Speaking of rites of spring, the Minnesota Twins stadium debate has flared up again in the state legislature, as the senate state and local government committee approved a bill to allow Hennepin County to raise sales taxes to pay for a stadium without holding a voter referendum. Working in Twins owner Carl Pohlad’s favor this year: the February court ruling that the team is no longer bound by its lease to remain in the Metrodome. Working against Pohlad: It’s an election year for every state office, which, according to the AP, “could cause skittishness among incumbents when the stadium votes come.” State rep Brad Finstad, House sponsor of the stadium bill, told the AP: “Every day we get a step closer to elections some of my colleagues are more and more afraid of their shadows.” Or, as the rest of the world calls them, their constituents.
