ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Efforts to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium stayed alive at the Capitol on Thursday thanks to a House committee that salvaged the plan ahead of a 10-day legislative break. Still, it faces long odds.
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The House Rules Committee voted Thursday to keep the stadium bill alive, even though a deadline has passed for bills that would spend state money. The House Government Operations Committee is tentatively scheduled to consider the proposal April 17, after lawmakers get back from their spring break.
The stadium bill, a public-private partnership to build a $975 million downtown Minneapolis stadium, has been a marquee issue of the 2012 session thanks to Gov. Mark Dayton's strong support, but it has yet to gain serious momentum.
"It's like school's out," Dayton said. "It remains to be seen if they're sincere in their intention to take this to the floor to a vote."
Northwestern Minnesota's White Earth Nation upped the stakes Thursday on its own bid to be part of the stadium solution by offering to bankroll the entire $398 million state share in exchange for permission to build a new casino in the Twin Cities area. But that plan, which unites disparate opponents, likely has little chance.
By accepting the tribe's money, "the state doesn't have to go to the bond market with questionable proposals," White Earth Chairwoman Erma Vizenor said.
Dayton has spent a lot of time pursuing a stadium deal that would keep the Vikings in Minnesota for another three decades, at least. However, the Democratic governor has at times expressed frustration with the bill's slow progress in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press