Stadium plan faces an uphill battle

On a picture perfect, 78-degree day, the Florida Marlins on Tuesday opened their 2005 season in front of the largest regular season crowd in team history. But while the Marlins easily dispatched the Atlanta Braves 9-0 on the field, their effort to win a new stadium was still scoreless in the state legislature.

Five hundred miles away, in the meeting rooms of Florida's state Capitol, the idea of using $60 million in state money to help the two-time World Series champions move into their own stadium faced an uphill battle with lawmakers and Gov. Jeb Bush. The Marlins currently play in rented Dolphins Stadium.

On Tuesday, Bush said the idea of Miami-Dade County getting a $60 million state tax break to help build a new $420 million ballpark next to the Orange Bowl is a "stretch."

The biggest problem: It's not only the Marlins asking for state help. There's also the Orlando Magic, NASCAR and a handful of cities, including Fort Lauderdale, that want state money to upgrade their spring training facilities.

"In all honesty, I believe that public education, public safety, public works, dealing with the most vulnerable citizens are higher priorities. We can't be all things to all people," Bush said.

"Having said that, I'm not going to have a specific opinion on a particular bill for any sports franchise on Opening Day," said the governor, who in 2000 committed a faux pas by squashing a Marlins stadium financing plan on opening day and later admitting he had no idea it was the first day of the team's new season.

But the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday heard a staff report that rebuffed county and city claims that a new ballpark next to the Orange Bowl would spark economic development in the area.

"These kinds of activities do not yield a net economic benefit," said Ross Fabricant, the Senate's economist, who said he based his information on 40 studies of publicly financed sports facilities.

Senate President Tom Lee said he asked for the report because members have the right to know what the cost benefit of any tax break might be.

"This was not meant to sandbag anyone," Lee said. "This is an issue for the Florida Marlins and their lobbying team to make a case to the Legislature that this is a public benefit."

Now, he said, it's also up to Commerce Chair Jim King, who opposed the Marlins tax break when he was Senate president the past two sessions, to decide whether the Marlins' bill gets on a committee agenda.

If King refuses to hear it, Lee said he might get involved.

Lee, R-Brandon, has had his run-ins with the Marlins. Angered when the team went to Las Vegas in what he thought was an attempt to pressure legislators into helping build a stadium, he insisted he would not negotiate with "terrorists."

But Tuesday night Lee said he has no intention of preventing the Marlins bill from being heard.

After years of failure, team and local officials say they hope to be successful this time around.

"We're certainly not discouraged. We know the merits of the project," said Ian Yorty, Miami-Dade's tax collector.

"I'm sure the Florida Legislature will do whatever is necessary to make sure that baseball remains in South Florida for years to come," said Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.

"I'm so for it, I can't even tell you," Richard Gibson of Homestead, who took his son Jake, 5, to the opening game, said of the new stadium. "We need this. You're not a Major League town or a Major League city unless you have baseball."

Miguel A. Hern?ndez of Pembroke Pines attended Tuesday's game with his grandson Brandon, 12. Hern?ndez wants the Marlins to get a new home and he doesn't mind if public dollars help.

Brandon, sporting a No. 25 Carlos Delgado jersey purchased on Monday, said, "I just want to see them play."

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