TCF Bank announced that it had extended the naming rights deal to June 30, 2006. Despite the 2005 session having ended with the bill not coming to a vote, the stadium effort did not lose momentum in the legislature and was introduced quickly in the 2006 session. On April 6, 2006, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the stadium bill on a 103–30 vote. The house bill was nearly identical to what the university was proposing and had full university support. However, on May 9, 2006, the Minnesota Senate passed a radically different version of the bill on a 34–32 vote. The Senate version would have removed the TCF naming rights deal, the student fees, and the purchase of the university owned land. The proposed funding that was removed was to be replaced with a statewide tax on sports memorabilia. It also would have required the stadium to be named Veterans Memorial Stadium (similar to the previous on-campus football stadium Memorial Stadium, which was last used in 1981 and demolished in 1992). Governor Tim Pawlenty stated he supported the House version. He signed the bill in May 2006 at the University of Minnesota McNamara Alumni Center. Legislative approval 2006 Even though the differences between the House and Senate bills were major, the details were ironed out and approved on May 19, in a House–Senate conference committee. The naming rights and land sale remained in the bill, as did a scaled down $25 per year student fee. The tax on sports memorabilia as well as the Veterans Memorial Stadium name were voted out. The committee also voted to increase the state contribution to the project to compensate for the smaller student fees. The compromise bill was then approved by both the full house and senate on May 20, and was signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty on May 24. Construction On June 8, 2006, the university announced that it had selected Populous to design the stadium. Populous (then HOK Sport) was one of the three finalists, along with HNTB Architects and Crawford Architects, that made presentations to the university on May 24, 2006. The local firm that worked on the project was Minneapolis-based Architectural Alliance, and M.A. Mortenson Company was the general contractor. Schematic designs of the stadium were presented to the public on January 3, 2007. Infrastructure work at the stadium site began in late June 2006, and a ceremonial groundbreaking