Governor Mark Dayton says about House Republicans’ plan to tap the Vikings Stadium Reserve Fund to help pay for three new veterans homes in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston, “No. It’s just not gonna happen.” Dayton contends there’s not enough money in the Stadium Fund to pay for new vets homes plus maintain an adequate cushion for the Vikings stadium — so lawmakers should find the funds elsewhere. “We have a surplus, he says. “We have a projected surplus. All they need to do is budget the money appropriately, not give it all away in tax cuts.”
Republicans respond the stadium reserve fund is projected to grow to an “astonishing” 120 million dollars by the end of the next biennium. Representative Sarah Anderson says those excess dollars “can be better used to address the needs of our veterans that have sacrificed so much for our country.” Senate Republicans will likely propose bonding dollars be used, but for only one new veterans home.
The governor’s comments during his Thursday news conference: