Vikings Stadium, Voter ID Bills Hit Legislature

A Vikings stadium proposal and Voter ID bills were hot topics in the Minnesota Legislature last week, but Rep. Nora Slawik said reaching a budget agreement with Gov. Mark Dayton should be the Legislature’s highest priority right now.

Companion Vikings stadium bills were introduced in the Minnesota House and Senate Monday, April 11, that call for the Vikings to pay for one-third of the project’s cost, and call for state and local governments to pay for the rest through a variety of mechanisms including increases on sales tax, hotel tax and taxes on players’ salaries.

Slawik called the stadium proposal complex with “a lot of moving parts” and said it needs careful examination.

“I really think we need to finish our budget bills before we can talk about the Vikings proposal,” said Slawik (DFL-Maplewood).

Although the Minnesota House and Senate already passed the major budget bills, most of which are now in conference committees, Slawik said she’s concerned that the bills will likely need many changes before the governor would consider signing them.

One key issue is that Dayton has said he wants bills that have bipartisan support, yet many conference committees have few, or no Democrats on them, she said. 

Another issue is that of fiscal notes—Minnesota Management and Budget’s analysis of the financial impact of legislation, including the costs, savings or increase in revenue.

While Minnesota Management and Budget said in a letter Tuesday, April 12, that the Republicans’ budget bills are $1.2 billion out of balance, Republican leadership said it won’t accept the office’s numbers on a couple of the bills.

“Fiscal notes have been the backbone of the budget,” Slawik said. “To say they’re not going to trust it is to say a dollar is not a dollar.”

A bill requiring voters to produce photo identification at polling places came up Thursday, April 14, in the Minnesota House State Government Finance Committee, which Slawik sits on.

Slawik said she thinks Voter ID legislation is expensive and unnecessary because there is little documented voter fraud in Minnesota.

She said she worries that it could disenfranchise voters such as seniors, the disabled and women who are in battered women’s shelters.

Here’s what’s happened this past week with other bills authored or co-authored by your legislators:

Rep. Nora Slawik—Was added as a sponsor to a bill that would provide funding for capital projects to help make non-motorized transportation routes to schools safer and more appealing. HF1429, introduced April 11.

Rep. Nora Slawik—Introduced a bill that would set a procedure for disputes between management and renters in manufactured home parks. HF1430, introduced April 11.

Editor's Note: Capitol Review is a weekly look at what your state legislators are doing at the Minnesota Capitol—how they're voting, the bills they're writing and the issues they're getting behind. Come back to Oakdale Patch every Monday for a new Capitol Review.