Republican Senate communications director Steve Sviggum said that, when a new Minnesota Vikings stadium plan comes to the Senate floor, Republicans will put up half the 34 votes needed for passage.
DFLers, he said, will be expected to put up the other half – even though Republicans hold a 37 to 30 majority in the Senate.
But Sviggum, a former House Speaker, may be thinking his opinion carries more weight than it apparently does with Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, the leading Senate DFLer.
"I don't believe Steve Sviggum speaks for their caucus," said Bakk in an indication of the political differences that the Vikings stadium project will have to bridge. "He's a communications person? What's his exact title?"
Bakk said Monday that Senate Majority Leader David Senjem "and I have not had a conversation yet about who's going to put how many up" regarding DFL and Republican votes for a public subsidy package for the nearly $1 billion stadium.
"I don't plan on having that [conversation] with former House member Steve Sviggum," added Bakk, who is himself a former House member.
