Wednesday, May 09, 2012

Vikings Fans Close to Relief, Rejoicing

The last two days have been long ones for fans of the Minnesota Vikings.

Between non-sensical debates, stupid amendments, and senseless alternative ideas, the Minnesota Vikings stadium plan has survived both houses of the state Legislature.

The House passed the bill Monday night, and the Senate followed up on Tuesday.

Wednesday is a big day, though. The bills are different, which means a conference committee will convene to reconcile them into one bill that will then be presented to the House and Senate for another round of voting.

The committee members will meet sometime Wednesday (monitor this page for updates on the schedule), according to reports Tuesday night. Among the six on the committee is Duluth Sen. Roger Reinert, who voted for the stadium bill. In fact, all the conference committee members -- three from the Senate and three from the House -- voted for it.

This isn't over, yet, but it's getting close. The Senate got a little silly -- trying to throw in an amendment requiring a referendum in Minneapolis for the city's share of the cost -- but eventually passed a pretty sane bill.

The Vikings may end up kicking in a bit more money, but this is looking like something that could be signed into law by the end of the week. From there, Vikings fans can focus on football and watch their team get better under GM Rick Spielman and head coach Leslie Frazier.

And, yes, it will get better.

No comments: