Vikings Stadium Vote

VIKINGS STADIUM VOTE

The Vikings Stadium bill is a tax increase and it uses general fund revenue to finance a private business. It also strips citizens of Minneapolis of their right to vote!

VIKINGS FUN FACT:

Did you know that the Vikings LLC -- a private company -- is incorporated in Delaware? Why you ask? Because then they can get out of paying Minnesota taxes! Shouldn't we insist that a team that we are all forced to pay for AT LEAST has to incorporate here? Why are we subsidizing the Delaware Vikings?

Sources:

http://postbulletin.typepad.com/political_party/2012/05/the-minnesota-vikings-based-in-delaware.html

http://mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us/Business/SearchDetails/2888302-2?status=Active&itemType=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20%28Foreign%29

1. A YES VOTE IS A VOTE TO RAISE TAXES -- Lawful gaming (including pull tabs) is currently subject to an 8.5 percent tax. The expansion in HF 2810 would not be subject to this tax. The new activities authorized in the bill would be subjected to a graduated rate of up to 27.56 percent. Clearly this is a new tax.

2. A YES VOTE IS A VOTE TO TAKE GENERAL FUND REVENUE TO FINANCE A VIKINGS STADIUM -- In HF 2810, the proceeds, along with the proceeds received from license fees and the tax revenue would be deposited into the general fund. HF 2810 also provides four backup revenue options to supply additional general fund revenues if they determine that not enough people are gambling.

3. A YES VOTE TAKES AWAY PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO VOTE -- HF 2810 also suspends the right of the Minneapolis charter and takes away the citizen's right to a referendum. The reason they are doing this? Because they believe the people will vote it down. Our elected officials have a responsibility to allow and uphold the democratic process on behalf of constituents -- not hand over control to special interest groups like the Vikings.

VIKINGS BILL -- HOUSE VOTE (5/07/2012):

Republicans voting yes
Abeler (Anoka); Anderson, P. (Starbuck); Beard (Shakopee); Cornish (Vernon Center); Davids (Preston); Doepke (Orono); Fabian (Roseau); Garofalo (Farmington); Gottwalt (St. Cloud); Gunther (Fairmont); Hamilton (Mountain Lake); Hoppe (Chaska); Howes (Walker); Kelly (Red Wing); Kiel (Crookston); Kriesel (Cottage Grove); Lanning (Moorhead); LeMieur (Little Falls); McFarlane (White Bear Lake); McNamara (Hastings); Murray (Albert Lea); Nornes (Fergus Falls); O’Driscoll (Sartell); Sanders (Blaine); Schomacker (Luverne); Shimanski (Silver Lake); Smith (Mound); Swedzinski (Ghent); Torkelson (Nelson Twp); Urdahl (Grove City); Vogel (Willmar); Westrom (Elbow Lake); Woodard (Belle Plaine)

Democrats voting yes
Anzelc (Balsam Twp); Atkins (Inver Grove Heights); Benson, J. (Minnetonka); Brynaert (Mankato); Champion (Minneapolis); Dill (Crane Lake); Dittrich (Champlin); Eken (Twin Valley); Fritz (Faribault); Gauthier (Duluth); Hilstrom (Brooklyn Center); Hilty (Finlayson); Hortman (Brooklyn Park); Hosch (St. Joseph); Huntley (Duluth); Johnson (St. Paul); Kath (Owatonna); Knuth (New Brighton); Lesch (St. Paul); Lillie (North St. Paul); Mahoney (St. Paul); Mariani (St. Paul); Marquart (Dilworth); Melin (Hibbing); Moran (St. Paul); Morrow (St. Peter); Murphy, M. (Hermantown); Nelson (Brooklyn Park); Norton (Rochester); Pelowski (Winona); Persell (Bemidji); Poppe (Austin); Rukavina (Virginia); Simon (St. Louis Park); Slawik (Maplewood); Slocum (Richfield); Thissen (Minneapolis); Tillberry (Fridley); Ward (Brainerd); Winkler (Golden Valley)

