Representatives of the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals urged Kansas lawmakers Monday to expand a tax incentive program to provide the teams millions of dollars to leave Missouri and set up shop in new stadiums across the state line.
鈥淚f we want to be major league we鈥檝e got to have major league teams,鈥� Korb Maxwell, an attorney who represents the Chiefs, told lawmakers during an informational hearing at the Kansas Statehouse. 鈥淭his is the greatest opportunity we鈥檝e had in any generation, and it鈥檚 here before us right now.鈥�
Other proponents of the plan were more blunt: If Kansas doesn鈥檛 act, a group hoping to lure the teams to Kansas argued, the Kansas City region is at risk of losing its professional football and baseball teams.
鈥淭he risk that the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals 鈥� our Chiefs, our Royals 鈥� could be lured away by other states is not a risk that Kansans want to take,鈥� said Dan Murray, a lobbyist for Scoop and Score Inc., a nonprofit hoping to bring the Chiefs to Kansas.
On the table Monday was a plan to expand the state鈥檚 tax incentive program meant to help finance tourism and entertainment destinations. more than $750 million to help finance stadium projects.
The informational hearing came ahead of a special legislative session that starts Tuesday. Lawmakers can鈥檛 take action on the bill until the formal start of the special session.
The legislation would enhance the state鈥檚 existing program to provide up to 75% of the project鈥檚 costs by issuing bonds that would be repaid with the increased sales state tax collections at the project site. Other projects can use STAR Bonds to finance up to 50% of a project.
The bill requires a minimum $1 billion capital investment and limits the eligibility to National Football League or Major League Baseball teams currently located near Kansas. The financing mechanism could be used for both stadiums and training facilities.
Debt on a stadium constructed under the expansion wouldn鈥檛 have to be repaid for 30 years instead of the normal 20.
The project could also receive a boost from liquor taxes generated in the STAR Bond district and revenues from a fund Kansas created when it legalized sports betting.
Gov. Laura Kelly, who has championed enormous economic development projects in Kansas, didn鈥檛 commit to supporting the legislation on Monday.
鈥淚鈥檓 impressed by the full-court press that has been made to get these teams to consider moving across the river,鈥� she told reporters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something I鈥檓 going to invest a lot of energy in. I think this is something for the legislature to work through.鈥�
Kelly鈥檚 chief of staff, Will Lawrence, told the joint committee the governor鈥檚 office had no concerns with the current version of the bill that would keep her from signing it.
STAR Bonds have been , and an that less than one-quarter of the attractions funded through the program met the state鈥檚 goal of increasing tourism. There may be some cases, the audit says, where certain projects kept Kansans spending money in Kansas rather than going to Missouri.
鈥淏ut we think it鈥檚 more often that local visitors simply move existing economic activity from one part of Kansas to another,鈥� the audit says.
Moving the teams
Kansas lawmakers launched an effort to lure the Chiefs or Royals 鈥� or both 鈥� after Jackson County, Missouri, voters in April rejected a proposed extension of a 3/8-cent sales tax to help finance a new stadium for the Royals and upgrades at Arrowhead Stadium.
Maxwell said the organization had been asked why the legislation needed to be passed in special session rather than when lawmakers reconvene for their normal session in January.
Because with only a few years left in the Chiefs鈥� lease at Arrowhead, 鈥渢ime is of the essence,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he time is now,鈥� Maxwell said. 鈥淢issouri spoke, Jackson County spoke. They had their opportunity, but now there鈥檚 a moment for Kansas to step up.鈥�
The effort to reauthorize the sales tax in Missouri was driven primarily by the Royals, whose executives unveiled plans to move to the Crossroads Arts District in downtown Kansas City in February 鈥� less than two months before the vote. It failed with 58% of voters rejecting the proposal.
Earlier this month, Scoop and Score Inc. launched to advocate for moving Chiefs 鈥� the reigning Super Bowl champions 鈥� to Kansas. The organization鈥檚 website implores visitors to sign a petition to 鈥渢ell legislators to keep the Chiefs in KC!鈥�
The organization has hired 30 lobbyists, including Murray. The Royals have eight lobbyists, and the Chiefs employ former Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. and his former aide, Paje Resner, as lobbyists.
Ryckman said Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt could be open to moving the team outside of the Kansas City region.
鈥淲e鈥檙e aware of numerous cities that would love to be the home of the Chiefs or the Royals,鈥� Ryckman said.
Murray urged lawmakers to support the legislation, arguing it has 鈥済uardrails, guardrails guardrails鈥� to keep the state and local governments from being on the hook for the bonds.
While an attorney for the Chiefs acknowledged the franchise hasn鈥檛 come up with a design or plan for a stadium in Kansas, Murray urged lawmakers to move forward with creating a program. Vetting the details, he said, will be up to the Kansas Department of Commerce with final approval by the Legislative Coordinating Council, an eight-member committee of House and Senate lawmakers that can adopt legislation when the Legislature is not in session.
But a draft of the bill says any agreement between the state and a team would be confidential until after it has been executed.
The bill was panned by libertarian groups as a handout for corporations that would do little to increase economic activity in Kansas. Dave Trabert, CEO of the Kansas Policy Institute, told the committee there was no way to verify the claims that the stadiums would boost the economy.
鈥淲e asked Scoop and Score to provide their math. 鈥楽how us how you arrived at a billion dollars of economic activity,鈥欌�� Trabert said. 鈥淣othing was forthcoming.鈥�
In an interview, Trabert called the proposal 鈥渁bsurd.鈥�
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 about economic development,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about politics. It鈥檚 so people can say, 鈥楲ook what I did. Vote for me.鈥欌��
This story was originally published by The Missouri Independent, part of the States Newsroom.
