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State Representative Kathy Lohmer
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4244
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
HOUSE BRIEFS
E-Mail Update: Vikings Stadium
Dear Neighbors,
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Moms who receive my email newsletter. I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Sunday.
The 2012 Legislative Session adjourned last Thursday, and we learned yesterday that Governor Dayton vetoed a key piece of legislation that would have helped Minnesota’s small businesses, farmers, families, taxpayers, and nursing homes.
This came on the heels of his signature for a $1 billion football stadium, whose owners (from out-of-state) are exempt from paying property taxes on the stadium site.
I urge everyone who owns a small business to contact Gov. Dayton’s office and ask him to refocus his priorities. Many people advocated for – and depended on – the provisions in it. The governor can be reached at 651-201-3400, or by filling out this form.
Vikings Stadium
Last week all eyes were on the Capitol as we took the long-awaited vote for a new professional football stadium. Thank you to my constituents for the many emails, calls, and letters over the last few weeks regarding this issue.
As is the case with any vote, I took your input into consideration while making my decision. While I understand the enthusiasm Vikings fans (myself one of them) have for a new stadium, it seemed to me that passion for the team overrode fiscal reasoning in this instance.
Ultimately, my vote was cast with the thoughts of District 56A schools and taxpayers in mind. We are in need of prioritizing our funding to schools in the area, as well as tax relief for our businesses and families. Simply put, I could not, in good conscience, vote for a bill that will leave a long-term financial burden on our state’s general fund…and on you, hard-working Minnesota taxpayers.
Let’s look at the numbers:
The total cost of the stadium: $975 million
Vikings’ share: $477 million
State’s share: $348 million (plus interest costs)
Minneapolis’ share: $150 million
Although it appears that the Vikings are paying a fair amount of the cost, we have to look at what is contained in the bill itself.
First and foremost, what many do not know is that the Vikings received “naming rights” to the stadium, meaning they could receive up to around $200 million from Minnesota corporations. They will also receive a $200 million low interest loan from the National Football League, and the bill language states that they are exempt from paying property taxes to the State of Minnesota. This is a significant concession that no other private sector business receives.
More benefits include a clause in the bill which exempts the Vikings from state laws requiring public disclosure for taxpayer-funded benefits such as those mentioned above. The public will never know how much these owners received for hundreds of millions of contributions towards the Vikings’ “share.”
And all of this comes on top of the state “gambling” $348 million of general fund money on an unproven form of electronic-pull tab revenue that, if they are to work as projected, will need to triple in pull tab usage (while greatly expanding gambling throughout the state). Many of my colleagues and several economists do not see this happening.
For instance, this includes Rep. King Banaian, an economics professor who has studied the costs/benefits of subsidized stadiums and even teaches courses on the subject. Several times on the House floor he decried the problems with this bill. Also, a recent Forbes journalist wrote: “The new stadium [in Minnesota] will definitely make team owner Zygi Wilf a lot richer. But it is doubtful it will do much for the pocketbooks of the folks who will be asked to pay for most of it.”
What’s more, the bill contains an additional $150 million from Minneapolis that will have to be fronted by the state, as they do not have the money at this time. It will take several years for repayment, and we’ll never know whether or not Minneapolis residents supported their taxpayer dollars being used this way, because their right to a referendum (a vote, as established by their city charter) was overruled in the bill’s language.
If e-pull tabs do not make up the needed revenue for both the $348 million and $150 million obligations, our state fund resources (or taxes created to make up the difference) will go to pay for a stadium, rather than schools, transportation, health and human services, and the like. To me, this is the result of misplaced priorities.
I understand that the Vikings owners are apt businessmen, but, as a fiscal conservative, I do not think it a matter of state governance to fund a billionaire’s sports project. (Especially when, after the votes were cast, Zygi Wilf said he never seriously planned on moving the team.)
At the end of the day, we have to recognize that, as a state, we are finally starting to see some sunshine on our economy. For years, we were billions of dollars in debt and unemployment was on the rise. Now the opposite is coming true, slowly but surely. If we want to maintain stability, we need to spend wisely. I hope that, through the facts displayed above, you can now see why I voted against the stadium, and instead voted to side with the taxpayers of Minnesota.
Have a wonderful week, and please continue to contact my office. As your state representative, I appreciate hearing from you.
Keeping my commitment to you,
Kathy
*To receive regular email updates from Representative Lohmer, sign-up at www.house.mn/56A
News Items
- Legislative Update (May 24, 2013) - (Posted: May 24 2013 6:53PM)
- Legislative Update (May 17, 2013) - (Posted: May 17 2013 3:13PM)
- Legislative Update (May 10, 2013) - (Posted: May 10 2013 1:50PM)
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