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MICHAEL KHOO: The committee's 12 to 6 vote to table The Twins bill forces the proposal into legislative limbo. With the passage of yesterday's deadline for committee action, leaders in the House and Senate now say the bill has virtually no chance of resurfacing. Twins president Jerry Bell says he didn't anticipate the committee's action. And he offered little insight into what course, the team will now chart.

JERRY BELL: Make a decision later on that we have no comment on what we would do now.

MICHAEL KHOO: The move to table the bill means the committee never had an opportunity for a clean vote on the merits of the legislation, but lawmakers say the maneuver effectively kills any chances for action this year.

STEVE SVIGGUM: Yes, it's dead. I don't know how it would be revived now.

MICHAEL KHOO: House Speaker, Steve Sviggum says the bill could only be revived through special parliamentary consideration, which he says is highly unlikely. The proposal called for a $300 million outdoor ballpark. The team and other private donors would have contributed half of the costs. The state would have financed the rest, mainly through a $140 million interest-free loan.

Sviggum says the deal was appreciably better than previous stadium proposals. And he suggested The Twins try again next year. He says support could grow if baseball reforms its economic structure, making it easier for small market teams like The Twins to compete against financial giants like the New York Yankees.

STEVE SVIGGUM: Well, let's wait and see what happens to see if baseball does do something with revenue-sharing for small market cities. If it does something regarding these horrendous baseball salaries. It's very, very difficult for the average taxpayer, for the average working person to look at millions of dollars for people playing ball.

MICHAEL KHOO: A provision of the bill would have required Major League Baseball to institute reforms before the state would release the loan. But opponents say those reforms should come before any financing deal is considered. Tom Goldstein publishes a quarterly baseball journal and has been a strong advocate for a scaled down, privately financed ballpark.

He told committee members the interest-free loan could cost the state millions of dollars in foregone interest earnings. And he questioned the need to assist Twins owner, Carl Pohlad, who also owns Marquette Banks.

TOM GOLDSTEIN: Why is the committee of legislators with many other matters to address concerning the affairs of this state, spending time on a bill that seeks to loan $140 million of state money, interest-free to the wealthiest banker in Minnesota?

MICHAEL KHOO: The bill's chief house author says he was willing to alter the loan provisions and include a 3% interest rate. But Republican Harry Mares of White Bear Lake says the move to table the legislation cut off debate before he was able to offer the concession.

HARRY MARES: I think you got to get it out on the table and get it discussed. And see what the support is for it. That it was going to be a good debatable issue. That's what the process is for. But we weren't given a chance to do that.

MICHAEL KHOO: Mares says it's not clear what action The Twins might take now. He says he's concerned Major League Baseball may decide to shut down low revenue teams, leaving Minnesota without a ball club.

HARRY MARES: It is no threat on The Twins part or Major League Baseball or anything else, but it's an issue that has to be addressed. And I would think that if there are no plans in the works to provide a profitable baseball team and keep it in the major leagues here, that we would be a team that they would look at closely to be contracted.

MICHAEL KHOO: Opponents of a publicly subsidized facility say the threat of contraction is only an attempt to pressure lawmakers to act. A companion bill awaits action in a Senate Committee, but the Chief Senate author says he too, considers the issue dead for the year. At the Capitol, I'm Michael Khoo, Minnesota Public Radio.