Where's The Promised Vikings Stadium Bill?
ST. PAUL (WCCO) -- It's March 1 -- do you know where your Vikings stadium bill is? That's what some Minnesota lawmakers are asking.
And getting answers is harder to pin down than Adrian Peterson in the red zone.
Two months into the 2011 session and there's no bill in sight. And the Vikings' lease at the Metrodome is up after the 2011 season.
Vikings stadium supporters promised a bill in January, then February. Now it's March with the session nearing its halfway point.
But no stadium bill has been introduced in the Minnesota House or Senate.
Where's the bill?
"I think that's a very good question," said Sen. Tom Bakk, the DFL Minority Leader, who was chief author of a Vikings stadium bill last year.
"I think we're at risk of losing the Vikings if this discussion doesn't get started," said Bakk.
The stadium issue took on extra urgency after the Metrodome roof collapse from heavy snow last December.
Following the dramatic cave-in, the Vikings added fan safety to their quest for a new stadium.
This year, team officials have 19 lobbyists at the Capitol to navigate the legislature.
"Legislators have a lot on their plate with the budget," said Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley. "There's still ample time to give a stadium bill a full hearing and air it out well."
If that's true, the probable authors of the stadium bill won't say.
In the Senate, Republican Julie Rosen of Fairmount declined to be interviewed, with her aide telling WCCO's Pat Kessler, "Everything is right on track".
And the probable House author, Republican Morris Lanning of Moorhead, also refused comment on the status of the bill.
For state lawmakers, building a new Vikings stadium is high-intensity politics, whether for or against.
But not doing anything -- even debating it -- carries risk as well.
"If we never get around to having the discussion and this team gets sold and the Vikings ultimately end up leaving Minnesota, I think the public is going to have some pretty hard questions of elected officials," said Bakk.