Republicans voting no
Anderson, B. (Buffalo Twp); Anderson, D. (Eagan); Anderson, S. (Plymouth); Banaian (St. Cloud); Barrett (Lindstrom); Benson, M. (Rochester); Bills (Rosemount); Buesgens (Savage); Crawford (Mora); Daudt (Crown); Dean (Dellwood); Dettmer (Forest Lake); Downey (Edina); Drazkowski (Mazeppa); Erickson (Princeton); Franson (Alexandria); Gruenhagen (Glencoe); Hackbarth (Cedar); Hancock (Bemidji); Holberg (Lakeville); Kieffer (Woodbury); Kiffmeyer (Big Lake); Leidiger (Mayer); Lohmer (Lake Elmo); Loon (Eden Prairie); Mack (Apple Valley); Mazorol (Bloomington); McDonald (Delano); McElfatrick (Deer River); Myhra (Burnsville); Peppin (Rogers); Petersen (Andover); Quam (Byron); Runbeck (Circle Pines); Scott (Andover); Stensrud (Eden Prairie); Wardlow (Eagan); Zellers (Maple Grove)

Democrats voting no
Allen (Minneapolis); Carlson (Crystal); Clark (Minneapolis); Davnie (Minneapolis); Falk (Murdock); Greene (Minneapolis); Greiling (Roseville); Hansen (South St. Paul); Hausman (St. Paul); Hornstein (Minneapolis); Kahn (Minneapolis); Laine (Columbia Heights); Lenczewski (Bloomington); Liebling (Rochester); Loeffler (Minneapolis); Mullery (Minneapolis); Murphy, E. (St. Paul); Paymar (St. Paul); Scalze (Little Canada); Wagenius (Minneapolis)

Republicans not voting
Murdock (Ottertail)

Democrats not voting
Peterson (New Hope)

DOES YOUR LEGISLATOR REPRESENT YOU?

May 11, 2012 Survey USA/KSTP Poll:

Should the stadium be funded with public tax money or private dollars? 58-36 percent say private dollars.

Should there be a public referendum before approving a new stadium? 67-27 percent say yes.

VIKINGS BILL -- SENATE VOTE (5/08/2012):

Republicans voting yes
Carlson (Bemidji); Fischbach (Paynesville); Gimse (Willmar); Howe (Red Wing); Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria); Jungbauer (East Bethel); Koch (Buffalo); Magnus (Slayton); Michel (Edina); Miller (Winona); Nelson (Rochester); Nienow** (Cambridge); Pederson (St. Cloud); Robling (Jordan); Rosen (Fairmont); Senjem (Rochester)

Democrats voting yes
Bakk (Cook); Bonoff (Minnetonka); Cohen (St. Paul); Goodwin (Columbia Heights); Harrington (St. Paul); Higgins (Minneapolis); Kelash (Minneapolis); Koenen (Clara City); Langseth (Glyndon); Latz (St. Louis Park); Metzen (South St. Paul); Pappas (St. Paul); Reinert (Duluth); Rest (New Hope); Saxhaug (Grand Rapids); Sheran (Mankato); Sieben (Newport); Skoe (Clearbrook); Sparks (Austin); Stumpf (Plummer); Tomassoni (Chisholm); Wiger (Maplewood)

Republicans voting no
Benson (Ham Lake); Brown (Becker); Chamberlain (Lino Lakes); Dahms (Redwood Falls); Daley (Eagan); DeKruif (Madison Lake); Gazelka (Brainerd); Gerlach (Apple Valley); Hall (Burnsville); Hann (Eden Prairie); Hoffman (Vergas); Kruse (Brooklyn Park); Lillie (Lake Elmo); Limmer (Maple Grove); Newman (Hutchinson); Ortman (Chanhassen); Parry (Waseca); Thompson (Lakeville); Vandeveer (Forest Lake); Wolf (Spring Lake Park)

Democrats voting no
Dibble (Minneapolis); Dziedzic (Minneapolis); Eaton (Brooklyn Center); Hayden (Minneapolis); Lourey (Kerrick); Marty (Roseville); McGuire (Falcon Heights); Torres Ray (Minneapolis)

Republicans not voting
Olson (Minnetrista)

Democrats not voting
(none)

** Nienow's "YES" vote was reportedly a procedural move so he could call for reconsideration of the bill.

AN INTERNET TAX??

