A bill introduced Wednesday within the Minnesota House of Representatives would repeal the state’s sales tax exemptions on preferred seating and amenities at athletic events and funnel resulting funds to shelters for trafficked women and girls.
According to Rob Hubbard, reporting for the Minnesota Legislature, the resulting windfall would go to the state’s General Fund, but the bill would also appropriate to the Department of Human Services $8.8 million in Fiscal Year 2027 and $8.9 million in Fiscal Year 2028 and beyond for grants to safe harbor shelter and housing grants.
On Wednesday, the House Taxes Committee laid the bill over for omnibus bill consideration.
“It’s my job as a legislator to get creative on how we fund the things that really matter,” said representative Heather Keeler, the bill's sponsor. “We have children being trafficked at as young as 10, 11 and 12. And that’s not okay. We have got to get serious about how we’re going to fund this.”
The items that would lose their sales tax exemption under the bill include:
- a license to use a private suite, private skybox, or private box seat;
- season tickets to collegiate events in preferred seating areas; and
- amenities included in the sale of the privilege of admission to athletic events.
The Revenue Department estimates the change would increase the General Fund by $7.6 million in Fiscal Year 2027 and $8.4 million in FY 2028, Hubbard reported.
“The funding is coming from a very important bill that I took many years to get passed,” committee co-chair Greg Davids said. “What the bill does is provide scholarship money for women’s sports. … I’m not saying that this isn’t a very worthy program. I am saying you have the wrong funding source, because this is not going to happen.”
About 85% of the revenue generated from the bill would come from the suites repeal, while 10% would be from collegiate seats (which fund scholarships) and 5% from amenities, per Hubbard's reporting.
Representative Andy Smith suggested the bill could be amended to focus more on the suite sales.
“Suites are a high-end discretionary purchase,” said Alec Williams, a researcher for advocacy organization We Make Minnesota who supports the bill. “The average cost of a suite to watch the Wolves or Wild is $4,000 to $8,000 per game. Twins games are similar, but can reach $41,000 per game for the largest suites. For Vikings games, suite costs range from $25,000 to $75,000 per game.”
