Stadium issues in Minnesota do not appear headed for a conclusion anytime soon. In fact, one wonders if they are headed anywhere at all.
How long has this state debated stadium issues -- the Twins, the Vikings, the Gophers -- without making anything resembling a concrete decision? Years. Decades, actually. Kicking the can down the road does, indeed, keep legislators from having to make controversial choices that may negatively affect their political futures. It does not, however, provide any solutions to questions that -- sometime soon -- need an answer.
House Republican leaders on Monday told Gov. Tim Pawlenty that they don't want a fall special session to consider sports stadium legislation. This is occurring at a time when most lawmakers are coalescing around the idea of a new University of Minnesota stadium on campus. There are also good ideas circulating regarding the Twins and Vikings, but no one has been able to generate sufficient leadership to act on these things.
One state senator said that legislators are all "sick of each other" and they don't want to meet until the next regular session slated for March. Well, fine. Kick the can further down the road because you'd just rather be doing something else than solving problems. This is the kind of thinking that doomed the 2005 legislative session.
If stadium issues were dealt with properly years ago, we wouldn't have the Twins, Vikings and Gophers vying for attention all at once in October 2005.
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Our legislators don't seem to understand: These issues don't go away, and they tend to crowd out other important topics. They are like baby chicks. Until they're fed, they just scream louder and louder for attention.
