May 22 - WOOOOHOOOO, the Minnesota Twins will have a new ballpark beginning in the 2010 season. After the conference committee came to an agreement that was very similar to the House plan, both legislative bodies approved the stadium deal over the weekend. You can see the pics of the new stadium and lets hope we get a quality park to showcase our team and our city/state.May 10 - soon the House bill and Senate bill will go to a Conference Committee to find a compromised solution. Since the bills are so very different, this seems like a daunting task. But there may be hope with the Senate Democrats willing to compromise.
May 09 - MN State Senate passed a bill to build the Twins stadium, a new Vikings stadium and pay for major transit expansion. These things will be paid for with a 7 county wide $0.05 sales tax increase. This will also require a referendum.
April 27 - MN State House passed the Hennepin County / Twins Stadium Proposal calling for a 0.15% sales tax on luxury items, amounting to $0.03 for every $20 spent.
April 22 - Interesting new ballpark info.
April 22 - Hennepin County proposal financial details.
April 21 - MN State House Taxes Committee voted 15-13 in favor of the sales tax increase without the need for a referendum. This is a major hurdle crossed for the proposed stadium.
April 19 - Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman asks that we not bore him with the propaganda (he means the facts) of a $0.03 tax on every $20 spent, because HIS calculations say it will cost us billions of dollars. Good thing he's a columnist and not a mathmatician.
April 18 - Hennepin County Board approves a revised agreement for a new Twins stadium plan. As expected the agreement is approved 4-3.
April 18 - St. Paul Pioneer Press Bob Sansevere offers a brief commentary on the Twins / Hennepin County venture to build a new stadium with a small county sales tax increase that amounts to 3 cents for every $20 spent.
