The Minnesota Legislature adjourned Thursday afternoon after twists and turns in an effort to draft a Vikings stadium construction plan.

Just two steps remained Thursday to seal the deal: Gov. Mark Dayton’s signature and the Minneapolis City Council’s approval. Should those two steps mark a touchdown, the largest-ever state approved construction program will move forward.

The final result: The Vikings are to pay $477 million toward construction costs — $50 million more than they wanted. Most of the state’s portion of stadium construction costs would come from taxes collected on new charitable gambling profits after electronic devices are added to pull tab and bingo games. The state would pay $348 million and Minneapolis $150 million.

Regardless of opinions — and there are many — about the stadium deal, it will likely be the most memorable action of the 2012 session.

But we want to note that lawmakers also took action on a number of issues of importance to Borderland.

Among those the approval of increases to hunting and fishing license fees. This increase — the first in 11 years — will allow the Department of Natural Resources to continue programs we have grown to value and that have added to the quality of life in this state.

Also of value is that just two constitutional amendment questions will go to voters in November. We said in this space before that legislating by amendment to the state’s Constitution should be done so sparingly. At one point during the session, there were five or more amendments being pushed at voters.

At at first blush, the governor’s veto of a plan that would have paid schools back for $2.4 billion borrowed last session may have seemed disappointing. But he did the right fiscal move for the entire state, sending the message that the state’s reserves should first be rebuilt allowing for a long-term plan to repay schools.

This session will certainly not be described as a do-nothing session, a phase used for previous years.