The Minnesota Vikings are a team without a stadium, now that the Metrodome lease has expired. The Minnesota Legislature and Governor Mark Dayton need to quickly come up with a solution to the stadium issue, and not just for the benefit of Vikings fans.
What's much more important is for this group to prove to voters that it can get things done. It needs to prove it can resolve complex issues and do what's right for the taxpayers of Minnesota. It needs to prove it can put aside partisanship and put a win in the column of Minnesotans, not in the column of either Democrats or Republicans.
The Vikings stadium issue is not the ultimate issue of our time. It's the type of complex, yet solvable issue that lawmakers were elected to do. And there's not just one solution to stadium funding: user fees, general fund revenue, metro-wide tax, statewide tax, entertainment tax, gambling, etc. One of those -- or more likely some combination of those -- can and should be used to get the deal done.
Certainly, people who argue the state has more pressing issues than the Vikings stadium have a point. There are. But that doesn't mean we have to show the team the door. We can do more than one thing at once. And with this year being, at least in theory, a less controversial and politically heated year with the Legislature and governor's focus on bonding and not budget issues, the climate may be right to strike a deal.
If the governor and Legislature can prove they can get a problem solved together, who knows? Maybe we can get a long-term budget framework, some agreement on tax reform, a streamlined regulatory environment, or a "Minnesota Miracle" type of education solution in the state.
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What we don't need is six months of brinksmanship and vitriol.
And there's reason to be optimistic. Let's remember these are bright people with good hearts, and that's why we voted them into office in the first place. Minnesota is known for "Minnesota Nice," and maybe that spirit will grip St. Paul, if even for only a couple of months.
And if not, there's always the ballot box in November.
The Pioneer Journal editorial represents the collective voice of the paper's editorial board. Today's editorial was written by Steve Schulz, editor and publisher.
