The proposed Twins ballpark passed its first legislative hurdle Tuesday night, as a House committee voted by a wide margin to let Hennepin County raise its sales tax to help pay for the $478 million stadium. The House Governmental Operations Committee voted 17-5 in favor of the stadium bill after a hearing that went late into the night. Of the committee's three members from Hennepin County, two voted against the bill and one voted in favor. Though only the first step in the long legislative process, the committee vote was a powerful signal of bipartisan legislative support for the latest Twins plan. Over the last decade there have been many failed stadium proposals. Officials from the Twins and their Hennepin County backers told lawmakers they crafted a bill that could pass legislative muster. "We've heard you -- we've heard, no state money," said Hennepin County commissioner Mike Opat, who negotiated the latest deal with the team. "In a perfect world we'd have some, but we understand the world we live in and we're trying to deal with the art of the possible."