Potential fall vote on Vikings stadium

August, 10, 2011
8/10/11
3:06
PM ET
By all accounts, the Minnesota Vikings are continuing to push their Minnesota stadium proposal while tabling any discussion about relocating to Los Angeles.

That's the sum of the update owner Zygi Wilf and other officials gave reporters Wednesday during training camp. Wilf said the Vikings have "momentum" in Minnesota (which I would translate loosely as They haven't offered to help us pack yet), and revealed he met with Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton as recently as last week to discuss the issue.

Dayton has ordered a fast-track study of the Vikings' $1.057 billion proposal to build a stadium in suburban Arden Hills, Minn. If all goes well, the Vikings would address any issues the study reveals by October and be in place to present the reconciled proposal to a special fall session of the state legislature.

Dayton hasn't shut the door on calling a session, but convincing Dayton to do so is only part of the battle for the Vikings. To me, the real wild card is whether the proposal would get the necessary support from a state legislature that just got done backing Dayton down from every tax increase he proposed during a recent budget showdown.

When we last saw the financing proposal, Dayton had committed $300 million in state money through user fees, while Ramsey County was on the hook for $350 million via a half-cent sales tax increase. Would Republican state legislators sign off on that after fighting so hard to eliminate new taxes in the in the budget? Stay tuned.

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