The chief House sponsor of a bill for a new Twins stadium said Thursday that this year's ballpark fight is not over.

Rep. Harry Mares, R-White Bear Lake, is considering making a motion on the House floor to pull the proposal out of a committee that has dealt the bill a defeat. House Speaker Steve Sviggum, who earlier declared the bill dead, said he won't stand in Mares' way.

``I'm not saying when,'' Mares said. ``When the moment comes, which will be down the pike a bit, we will consider bringing it back.''

The bill calls for a $300 million ballpark, with the Twins footing almost all of the cost through private donations and repayment of a state loan. The proposal is alive in the Senate, but was effectively defeated in a House committee.

Sviggum, R-Kenyon, said it would take ``a pretty unusual intervention of power'' to revive the bill on the House floor, but he said he wouldn't prevent Mares from making such a motion.

``I would not be opposed to a vote on the House floor. ... Everybody should stand up and be counted,'' Sviggum said. He quickly followed those remarks with a word of caution, ``I don't know how you would do that without usurping the process.''

Dave St. Peter, a Twins vice president, said the team is holding out hope that the bill will see more action.

``We haven't officially given up,'' he said. ``As long as they're still in session something can happen.''