REP. BARRETT ANNOUNCES PLAN TO CONTINUE VIKINGS STADIUM PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION
Barrett says a solution is needed now to prevent taxpayers, school kids and the elderly from getting chop-blocked by millionaires and billionaires
St. Paul – State Representative Bob Barrett, R-Lindstrom, announced he is introducing two bills that would provide alternative funding sources for construction of the new Vikings Stadium. Barrett’s proposals come after revenue collections from electronic pull tabs, the stadium’s primary funding mechanism, have fallen 95 percent short of Dayton Administration estimates.
“Doing nothing or spending time on solutions that are much too small to solve the gigantic funding problem we face—funding is 95 percent short—will have the direct effect of taking money away from school kids and the elderly. That’s not right. Minnesotans deserve better from their elected leaders,” Barrett said.
Barrett proposes two alternative funding sources. The first would require the Vikings owners—New Jersey billionaires—to contribute a little more towards stadium construction. This would include chipping in the $200 million loan/gift they received from the National Football League (NFL), and/or turning over stadium naming rights to the state until e-pull tab revenue reaches its intended level.
“Because the original funding plan was poorly conceived, the Vikings need to step in and save the day, keep the project going and prevent rural Minnesota school kids from subsidizing adult millionaires who get to play football in a billion dollar stadium,” Barrett said.
The need for the Vikings to step up and be part of a solution is highlighted by the fact that the NFL has experienced several stadium developments since 2012 when the Viking stadium bill was passed, including:
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The fact that the all privately-funded $1.2 billion Los Angeles stadium project is dead.
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The fact that the Atlanta Falcons just announced plans to build a new stadium, which includes 80 percent private money and no money from the state of Georgia.
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The fact that the San Francisco 49ers are currently building a stadium in which personal seat licenses are contributing a significant portion to the PUBLIC share of the stadium. This stadium plan includes no money from the general fund of the state of California.
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The fact that, according to estimates, the value of the Vikings organization has already increased by 22 percent, or $210 million, since the stadium bill was signed.
If Barrett’s bill is vetoed by Governor Dayton, or fails to reach his desk, Barrett’s second option would be to allow slot machines at existing gaming facilities in Minnesota. The revenue from slot machines, in addition to backfilling the shortfall in stadium revenue, would also provide critical funding to severely under-funded school districts, mostly in rural Minnesota, many of which can only afford four days of school instruction per week.
“There is something for everyone to like or not like about these two common sense funding solutions, however, if we cannot agree on either one, then all stadium planning should stop immediately until e-pull tabs reach their target,” Barrett said. “It would be absolutely wrong for us to continue. Since Minnesota’s taxpayers, school kids and the elderly will pay for any large shortfall, we need to create a new game plan or call a time-out until a new plan can be drafted,” Barrett said.
Once the golden shovel hits the dirt later this year, Barrett explained that Minnesota taxpayers have no leverage in trying to find a responsible solution to what is now an extremely large funding shortfall.
Barrett has been a vocal opponent of using e-pull tabs as a stadium funding source since their introduction. “From the very beginning it was obvious that e-pull tabs would not generate the revenue needed to build the stadium. I knew it and others knew it because we took the time to review the Gambling Control Board and Revenue Department estimates,” Barrett said. “From studying this information, it was clear that the revenue estimates were not going to work. Now is not the time to panic, but it is the time to solve this huge problem.”
Barrett’s “Football Fans and Fiscal Sanity” bills will be introduced tomorrow, Thursday, April 11, 2013.