ST. PAUL, Minn. — Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton conceded Tuesday that the deal to build the Minnesota Vikings a new stadium may not happen until next year, but he said he’s confident it will get done despite a critical setback in the Legislature, largely due to his own party’s legislators.
A state House committee rejected the plan in a 9-6 vote Monday, and with the legislative session nearing an end, Mr. Dayton said it’s up to lawmakers to decide whether to try again this year.
“I’ve done everything I can think of to persuade people and will continue to do so,” Mr. Dayton said. “If we don’t get it this session we’ll get it next session. Sometimes the difficult takes a while, the impossible takes a little longer.”
Mr. Dayton has made the stadium a priority, arguing that it would result in construction jobs and keep the NFL franchise, whose lease at the Metrodome expired, from leaving the state. Mr. Dayton says he has “no doubt” it will prevail in 2013.
“We have to get a stadium next year or the Vikings will leave,” he said. “It’s just as clear as that. We can’t have it both ways. We can’t not do a new stadium and have the Vikings remain here very long.”
Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers blamed Democrats for the committee setback. Only one Democrat voted for the package.
“Now it’s probably up to the governor and the Democrat leader in the House to decide if they want to go forward. It was very clear last night they weren’t interested in passing the bill out of committee,” Mr. Zellers said.
“Somebody’s going to have to pull a rabbit out of a hat for this thing to be alive at this point,” said Rep. Morrie Lanning, a Republican and the chief House sponsor of the stadium plan. A Senate version of the stadium bill has been stalled in that chamber for the last month.
Lester Bagley, the Vikings’ point man on the stadium push at the Capitol, said after the committee vote that the team was “extremely disappointed” at the outcome. “I guess I would ask the state, what else would you expect us to do? What else can we do?” he said.
Mr. Bagley said the team would continue to push the proposal as long as the Legislature remains in session.
“But this is extremely disappointing, and it sends a strong message to the Vikings and the NFL about the situation,” he said. He would not say whether the committee vote made the team’s future in Minnesota any less secure.
The proposal would split the cost three ways for a stadium to be built at the current Metrodome site in downtown Minneapolis: $398 million from the state from taxes on expanded gambling, $150 million from the city of Minneapolis from existing sales taxes and $427 million from the Vikings with assistance likely from the NFL.
Before the vote, Vikings officials faced tough questions from several committee members who said they weren’t convinced the proposal would be a good deal for taxpayers.
“How do we as representatives of public taxpayers, how do we know we’re getting a good deal?” asked Rep. Ryan Winkler, a Golden Valley Democrat who voted against the proposal.
Rep. Bev Scalze, Little Canada Democrat, questioned whether a football stadium was a defensible use of public money when the state is just starting to recover from years of budget problems.
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