Remember the good old days? Just a year ago the Legislature and the governor were headed for the state's first-ever partial government shutdown. What? You don't remember? Well, you're not alone. It looks like our state leaders have forgotten the lessons of last year. At least that's the way it looks in this post stadium debate episode reported in the Star Tribune:

But with the Legislature scheduled to adjourn in less than two weeks, an initial meeting late Tuesday in Pawlenty's office to try to resolve a long list of differences over the stadiums quickly broke down when Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson, the Senate's ranking DFLer, did not attend.

"They said he was busy," said an agitated Steve Sviggum, speaker of the House. "Too busy to come to a meeting that the governor called?"

Johnson seemed to be equally perturbed. He said Pawlenty told him last week that the Senate was "dinking around" on a series of legislative matters, including the stadium proposals. "I received enough lectures when I misbehaved in junior high school. I don't need to hear them now that I'm 58," he said.

Some might say junior high looks like the House of Lords compared to the Minnesota Capitol these days. And it only makes sense that the leadership is in a roid-rage over sports stadiums. With the Senate votes yesterday the House and Senate are now far apart on stadium plans. As MPR's Tom Scheck notes it helps to have an accounting degree to keep them straight:

The different stadium plans work like this: the Senate passed a bill that relies on a half-cent sales tax in the metropolitan area to fund retractable-roof stadiums for the Twins and Vikings, and funds transportation projects. It would require voter approval.

The House passed a Twins plan that relies on a Hennepin County sales tax to pay for a Twins ballpark. It doesn't require voter approval. The House has not passed a plan that would finance a stadium for the Vikings.

The House also takes a different approach on financing an on-campus football stadium for the University of Minnesota. The House approach allows the U of M to collect naming rights money, increase student fees and swap land with the state of Minnesota to pay for its portion of the stadium. In exchange, the House bill would provide up to $9.4 million a year in future general fund revenue to cover the state's portion of the $248 million stadium.

The Senate bill strips away the student fees, the naming rights deal and the land swap. Instead, it would rely on a sports merchandise tax to cover the state's $12.9 million a year cost. It's a 13 percent tax on the wholesale level, which would equate to a 6 percent tax on the retail level.

Can they resolve this in a week and a half? Do they even want to? The Twins, Vikings and Gophers care deeply, but does the rest of Minnesota have stadium fever? You got me. But I'll bet most Minnesotans agree with Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, that the new Gopher Stadium should be called "Veterans Memorial Stadium" just like the old one. Would "TCF Banks Veterans Memorial Stadium" satisfy anybody?

The other story out of the Capitol that's getting some play today is Rep. Paul Kohls, R-Victoria, call for a gas tax holiday. It would save drivers 20 cents per gallon. Kohls would hold road construction harmless by using a tax relief account to make up the difference. The only problem with that is that the House has already passed a bill using that money to give property taxpayers rebate checks.

And on the topic of transportation DFLers appear to smell blood on the financing plan for Highway 62 reconstruction. The Star Tribune reported yesterday that the project is being delayed to give contractors more time to study the financing plan which would have basically loan the state money to keep the project on track. They would be paid back when the federal government kicks in its share of the project.

Now the paper reports three DFLers in the House are calling for a hearing, and Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing said on Midday yesterday he will hold hearings.

And on Midday today you can hear Patty Wetterling and El Tinklenberg make their case for endorsement by 6th District DFLers to face Michele Bachmann. The endorseing convention is Saturday.

Bill Salisbury in the Pioneer Press takes a deeper look at something I was talking about the other day, the ideological gap between Bachman and Rep. Keith Elison, DFL-Minneapolis, who were both endorsed last Saturday for Congress in different districts.