The Minnesota Twins' $300 million stadium proposal got its first legislative review Thursday night before a Senate committee and a small crowd of onlookers.

No vote was taken, but the chief sponsor, Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, asked legislators to take the plan back to their home districts this weekend and talk about it with their constituents.

"Just tell the folks what the facts are," he said.

Thursday's hearing drew more lobbyists and security officers than ardent baseball fans or citizens who opposed the plan.

On Thursday night, team president Jerry Bell described the proposal to the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee, which will vote on it next week.

"We have concluded that we cannot be competitive in a football stadium," he said, referring to the Metrodome, where the team now plays.

Introduced Monday, the bill calls for the Twins and other private interests to put up half the cost, $150 million.

The state then would provide a $100 million 20-year interest-free loan, borrowing it from a $102 million surplus in the Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Plan, a state-run insurance program for employers who can't get that kind of coverage.

The Metropolitan Council would provide a $40 million grant through revenue bonds to the host city. An additional $10 million would come from sales tax exemptions on construction materials.

The entire monetary package wouldn't be released until Major League Baseball agreed to changes, primarily a revenue sharing system between poorer and richer teams.

In interviews before the committee meeting began, it was obvious that some committee members are hesitant to support the stadium bill.

Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, was chief sponsor of a stadium bill in 1997 when she was in the House. In 1998 she won reelection by about 450 votes. The stadium dominated the campaign. It was, said Rest, "the only issue."

Last fall she was elected to the Senate, and her involvement in the stadium debate three years earlier lingered as an issue. This time, Rest said in an interview before Thursday's hearing, she won't support the stadium.

"It's a 'no' vote, period," she said.

Sen. Myron Orfield, DFL-Minneapolis, another first-term senator who made the jump from the House last fall, said that his district doesn't support a new stadium, and that he probably won't either.

Johnson said he understands his colleagues' reluctance to support the bill.

"I'm not asking anybody to stick a sword in themselves tonight," he said of the hearing.

Johnson said he judges that the ardor and passion that whipped the stadium issue in 1997 has subsided some. "Very few calls, and those who called, I would say, are supportive," he said, referring to the few days since the Twins' plan became public.

In 1997 the Legislature couldn't agree on a stadium bill during the regular session. Former Gov. Arne Carlson, an advocate for a new stadium, called a special legislative session to consider a bill for a $356 million Twins ballpark.

It became one of the hottest public topics in recent legislative annals. Telephone calls to legislators' offices actually jammed the telephone system for a time. The House trashed the bill on an 84-47 vote.

Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL-Tower, said there may be another reason some rural legislators are slow to embrace any stadium-financing plan.

"One of the overriding concerns of Democrat and Republican legislators from Greater Minnesota is whether the rural areas are going to be treated fairly this year," he said.

"And when we see proposals for public subsidies for the Minnesota Twins and North Star corridor transit project [a proposed commuter train from St. Cloud to Minneapolis], and the governor and leadership not advocating economic assistance for Greater Minnesota, where there are more economic problems ... many rural legislators are not going to quickly endorse issues such as the Twins."

Doug Johnson doesn't sit on the State and Local Government Operations Committee, where the bill was heard Thursday, but he is chairman of the Finance Committee, which has a significant grip on the state's purse strings.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, said he canvassed most of his 27-member caucus. He said only two said they would vote for it, and they are sponsors, Sen. Roy Terwilliger of Edina and Sen. Dennis Frederickson of New Ulm.

"Twenty-two others are either no or leaning no," Day said.

Stadium backers consider the House the bigger challenge.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, is one of the lead supporters. House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, though, isn't on board. He has said he won't let the stadium divert attention from Republican priorities of tax cuts and education funding.

Indeed, House Republicans plan to spend the surplus in the Workers' Compensation Assign Risk Plan for other projects, though Sviggum hasn't disclosed what they are.

In Minneapolis, city agencies are expected to present a report Monday to the City Council about how to proceed with a ballpark. The city is working with New Ballpark Inc., a group of downtown business leaders trying to raise private money for a downsized urban ballpark. It is anticipated that the upcoming report will recommend the best site for a baseball stadium.

