DFL lawmaker says Vikings bill could come next week

A key state lawmaker says he might have a Vikings stadium bill ready to introduce early next week.

DFL Sen. Tom Bakk, chairman of the Senate tax committee, said a bipartisan group of legislators met with Vikings officials again Wednesday to discuss the developing proposal.

Bakk said he will likely sponsor the bill, but he still doesn't know what it will include. He did say the bill won't identify a site or a price tag for the stadium, and it will list a menu of revenue options for a yet-to-be-determined host city or county to consider.

"We're going to work on it over the next few days and see if we can get something put together," Bakk said. "But my hope is if something is going to happen, we're going to have something ready for people to take a look at next week."

Bakk said the bill will be modeled after recent legislation passed for a Mall of America expansion, which provided several funding options to the city of Bloomington.

"I expect that a Vikings bill would have something similar in it. It wouldn't be site specific," he said. "It would have a menu of different revenue options that some local partner could consider. The governor all along has said there needs to be a local partner."

Bakk said there won't be enough time to pass a stadium bill this session unless it gets an initial committee hearing next week. The 2010 session end on May 17.