The Vikings stadium bill that will be unveiled next week got a decidedly lukewarm reception from legislative leaders of both parties Friday, even as the Republican authors are pushing on..
Gov. Mark Dayton, however, described the bill as "a good start."
In a rare case of agreement between Republicans and DFLers, they said during their weekly session with the Capitol press corps that any talk of public subsidies for a new stadium will have to take a back seat to continuing debates over the state's budget woes.
Even though the bill is being pushed by two leading Republican legislators, House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch both beat a retreat from it.
"I hate to sound like a broken record, but until they have a site, until they have a plan, until they have a partner, it's awfully hard for us and the Vikings to get to that point," Zellers said. "If that's what the governor wants, I think it's also time for the governor to engage on this."
Although Gov. Mark Dayton said this week he supports building a "people's stadium" without using state general fund money, he hasn't reacted directly to the bill's particulars, which were released late Thursday.
In a statement released Friday, Dayton said the bill "gets the stadium discussion started within the Legislature," he continued. "It includes what I view as essential elements of a stadium bill, particularly that no general fund dollars be used to pay for it. It's up to the Legislature to move this forward, but I am ready to work with them to create a 'people's stadium.'"
"When we can see all the pieces to the puzzle, then we can talk about that, but that, from my perspective ... that's after we get our budgets done," Zellers said. "I think it's awfully pre-emptive and it's going to have to be a bipartisan bill, as well." "I think our view on it is very similar to Kurt's," Koch said. "The priority is, and has to be, the budget. This bill, if it's dropped, will go to committee just like any other bill. We love the Vikings, but the budget is the priority right now."