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.

(Read the bill's basic funding components on Session Daily)

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.

(Read the bill's funding components on Session Daily


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Mendota Heights