The pitch came short days after the Minneapolis Vikings stadium proposal crashed in the House Government Operations and Elections Committee.
“This (Arden Hills) is the rabbit,” said Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, alluding to the magician’s trick some see as necessary for getting a stadium bill passed when legislative leader speak of winding up the session in short days.
But Mahoney [...] said as much can get done in the final 100 hours of a session than in the previous month.
[...] Ramsey County Commissioners Rafael Ortega and Tony Bennett insist the Arden Hills site — land adjoining the old Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant — is primed for immediate construction. “We can start building next week if the Legislature can figure out how to fund it,” Bennett said.
[...] Ortega, when asked about the House committee shoot-down of the Minneapolis stadium proposal, styled the proposal “convoluted.” It was never vetted to the degree the Arden Hills’ stadium proposal was, he argued.
Mahoney mentioned speaking with House Government Operations and Elections Committee Chairwoman Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, [... who] serves on the rules committee, Peppin said, and would be willing to consider holding a hearing in her committee for Arden Hills.
But she thought it incumbent on Mahoney to get the Democratic support on the committee for his bill that the Minneapolis Vikings’ stadium bill failed to muster.
[...]
Did I say Lazarus walks? How about limps and crawls and shows death rattles suggesting a short comeback. Wilfare falters. Pohlad fields a team without pitching arms, but he's already gotten his serving of stadium largesse. Zygi asks, "Where did you find the menu?" Pohlad answers, "It was help from a bunch of guys who used to be in the legislature." With the election approaching, that's the story until next session.