District 27B Rep. Jeanne Poppe and District 27A Rep. Rich Murray voted in favor of the Minnesota Vikings stadium bill Monday.

Murray, R-Albert Lea, and Poppe, D-Austin, were two of 73 representatives who approved a $975 million stadium financing proposal.

“It looked a lot better than it did a month ago,” Murray said of the plan. He had voted against it as part of a House committee that rejected it. The stadium bill has received national media coverage and caused NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to visit St. Paul.

He said increasing the required private contribution from the Vikings lowered the amount for which the state could be liable — bringing it to his comfort zone.

He was also in favor of capping the state’s portion at $293 million, which would mean the state would not be responsible for any overruns if costs came in higher than estimated.

Murray said he was concerned with what would happen if the charitable gambling money set up to pay the state’s portion fell through; however, he said he was reassured to find there are five or six different measures set up that could cover shortages. These include taxes on luxury boxes, taxes on seats and additional revenues on the Twins stadium, to name a few.

Poppe said she voted in favor of the bill after seeing the proposal go through committee. The final plan was the most likely to be successful in the long-term.

“I think the issue has grown to a point that it was difficult to avoid,” she said. “The Vikings are clearly at the end of their lease, so answers needed to be given to them about what the state’s next commitment would be to the team.”

Though the Vikings’ owners have said they aren’t prepared to shell out more money for their part of the deal, Poppe said she thinks the proposal will open up more bargaining and negotiation with the team.

“I think they want to stay in Minnesota as much as Minnesotans want them to stay here,” she said. “The Vikings know this isn’t a slam dunk or an easy field goal. It’s something they have had to work at, and people are still concerned about what the state is providing in order for them to be able to have this facility.”

A similar bill will be taken up in the Senate today, and the bill will likely end up in a conference committee before a second round of votes in both the House and Senate are taken.

Visit the Herald’s website, www.austindailyherald.com, to see how all state representatives voted Monday on the stadium bill.

 

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.