Twins ballpark bill faces intense scrutiny

04/19/2006

Key hearings, Senate challenge lie ahead

BY ARON KAHN and PATRICK SWEENEY
Pioneer Press

A day after Hennepin County leaders passed a deal to build a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins, the relatively easy ride for stadium bills at the state Capitol is expected to hit some detours today.

The House Taxes Committee will begin two days of rigorous public hearings on the Twins stadium plan today. And the plan will likely run into more diversions in the Senate, where the tax committee chairman is expected to try to merge the Twins, Vikings and Gophers bills and fund the projects with state money — a radical move with potential dire consequences for stadium supporters.

Marathon hearings are a hallmark of stadium bills — and no exception is expected at the House tax panel, which will hold hearings at 3 p.m. today in the State Office Building and 6 p.m. Thursday in Oak Grove Middle School in Bloomington. A tax committee vote could come Thursday night.

Supporters and opponents will be heard at each session, a change from the original schedule.

Rep. Brad Finstad, R-New Ulm, who is sponsoring the Twins bill in the House, said Tuesday he was “pretty sure” he had the votes in the 29-member committee to pass the bill, but he expects many challenges.

Although the stadium hearing likely will take many hours, committee Chairman Phil Krinkie, R-Lino Lakes, said he would try to focus the debate on whether to hold a referendum on the Hennepin County sales tax that would finance three-quarters of the $522 million project.

Rep. Ann Lenczewski, DFL-Bloomington, said she would offer amendments requiring that referendum and also broadening the sales tax to either the metro area or the state.

A 1997 state law mandates a referendum of county voters on the tax — envisioned at 0.15 percent, or 3 cents on a $20 purchase — but ballpark supporters seek a waiver because they say a vote would create delays and greater expense. Opponents say backers’ real fear is that residents would vote down the tax.

The Hennepin County Board officially approved by a 4-3 vote Tuesday the arrangement with the Twins. The ballpark would be built in the Warehouse District of downtown Minneapolis.

Many stadium supporters agree with Lenczewski that taxing one county for a state resource is far from ideal, but the Twins, the Hennepin County Board and their backers have resigned themselves to a political reality: You might lose the votes of some lawmakers from Hennepin, but you’re more likely to win the votes of legislators from the other 86 counties.

If Lenczewski fails to broaden the tax, Senate Taxes Committee Chairman Larry Pogemiller is ready to make an attempt when the Twins bill hits his committee.

“It’s not the Hennepin County Twins, it’s not the Anoka County Vikings and it’s not the TCF Gophers,’’ said Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, foreshadowing his amendment attempts next week. He said he would try to combine the bills and have the entire state pay the public portions of all the projects, which he said is the fairest solution.

Currently, the Vikings project would be financed in part with a 0.75 percent Anoka County sales tax — or 15 cents on a $20 purchase — and the University of Minnesota football stadium would benefit from a $35 million contribution from TCF Bank in return for naming rights. Pogemiller believes naming a university stadium after a corporation is tacky.

Pogemiller’s state funding proposal for the stadiums drew opposition from a political mix of senators.

“That’s a mistake,” said Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, an author of an unsuccessful Twins bill nine years ago. “I think there are very different sets of issues with regard to the Gophers … and professional teams.”

Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, chief Senate sponsor of the Twins bill, said combining the three would create a complicated measure that could threaten one or more of the stadiums. Two Senate Republicans — Dick Day of Owatonna and Bill Belanger of Bloomington — said they doubted Pogemiller’s plan would pass the full Senate.

Separate bills for the three projects have moved smoothly through the Capitol so far, with the Gophers bill winning approval from the full House recently.