Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Stadium Bill Hits Snag at House Panel Hearing
The Twins' stadium proposal took a hit in the Minnesota House of Representatives yesterday, as an influential legislator said he'd oppose the bill so long as $100 million in tax increment financing remained part of the plan. Rep. Ron Abrams, chairman of the House Taxes Committee, thinks it's a bad idea. Abrams also insists that the Twins' one-third contribution be "real and not a mirage," paid all at once rather than in the installments preferred by the Twins. Other legislators want more oversight of the Minnesota Stadium Authority that would be charged with negotiating a lease with the Twins.
The committee considering the proposal also heard from a skeptical Federal Reserve Bank economist:
"My kids and I are all the time talking sports," Art Rolnick, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, testified before the committee. That quality-of-life issue is worth something, he said, but a public investment in early childhood education is far more important, he said. "Hands down."
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The Twins' stadium proposal took a hit in the Minnesota House of Representatives yesterday, as an influential legislator said he'd oppose the bill so long as $100 million in tax increment financing remained part of the plan. Rep. Ron Abrams, chairman of the House Taxes Committee, thinks it's a bad idea. Abrams also insists that the Twins' one-third contribution be "real and not a mirage," paid all at once rather than in the installments preferred by the Twins. Other legislators want more oversight of the Minnesota Stadium Authority that would be charged with negotiating a lease with the Twins.
The committee considering the proposal also heard from a skeptical Federal Reserve Bank economist:
"My kids and I are all the time talking sports," Art Rolnick, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, testified before the committee. That quality-of-life issue is worth something, he said, but a public investment in early childhood education is far more important, he said. "Hands down."
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