Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton yesterday “put pressure on lawmakers to step forward to help build a new” Vikings stadium, according to Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Dayton said, "It's time for leaders of the Legislature to show some leadership." Dayton, who has said that he is “open to most methods of funding the state's portion of a stadium project, also made some of his preferences clear.” He said, "I’m for maximizing the private team’s contribution." The idea of using “constitutionally dedicated funds, so-called Legacy Funds, has been floated to help the state fund part of the stadium project,” but Dayton yesterday said using those funds was a "bad idea." He said that he thinks both Minneapolis and Arden Hills “would be good sites for a future Vikings home and would not pick among them.” Dayton also said that he “does not favor using the clause in the Vikings lease that could force the team to play in their current Metrodome home.” Dayton: "We shouldn't be engaged in that kind of hostile posturing with the Vikings” (STARTRIBUNE.com, 11/8). Dayton “urged the GOP leaders to get stadium negotiations ‘on track,’ draft a plan, schedule legislative hearings on it and then set a deadline for acting, preferably in a special session before the regular 2012 session convenes Jan. 24” (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/9).