The Minnesota Twins' $300 million stadium proposal got its first legislative review Thursday night before a Senate committee and a small crowd of onlookers.

No vote was taken, but the chief sponsor, Sen. Dean Johnson, DFL-Willmar, asked legislators to take the plan back to their home districts this weekend and talk about it with their constituents.

"Just tell the folks what the facts are," he said.

Thursday's hearing drew more lobbyists and security officers than ardent baseball fans or citizens who opposed the plan.

On Thursday night, team president Jerry Bell described the proposal to the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee, which will vote on it next week.

"We have concluded that we cannot be competitive in a football stadium," he said, referring to the Metrodome, where the team now plays.

Introduced Monday, the bill calls for the Twins and other private interests to put up half the cost, $150 million.

The state then would provide a $100 million 20-year interest-free loan, borrowing it from a $102 million surplus in the Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Plan, a state-run insurance program for employers who can't get that kind of coverage.

The Metropolitan Council would provide a $40 million grant through revenue bonds to the host city. An additional $10 million would come from sales tax exemptions on construction materials.

The entire monetary package wouldn't be released until Major League Baseball agreed to changes, primarily a revenue sharing system between poorer and richer teams.

In interviews before the committee meeting began, it was obvious that some committee members are hesitant to support the stadium bill.

Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, was chief sponsor of a stadium bill in 1997 when she was in the House. In 1998 she won reelection by about 450 votes. The stadium dominated the campaign. It was, said Rest, "the only issue."

Last fall she was elected to the Senate, and her involvement in the stadium debate three years earlier lingered as an issue. This time, Rest said in an interview before Thursday's hearing, she won't support the stadium.

"It's a 'no' vote, period," she said.

Sen. Myron Orfield, DFL-Minneapolis, another first-term senator who made the jump from the House last fall, said that his district doesn't support a new stadium, and that he probably won't either.

Johnson said he understands his colleagues' reluctance to support the bill.

"I'm not asking anybody to stick a sword in themselves tonight," he said of the hearing.

Johnson said he judges that the ardor and passion that whipped the stadium issue in 1997 has subsided some. "Very few calls, and those who called, I would say, are supportive," he said, referring to the few days since the Twins' plan became public.

In 1997 the Legislature couldn't agree on a stadium bill during the regular session. Former Gov. Arne Carlson, an advocate for a new stadium, called a special legislative session to consider a bill for a $356 million Twins ballpark.

It became one of the hottest public topics in recent legislative annals. Telephone calls to legislators' offices actually jammed the telephone system for a time. The House trashed the bill on an 84-47 vote.

Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL-Tower, said there may be another reason some rural legislators are slow to embrace any stadium-financing plan.

"One of the overriding concerns of Democrat and Republican legislators from Greater Minnesota is whether the rural areas are going to be treated fairly this year," he said.

"And when we see proposals for public subsidies for the Minnesota Twins and North Star corridor transit project [a proposed commuter train from St. Cloud to Minneapolis], and the governor and leadership not advocating economic assistance for Greater Minnesota, where there are more economic problems ... many rural legislators are not going to quickly endorse issues such as the Twins."

Doug Johnson doesn't sit on the State and Local Government Operations Committee, where the bill was heard Thursday, but he is chairman of the Finance Committee, which has a significant grip on the state's purse strings.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, said he canvassed most of his 27-member caucus. He said only two said they would vote for it, and they are sponsors, Sen. Roy Terwilliger of Edina and Sen. Dennis Frederickson of New Ulm.

"Twenty-two others are either no or leaning no," Day said.

Stadium backers consider the House the bigger challenge.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, is one of the lead supporters. House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, though, isn't on board. He has said he won't let the stadium divert attention from Republican priorities of tax cuts and education funding.

Indeed, House Republicans plan to spend the surplus in the Workers' Compensation Assign Risk Plan for other projects, though Sviggum hasn't disclosed what they are.

In Minneapolis, city agencies are expected to present a report Monday to the City Council about how to proceed with a ballpark. The city is working with New Ballpark Inc., a group of downtown business leaders trying to raise private money for a downsized urban ballpark. It is anticipated that the upcoming report will recommend the best site for a baseball stadium.