Vikings stadium should not be funded by taxpayers

Last week Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Anderson-Kelliher announced that she will appoint a “Purple Ribbon” panel to study the possibility of funding a new billion dollar Vikings stadium with 75% of the funding coming from taxpayers.

As the possibility of short-term borrowing looms and the forecast of the largest budget shortfall in state history on the horizon, the Speaker seems to be more concerned about a new Vikings stadium than about trying to find real budget solutions.

As Speaker of the House last session she was unable to produce a balanced budget. Now in the face of the worst state budget situation in the last thirty years the Speaker wants to consider spending $700 million of taxpayers’ money on a new stadium for billionaire owner Zygi Wilf.

Does Speaker of the House and gubernatorial candidate Anderson-Kelliher want to defend budget cuts to the poor or hand out hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fund a new playground for the Vikings?

These difficult economic times require strong bold leadership and Speaker Anderson-Kelliher shows once again she doesn’t have what it takes to lead Minnesota through troubled economic times.
Phil Krinkie
Taxpayers League of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN