May 03, 2006

MN legislature submits dueling taxes

Looks like the tea leaves were right: The Minnesota state senate is preparing for a Thursday or Friday vote on a seven-county sales-tax hike, which would raise funds for stadiums for the Twins and Vikings, as well as unrelated transit improvements. The bill as constituted would require a voter referendum on the tax surcharge, but it's unclear if the senate will change that before the vote.

In any case, this sets up a showdown with the state house, where speaker Steve Sviggum declared yesterday that "there's no way that the house will support the metrowide sales tax," and accused the senate of "monkeying around" with the Twins stadium plan that the house approved last week. It'd certainly be odd if the Twins stadium deal ended up being blocked because the legislature can't agree on which group of Minnesotans to tax for it, but then, stranger things have happened.