Stadium Blog Post

May 9, 2006
Star Tribune
Mike Kaszuba

The Senate today approved a new on-campus football stadium for the University of Minnesota, but left unresolved for now whether a controversial 13-percent tax on sports memoribilia would be used to help pay for it.

By a 34-32 vote, the DFL-controlled Senate endorsed a proposal for a $248 million stadium that is substantially different than what the House passed earlier, and what Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he would support.

In another key difference, the Senate voted to name the new facility Veterans Memorial Stadium -- a move that came when the Senate eliminated a plan for a $35 million naming rights agreement for the stadium with TCF Financial Corp.

Although Sen. Larry Pogemiller, DFL- Minneapolis, initiated the move for the memoribilia tax, he suddenly eliminated it from the stadium proposal today. He said it was a purely procedural matter and the tax would be included later as the stadium's primary funding source in the Senate's omnibus tax bill.

Pogemiller also said he was confident the differences between the Senate and House over the university's stadium would be resolved in a conference committee before the Legislature adjourns May 22.

The House's plan for the university's stadium would rely on the naming rights agreement, a $50-a-year student fee and a complicated land swap between the state and the university to help pay for the project. The Senate version, in addition to eliminating the naming rights agreement, also does not include the student fee increase and the land swap.

To read more, go to http://www.startribune.com/587/story/421535.html