Minnesota State Senators Discussing Sites For Vikings Stadium

The Minnesota state Senate committees on Taxes and Local Government today are holding a joint hearing and focusing on "possible locations" for a proposed stadium for the Vikings, "including the team's preferred site in suburban Ramsey County and several potential locations in downtown Minneapolis." Officials from Ramsey County, the city of Minneapolis and the Vikings are scheduled to testify. The hearing is "the first of two Senate committee hearings scheduled on the stadium." The Senate Taxes and State Government committees are slated to discuss stadium financing options next week (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/29).

Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton reportedly is considering the Vikings' plan "to pay for a new stadium with team-related sales and income taxes." But Minnesota state Rep. Morrie Lanning said that the proposal "is a nonstarter" as it would "take money out of all the state's general fund for a stadium." Lanning: "It does something we said we wouldn't do" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/29).