the second-longest special session in state history ended,” said Brian McClung, Pawlenty’s press secretary. “The governor has said he’d be willing to call a special session that is controlled, productive and limited, but for now we think legislators should enjoy the few remaining days of a beautiful Minnesota summer. We can revisit these issues after Labor Day.”

House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said he talked with Pawlenty on Monday and urged him to consider opening talks and then calling a session.

The issues would be:

• A Hennepin County proposal for a new baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins.

• A Gophers football stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.

• Authorization for a new hospital in Maple Grove.

• A rescue of the Minneapolis teachers retirement fund.

‘Be willing to vote’

“Waiting till next spring would cause some problems with all four of those issues,” Sviggum said. “Whether you’re for it or against it, you should be willing to vote and show that opinion to the citizens.”

Stadium proposals stand a worse chance in the regular session in 2006, an election year, Sviggum said, and construction projects also will increase in cost with further delay.

“I agree with the governor about not calling a session unless we have prior agreement for a one-day session,” he said. “But from a timing standpoint, it’s important to get going.”

Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, has said he would talk to Sviggum and send a letter to Pawlenty suggesting a special session for stadium proposals and other bills. Johnson could not be reached for comment Monday.

In July, days after the end of a nearly two-month special session that came on the heels of a five-month regular session, Pawlenty downplayed the likelihood of a second special session this year. This year’s long, divisive session spawned an unprecedented partial government shutdown for eight days in July, idling almost 9,000 state workers and angering many voters.

Twins stadium backers—who need legislative approval of a 0.15 percent Hennepin County sales tax to finance a plan to build an open-air ballpark near downtown Minneapolis—have said the proposal probably will be scuttled if legislators don’t act this year.

University of Minnesota officials have said delaying a $175 million state contribution over 25 years would raise the cost of their stadium and push the opening back a year or more.

Legislators facing reelection next year might have an easier time taking stadium votes this fall than during the next regular session, which starts March 1, Sviggum said. All 201 legislative seats will be on the ballot in November 2006.

The 2006 legislative session is expected to be relatively short and focused on borrowing for state construction projects.