twins/mlb

Under gray skies and freezing rain outside and amid skepticism and contentiousness inside, the Minnesota Twins suffered their first defeat of spring training Friday.

By an overwhelming voice vote, the House Committee on General Legislation rejected a proposal to put an advisory ballpark referendum on the November ballot.

"I heard it at a minimum two to one," Chairman Loren Jennings, DFL-Harris, said of the 19-member committee's declaration against the stadium.

That done, the referendum notion remained alive, if not well, in the House. The bill is still on track in the Senate, where the Finance Committee is expected to consider it next week.

Jennings said he's willing to reconsider the vote and bring the bill back in his committee if some agreement can be worked out with members. Rep. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, the House sponsor of the bill, heads the House Taxes Committee, where it also could be revived.

"I think it's too early to say the bill is dead," said Gov. Arne Carlson, a strong supporter of building a new Twins stadium. "I think it's far from dead. I think it lost a couple toes."

Twins President Jerry Bell summed up what he heard during a two-part hearing that began Thursday afternoon and concluded Friday: "This committee felt quite strongly the issue should not be put before the voters." Rest noted that, in amendments and questioning, members of the General Legislation members sought a plethora of details about the stadium. "But with more bells and whistles, you become bound by it," she said.

In light of legislators' urging for some specifics, Bell acknowledged that Friday's setback is pushing him and Twins owner Carl Pohlad closer to revealing exactly how much the team is prepared to contribute to the project.

Through a series of legislative hearings, Bell has been asked repeatedly about the Twins' intentions, and he has declined to specify the Twins' contribution. He said specifics will be coming "soon."

The bill's status was injured when Rep. Tom Osthoff, DFL-St. Paul, amended the ballot question by removing the option of using taxes to finance the new stadium. That meant that the Twins and "private sources" would be the only contributors to what is sure to be a $250 million stadium.

Soon after, with debate over whether the referendum and tax should be metrowide or statewide, the entire bill went down.

Bell noted after the hearing that a bill without a taxing mechanism would mean that "there would be no need for a referendum." Without the mechanism, he added, "a stadium won't be built."

Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, said after the vote that the stadium matter "isn't done" but noted that the critical "timetable" remains 1997; after the '97 season, the Twins can declare an escape from their Metrodome lease. They can leave the Dome after the 1998 season.

When asked if the time was right for the Twins to announce their share in the project, Carlson said, "Oh, sure," but then he went on to explain that the referendum debate could be bound for twists and turns.

"The bottom line is we don't want to lose the Twins," Carlson said.

He said he's "fearful" that the referendum would be held in the November general election. He again suggested alternatives, such as a September primary referendum or a mail-in vote in December. He even allowed that no referendum at all would be necessary and that some sort of stadium financing bill could pass in the Legislature this session.

"It's entirely possible," Carlson said. "I don't think anything is carved in stone." He added: "I don't think the Legislature wants to go home without some resolution on the Twins."