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MICHAEL KHOO: Up first will be Twins president Jerry Bell. Bell is expected to outline the Twins' need for a new ballpark and the revenues one could generate to support a competitive team. Representatives from Major League Baseball and the League's Players Association have been invited. But the heart of the hearing will focus on a spectrum of financing options for a new stadium. DFL State Senator Dean Johnson of Wilmer carried a stadium bill in the last legislative session.

DEAN JOHNSON: Average citizens are more open to the idea today of the state becoming involved, not paying the tab, but at least being a fiscal agent so as to build a ballpark.

MICHAEL KHOO: Johnson will review his bill for a $300 million outdoor ballpark. The team and other private sources would supply half of the funding. The rest would come mainly from a state loan bearing little or no interest. Johnson says, that plan may have to be altered to include more user fees and surcharges on those who might actually benefit from a ballpark.

Saint Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and Mayor elect Randy Kelley are promoting such a plan. Coleman, who will also testify, envisions a $375 million facility. Half of the financing would come from the private sector. Coleman says, the rest can come from ticket taxes, parking revenues, and a proposed 3% tax on bars and restaurants in Saint Paul. He says, the plan requires no funding from the state.

NORM COLEMAN: I don't think we're getting money from the state. So what we're saying is, we've come up with something that says the host city is at the table working with the private side, and we can come up with a way to keep Major League Baseball here in Minnesota.

MICHAEL KHOO: Coleman touted a similar plan that relied on a half percentage point increase in the city's sales tax. That plan was defeated by Saint Paul voters in 1999. Minneapolis is also joining the ballpark bandwagon. City council member Paul Ostrow says, he and incoming mayor, RT Rybak, will propose a scaled-down ballpark on the edge of the city's warehouse district.

Ostrow says, the stadium should cost roughly $315 million, but that 2/3 of that amount will come from private sources. He says, the remainder can be captured in part through parking revenues and from players' income taxes.

PAUL OSTROW: Any public dollars into the ballpark need to be dollars that are generated by the presence of the team in Minnesota.

MICHAEL KHOO: Minneapolis City charter prohibits spending more than $10 million of city money on a professional sports facility. But Ostrow says, civic leaders hope to work with Hennepin County to secure additional support. The task force will also take testimony on efforts to sell shares of Twins' stock to the general public, a concept promoted as community ownership.

And Republican Senate Minority Leader Dick Day of Owatonna has dusted off one of his previous proposals. He's calling for state-run gambling at the Canterbury Park Racetrack. He says, the idea sidesteps concerns about using state general funds to support baseball.

DICK DAY: If it's a casino, that is not anything mandatory at all. We know that it would do well. We know that the projections would be great.

MICHAEL KHOO: The plan is likely to face stiff opposition, however, from those opposed to state-sanctioned gambling and from Indian tribes that fear competition for their casinos. The task force will also hear from those staunchly opposed to public subsidies of any sort.

State Senator John Marty says, he believes a ballpark can be financed entirely with private dollars. And he says, he'll make that argument to task force members. The Roseville DFLer says, the lure of public money has prevented serious discussion of private solutions.

JOHN MARTY: It won't solve the problem. The analogy I'd give is, you give an alcoholic some more money, they will use the money, but it doesn't fix the problem.

MICHAEL KHOO: Other plans under consideration would increase fees for cable operators who broadcast Twins games in the visiting team's home city. Backers of that proposal say it might generate $1 to $2 million a year, a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a new stadium. But they say every extra dollar helps.

At the Capitol, I'm Michael Khoo, Minnesota Public Radio.