One of the more nefarious provisions passed by the Minnesota Senate was the new “Amazon Tax.” Every time you purchase something online, thanks to the Vikings Stadium bill, you will have to pay a sales tax to the state of Minnesota.

This provision was later removed in conference.

INTERNET SALES TAXES AMENDMENT
(The “Amazon Tax”)
SENATE VOTE (5/08/2012):

Republicans voting yes
Carlson (Bemidji); Dahms (Redwood Falls); Fischbach (Paynesville); Gimse (Willmar); Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria); Koch (Buffalo); Magnus (Slayton); Michel (Edina); Miller (Winona); Nelson (Rochester); Olson (Minnetrista); Pederson (St. Cloud); Robling (Jordan); Rosen (Fairmont); Senjem (Rochester); Vandeveer (Forest Lake)

Democrats voting yes
Bakk (Cook); Bonoff (Minnetonka); Cohen (St. Paul); Dziedzic (Minneapolis); Eaton (Brooklyn Center); Goodwin (Columbia Heights); Harrington (St. Paul); Higgins (Minneapolis); Kelash (Minneapolis); Koenen (Clara City); Langseth (Glyndon); Latz (St. Louis Park); Metzen (South St. Paul); Pappas (St. Paul); Reinert (Duluth); Rest (New Hope); Saxhaug (Grand Rapids); Sheran (Mankato); Sieben (Newport); Skoe (Clearbrook); Sparks (Austin); Stumpf (Plummer); Tomassoni (Chisholm); Wiger (Maplewood)

Republicans voting no
Benson (Ham Lake); Brown (Becker); Chamberlain (Lino Lakes); Daley (Eagan); DeKruif (Madison Lake); Gazelka (Brainerd); Gerlach (Apple Valley); Hall (Burnsville); Hann (Eden Prairie); Hoffman (Vergas); Howe (Red Wing); Jungbauer (East Bethel); Kruse (Brooklyn Park); Lillie (Lake Elmo); Limmer (Maple Grove); Newman (Hutchinson); Ortman (Chanhassen); Parry (Waseca); Thompson (Lakeville); Wolf (Spring Lake Park)

Democrats voting no
Dibble (Minneapolis); Hayden (Minneapolis); Lourey (Kerrick); Marty (Roseville); McGuire (Falcon Heights); Torres Ray (Minneapolis)

Republicans not voting
Nienow (Cambridge)

Democrats not voting
(none)

A SHAMEFUL SPECTACLE

They could have done it with user fees.

They could have put it on the November ballot and been off the hook politically. The people would have voted it down 70-30. They don't want to be extorted. The majority of us don't paint our faces. The majority of us stay sober on Sundays. We want our hard-earned taxes spent wisely.

Is that really too much to ask?

From blogger Mark Heuring:

“The problem is an eternal one -- we have more Julie Rosens than we have Dave Thompsons, at least among those who are willing to run for office. And until and unless we address that issue, we'll continue to spend money we don't have for projects we don't need.”

VIKINGS BILL -- HOUSE FINAL PASSAGE (5/10/2012):

Republicans voting yes
Abeler (Anoka); Anderson, P. (Starbuck); Beard (Shakopee); Cornish (Vernon Center); Davids (Preston); Doepke (Orono); Fabian (Roseau); Garofalo (Farmington); Gottwalt (St. Cloud); Gunther (Fairmont); Hamilton (Mountain Lake); Hoppe (Chaska); Howes (Walker); Kelly (Red Wing); Kiel (Crookston); Kriesel (Cottage Grove); Lanning (Moorhead); LeMieur (Little Falls); McFarlane (White Bear Lake); McNamara (Hastings); Murdock (Ottertail); Murray (Albert Lea); Nornes (Fergus Falls); O’Driscoll (Sartell); Sanders (Blaine); Schomacker (Luverne); Shimanski (Silver Lake); Smith (Mound); Torkelson (Nelson Twp); Urdahl (Grove City); Vogel (Willmar); Westrom (Elbow Lake); Woodard (Belle Plaine)

