On Wednesday night a conference committee met to merge the two versions of a bill for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium that were passed through Minnesota’s Senate and House of Representatives. The merged bill has cleared both Minnesota’s House of Representatives and Senate, and is now on its way to Governor Mark Dayton.
The two legislative bodies of Minnesota’s government recently passed their own versions of a stadium bill for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium with the Senate just passing it on Wednesday. With the legislative session for the year ending on Thursday, the two sat down Wednesday night to merge the bill.
In the new bill, the state is contributing $348 million to the project, which is down from $398 million, the Vikings contributing $477 million, which is up from $427, with the city of Minneapolis contribution remaining the same at $150 million.
With the new bill set the House went first and approved it early Thursday morning with a vote of 71-60. The Senate then Thursday afternoon approved it by a vote of 36-30.
However, there is one big question remaining and that is the blackout amendment. In the senate version of the bill there was an amendment added that the Vikings cannot have any blackouts, and so far there is no word if it’s in the merged bill. If it is, then you can expect the National Football League to balk, as it is a league wide policy and bending in Minneapolis would ultimately require the league to change the policy in all NFL cities.
So, don’t get too excited, because the fat lady hasn’t sung yet.
