Politics & Government
Senate OKs Vikings Stadium Bill, Metzen Votes Yes
What do you think of how the Mendota Heights area senator voted?
A new stadium package for the Vikings passed Tuesday night in the Minnesota Senate by a vote of 38-28.
Sen. Jim Metzen (D-South St. Paul), voted yes on the bill.
"I don’t want to be a senator that votes on my watch to see them leave town," said Metzen on Monday.
Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The charitable gambling element of the package taps into gambling that is "going on already," said Metzen.
Find out what's happening in Mendota Heightswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The vote followed roughly 12 hours of amendments, speeches and back-and-forth on the Senate floor.
Now the Senate version of the bill and the House version of the bill, passed late Monday, will be sent to a conference committee of six legislators to be reconciled into one bill.
That conference committee report will be brought back to the House and Senate floors for a final vote before being sent to Gov. Mark Dayton for consideration.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.