Special-session prospects dimmed

10/12/2005

Dane Smith,
Star Tribune
October 12, 2005 at 12:54 AM

Hopes for legislative approval this fall of sports stadium proposals faded Tuesday, as majority leaders in both chambers said they see little likelihood of a successful special session.

Delivering what could turn out to be a knockout blow to stadium proponents, House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen issued a firm “no” Tuesday morning in response to Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s queries about whether to call a special session this fall.

Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, said the consensus in his Republican House majority, and among the general public, is that “a special session for stadiums or any other nonemergency issues is the wrong idea at the wrong time.”

“After the protracted budget battle earlier this year, we should leave our part-time, citizen Legislature alone for a while. I urge you to not call a special session,” Paulsen wrote in a one-page letter.

After a caucus Tuesday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, emerged to say the Paulsen letter made it clear to most Senate DFLers that a special session is unlikely.

“The governor’s letter via Majority Leader Paulsen did not get the job done, so why continue having this debate?” Johnson asked.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, also has said his members oppose a special session.

Leaders of the House DFL minority were still surveying their membership and might announce a position on a possible special session today.

Paulsen ranks second behind Speaker Steve Sviggum in the House hierarchy.

Paulsen said that although Sviggum has been supportive of stadium proposals for the University of Minnesota and somewhat less so for the Minnesota Twins, the speaker approved of the letter being sent and knew that most of his caucus members were opposed. Paulsen dismissed the notion that there was a rift in the caucus between him and Sviggum or with a majority of the members.

Pawlenty wasn’t quite ready Tuesday afternoon to rule out a session, although he acknowledged the lack of interest and the difficulty of negotiating a pre-agreement on any stadium deal.

“If it’s obvious that the bulk of legislative leaders aren’t interested in moving forward, we can lead a horse to water but we can’t make him or her drink,” Pawlenty said. “So we’re not going to force their head into the river.”

The governor, who has the sole power to call a special session, said he expects to make a final decision within days. Legislators would be obligated to show up if Pawlenty does issue the call, but he can’t necessarily control what they do when they arrive. Fearing an embarrassing and unproductive free-for-all, Pawlenty has said he would not call a session unless there was a pre-agreement and assurances that other issues would not come up.

Paulsen’s letter said Pawlenty’s “very reasonable conditions of a pre-agreed agenda and floor-ready legislation cannot be adequately guaranteed by legislative leaders.”

Issues won’t go away

Senate Majority Leader Johnson said earlier Tuesday that he was disappointed that Republicans Pawlenty and Sviggum did not demonstrate more leadership in getting GOP support, at least for a Gophers stadium.

“Personally, I am interested in a special session, and some of our caucus members have other issues that rank as high as stadiums,” Johnson said. “But it takes three to dance, and we can’t dance by ourselves.”

“If anybody thinks these issues are going to go away, they are not,” he said. “This lack of vision is going to cost the state more money because construction costs and interest rates are going up” and eventually leaders will have to confront the likelihood that they need to build stadiums or lose major-league sports teams.

Other special-session agenda items that have been discussed include a rescue of the Minneapolis teachers’ pension fund and authorizing a new hospital for Maple Grove, in the growing northwestern suburbs. Johnson said other members of his caucus suggested a special session for energy assistance or for a transportation bill.

The prospects for a special session appeared to improve briefly last week when Pawlenty and caucus leaders emerged from a meeting and said that if a session were held, there was general agreement that a football stadium for the University of Minnesota would be the top priority.

New facilities for the Twins and Vikings have also been aggressively pushed in recent weeks, but there’s wide agreement that taxpayer financing deals for all three in one special session would be too much.

Representatives of the Gophers and the Twins contend that despite legislators’ reluctance to return to St. Paul, their proposals would actually pass on a floor vote. The Gophers proposal is made attractive by 60 percent private funding, and the Twins deal calls for a Hennepin County sales tax increase instead of state funding.

“We’ve been hearing for a couple weeks that a lot of legislators don’t want a special session, but the leaders say they do,” said Jerry Bell, president of Twin Sports Inc. “The question is, What would the vote be? We keep hearing that it probably would pass.”

Some legislators have suggested that one or more stadium proposals could be heard after the Legislature reconvenes in regular session on March 1. Others argue that the proposed deals, with the exception of the Gophers plan, are too controversial to be taken up in a year in which all 201 legislative seats are up for election.