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Here's what happened at the MN House Government Relations Committee last night regarding the stadium bill. We were up at the legislature last night to 11:30. Many the Twins and Vikings lobbyists, lawyers and supporters; Jerry Bell, Dick Anfang, Ralph Strangis, Lester Bagley were there to the bitter end. The version of the bill HF3089 posted on the web IS NOT ACCURATE. If you pull it up on the web at: http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/bldbill.pl?bill=H3089.0&session=ls83 it is NOT the bill that was introduced at the committee yesterday or worked on. The bill, as introduced, is a wish list for the Twins and the Vikings. They didn't even have enough copies of the bill for observers and I am still without a working copy. The draft circulated last night did not have a requirement for a referendum and the clause that said a local entity could hold a referendum, said any vote has to be held within 30 days after a resolution is passed requiring an referendum. The bill creates a new 6 member "Minnesota Stadium Commission" solely appointed by the Governor. It does not appear to be responsible to either the legislature or the Governor. (I guess Bill Lester of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has been deemed too hostile to the Vikings and Twins. It was the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission under Lester who sued the Twins over contraction and forced them to stay and has said that the Metrodome can be remodeled for the Vikings.) It will be the new Commission's responsibility to negotiate deals between the Twins, Vikings and local communities. With no requirements for a referendum, any deal negotiated, only then needs to be approved by "the local unit of Government", at present the Hennepin County Board or St. Paul City Council, in the case of the Twins and the Anoka County Board and Blaine City Council in the case of the Vikings. There is also a new twist that was not in Gov. Pawlenty's stadium commission proposal. The local unit of government can pass a GENERAL SALES TAX INCREASE in the host community. It appears that the real funding mechanism may be county-wide sale tax increases in Hennepin County and Anoka County. Finally, Rep. Ron Abrams, chair of the House Tax Committee and the legislative aide, Joe Michaels, also said that MSA 297A.99, which requires a referendum for local sales taxes, said this requirement DOES NOT APPLY TO MINOR TAXES, including restaurant and bar taxes. As written, this stadium bill would permit, the Commission, (or their staff) to meet with the Twins and the Hennepin County Board, (or the 4 members favoring a stadium), cut a deal, including a 1/10th cent to 1 cent sales tax increase in Hennepin County and it would be a done deal, because there would be no referendum. Then the new Stadium Commission could do the same thing in Anoka County. The Commission, or staff, could sit down with the Vikings and the Anoka County Board and the Blaine City Council, cut a deal imposing a 5% restaurant and bar tax in Blaine and a 1% sales tax increase in all of Anoka County and the Vikings would have their new stadium. Of all the stadium bills I have seen over the past 5 years this is by far the worst. It creates a Commission that is not accountable to any party, it includes provisions for across the board sales tax increases, plus increased bar, restaurant and lodging taxes and it excludes the requirement of public referendums. The Twins in a e-mail release today state that they are being required to pay 1/3 of the cost of a new stadium upfront. This is extremely inaccurate. Last night, Rep. Mark Buesgens introduced an amendment that would have required the teams to actually pay 1/3 of the money upfront "in cash". His amendment was vigorously attacked. Jerry Bell, the Twins President, said it was a "deal killer" it was amended to death by Rep. Laura Brod, who replaced Buesgens requirement that the teams pay 1/3 upfront in "cash" with "commitments". This could be lease payments over 30 years or any other gimmick the teams or their lawyers can devise. After the teams were required to put 1/3 upfront only with "commitments", Buesgens withdraw his amendment and the bill was passed on a voice vote and sent to the next Committee. Dan Dobson No Stadium Tax Coalition 801 Goodrich Avenue Saint Paul, Minnesota 55105 651-227-4376 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 12:37:24 EST From: "TwinsBaseball.com" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Ballpark News: Bill Passes First Test To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------- Breaking News March 24, 2004 --------------------------------- BALLPARK BILL PASSES FIRST TEST The new ballpark proposal took a positive step forward. A stadium bill that would fund a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins survived its first test on Tuesday. The bill would allow communities to levy sales, liquor and restaurant taxes, includes a plan to capture some in-stadium sales, and requires the Twins to pay 33 percent of the cost of the proposed ballpark. The bill is likely to be amended before it reaches the House and Senate floors. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
