Word came yesterday that the Senate DFL left the expansion of the DECC off its bonding bill. There are two competing theories to explain this decision. Senator Keith Langseth, the Chairman of Capital Investment Committee, has suggested the first: that sports complexes just don’t deserve bonding. A second theory is that DFL Senators are angry that Republican Governor Pawlenty didn’t include enough projects for other DFL districts.
If the first theory is true then Duluth’s citizen lobbyists will need to persuade legislators during Duluth Days that the Arena complex is much more than a “sports complex.” They must stress that the Arena is such a vital economic engine that local voters overwhelmingly voted to pay for half of it.
If this proposal dies because of DFL opposition it will impose a terrible humiliation on Duluth’s two Senators Tom Bakk and Yvonne Prettner Solon. It would mean that the DFL caucus is treating Duluth the same way that Democrats are often accused of treating African Americans – as guaranteed votes for which no real effort need be expended to keep their votes.
Senator Langseth may be hoping to leverage the DECC expansion so as to add more projects for other parts of the state. If he fails he could simply doom the DECC. Governor Pawlenty has already gotten credit for putting the project in his bonding bill. If it is not funded Duluth voters will mostly remember that it was the DFL that killed their economic hopes not the Governor.