Democrats voting yes
Anzelc (Balsam Twp); Atkins (Inver Grove Heights); Benson, J. (Minnetonka); Brynaert (Mankato); Champion (Minneapolis); Dill (Crane Lake); Dittrich (Champlin); Eken (Twin Valley); Fritz (Faribault); Gauthier (Duluth); Hilstrom (Brooklyn Center); Hortman (Brooklyn Park); Hosch (St. Joseph); Johnson (St. Paul); Kath (Owatonna); Knuth (New Brighton); Lesch (St. Paul); Lillie (North St. Paul); Mahoney (St. Paul); Mariani (St. Paul); Marquart (Dilworth); Melin (Hibbing); Moran (St. Paul); Morrow (St. Peter); Murphy, M. (Hermantown); Nelson (Brooklyn Park); Norton (Rochester); Pelowski (Winona); Persell (Bemidji); Poppe (Austin); Rukavina (Virginia); Simon (St. Louis Park); Slawik (Maplewood); Slocum (Richfield); Thissen (Minneapolis); Tillberry (Fridley); Ward (Brainerd); Winkler (Golden Valley)

Democrats voting no
Allen (Minneapolis); Carlson (Crystal); Clark (Minneapolis); Davnie (Minneapolis); Falk (Murdock); Greene (Minneapolis); Greiling (Roseville); Hansen (South St. Paul); Hausman (St. Paul); Hilty (Finlayson); Hornstein (Minneapolis); Kahn (Minneapolis); Laine (Columbia Heights); Lenczewski (Bloomington); Liebling (Rochester); Loeffler (Minneapolis); Mullery (Minneapolis); Murphy, E. (St. Paul); Paymar (St. Paul); Scalze (Little Canada); Wagenius (Minneapolis)

Republicans not voting
(None)

Democrats not voting
Huntley (Duluth); Peterson (New Hope)

THE HEROES....

THANK YOU to Representatives Kirk Stensrud and Jenifer Loon and Senator David Hann for voting AGAINST this bill and FOR the taxpayers.

AND THE ZEROS....

VIKINGS BILL -- SENATE FINAL PASSAGE (5/10/2012):

Republicans voting yes
Carlson (Bemidji); Fischbach (Paynesville); Gimse (Willmar); Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria); Jungbauer (East Bethel); Koch (Buffalo); Magnus (Slayton); Michel (Edina); Miller (Winona); Nelson (Rochester); Olson (Minnetrista); Pederson (St. Cloud); Robling (Jordan); Rosen (Fairmont); Senjem (Rochester)

Republicans voting no
Benson (Ham Lake); Brown (Becker); Chamberlain (Lino Lakes); Dahms (Redwood Falls); Daley (Eagan); DeKruif (Madison Lake); Gazelka (Brainerd); Gerlach (Apple Valley); Hall (Burnsville); Hann (Eden Prairie); Hoffman (Vergas); Howe (Red Wing); Kruse (Brooklyn Park); Lillie (Lake Elmo); Limmer (Maple Grove); Newman (Hutchinson); Nienow (Cambridge); Ortman (Chanhassen); Parry (Waseca); Thompson (Lakeville); Vandeveer (Forest Lake); Wolf (Spring Lake Park)

Republicans not voting
(None)

Democrats not voting
Pappas (St. Paul)

MORE ARTICLES ABOUT THE VIKINGS STADIUM DEAL:

• VIKINGS AGREE TO ACCEPT ONLY $800 MILLION IN STADIUM SUBSIDIES -- Congratulations Minnesota, you just agreed to buy a billionaire New Jersey businessman a brand new sports stadium.

• POLITICIANS ARE PLEASED WITH THEMSELVES WHEN THEY SPEND MONEY THEY DON'T HAVE -- It's long been true that many bad decisions take place at 3:30 in the morning. Like this one:

• WHY DID THEY DO IT? -- Mitch Berg wants to know.

• ONLY THREE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM AT ANY GIVEN TIME -- Nick Coleman explains how the House and Senate negotiators got around Minnesota's open meeting law.

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