The Mayo Clinic had a rough Wednesday at the Minnesota House, where legislators blasted the company's CEO, insulted its hometown and nearly derailed debate on a $500 million bill over a $5 million local tax spat.
Now it's back to the drawing board for Mayo and its supporters, who are seeking $585 million from the state to support a planned $3 billion makeover of downtown Rochester. The fact that Rochester needs a $3 billion makeover to make it an appealing destination for doctors or their critically ill patients was the one point that united all sides in the debate.
State Rep. Kim Norton, a Rochester DFLer who sponsored the Mayo bill, promised to return next week with a new version —"Plan B" — to address concerns legislators have raised about the cost, scope and financing of Mayo's plan.
Norton's bill relies on 30 years' worth of state and local tax revenue to help build the roads, bridges and infrastructure that would support the new hotels, restaurants and civic improvements Mayo hopes to draw to Rochester. A retooled version is likely to shift more of the tax burden to the local community.
"We hope it will be something you like better," Norton said "Forty-nine states would love to have the Mayo Clinic. We're lucky to be the one that does. Hopefully we can keep it here."
The "49 states" line was a sore point for committee members, who were seething over a comment Mayo President and CEO Dr. John Noseworthy made to the Star Tribune Tuesday while speaking in Washington. If the Legislature didn't pass the bill, Noseworthy warned, "49 states" are eager to help the Mayo Clinic relocate.
"It was a dumb thing to say. It was dumb, dumb, dumb," said state Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, adding that Noseworthy's remark made him less inclined to vote for the bill. "Your CEO [was] going to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and wagging a finger at the Minnesota Legislature. That's what it looked like to me … I was thoroughly disgusted."
On Tuesday, Mayo spokesman Dr. Brad Narr said Mayo, the largest private employer in Minnesota, would never pull out of the state. But Mayo does have thriving campuses in Arizona and Florida, Sun Belt states popular with patients and physicians.