Dayton, legislators: Maybe watching a Vikings game would help

Maybe if everyone just sat down and watched a Minnesota Vikings game things would work out. Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the lead Senate author for a new Vikings stadium, said Thursday that Gov. Mark Dayton and other top legislative leaders may soon watch a Vikings game on TV together as they try to sort out how to fund a new stadium and where to build it. Dayton, she said, is "going to invite the [stadium] working group and the leaders and go over to his house for a couple of beers" to watch the game. Rosen made the comments after emerging Thursday from a stadium meeting in the governor's office, and said she invited the DFL governor to try to bring the legislative leaders together over a Vikings game. Rosen said the event would likely take place in December, but said she was unsure whether it would occur at the governor's mansion in St. Paul. "I hope it's a big-screen TV, with seats that recline," Rosen said. She said the gathering would hopefully include Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch and House Speaker Kurt Zellers. Koch and Zellers, the lead Republicans at the Legislature, have been resistant to Dayton's proposal to have a special legislative session before late January to resolve the Vikings stadium issue. Katharine Tinucci, a Dayton spokeswoman, said the idea of watching a game together was discussed but no details were ironed out. The team wants to build a $1.1 billion new stadium in Ramsey County's Arden Hills, and wants state and local officials to help pay the bulk of the project's cost.