HF 1954

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing Congress to support legislative 
  1.3             initiatives to discourage use of public resources for 
  1.4             movement of professional sports franchises and to 
  1.5             repeal antitrust exemptions for professional sports.  
  1.6      
  1.7      WHEREAS, professional sports can play an important role in 
  1.8   the social and cultural atmosphere of a community; and 
  1.9      WHEREAS, various communities seek to have professional 
  1.10  sports franchises; and 
  1.11     WHEREAS, the use of public resources to encourage 
  1.12  professional sports franchises to relocate from one community to 
  1.13  another is a form of counterproductive economic competition that 
  1.14  produces overall detriment to all states, while providing 
  1.15  potential unjust enrichment to the owners of these franchises; 
  1.16  and 
  1.17     WHEREAS, community ownership of professional sports 
  1.18  franchises have the potential to maximize the social, cultural, 
  1.19  and economic advantages of sports franchises to a community, 
  1.20  while minimizing threats of relocation that result in 
  1.21  counterproductive economic competition; and 
  1.22     WHEREAS, certain professional sports leagues and 
  1.23  associations have adopted policies that prohibit or restrict 
  1.24  community ownership of professional sports franchises; and 
  1.25     WHEREAS, federal laws and policies, such as exemption from 
  2.1   antitrust laws, contribute to economic inefficiency and to 
  2.2   wasteful use of public resources; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.3      BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.4   that it strongly urges the Minnesota congressional delegation to 
  2.5   support legislative efforts in Congress that will:  
  2.6      (1) discourage movement of professional sports franchises, 
  2.7   including prohibiting the use of public resources in connection 
  2.8   with this movement; 
  2.9      (2) prohibit professional sports leagues from forbidding 
  2.10  community ownership of professional sports franchises; 
  2.11     (3) tax benefits that are provided by the public to 
  2.12  professional sports franchises; and 
  2.13     (4) repeal antitrust exemptions for professional sports. 
  2.14     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of 
  2.15  Minnesota that it strongly urges the governors and legislatures 
  2.16  in the other states to promulgate this message. 
  2.17     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.18  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  2.19  memorial and transmit them to the President and the Secretary of 
  2.20  the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the 
  2.21  United States House of Representatives, the governors and the 
  2.22  presiding officers of both houses of the legislature of each of 
  2.23  the other states of the Union, and Minnesota's Senators and 
  2.24  Representatives in Congress.