How hard will MO fight to keep Chiefs, Royals? Next year is ‘critical,’ governor says
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday signaled that he does not have immediate plans to call lawmakers into a special session this year to respond to Kansas’ attempt to lure the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals across state lines.
But Parson, a Republican who terms out of office after this year, told reporters that the next year will be “critical” to keeping the teams in Missouri.
“Not that I know of,” Parson said when asked whether he was considering a special session. “But, again, we’re gonna be having some conversations here in the very near future with a lot of people in the Kansas City region…I think everybody understands that we’ve got to put something together to compete.”
The Republican governor, a staunch Chiefs fan with a tattoo honoring the team, made his comments in his Capitol office in front of both Lombardi trophies from the Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl victories. The trophies were in Jefferson City on Thursday as part of a celebration at the Missouri Capitol.
But the team’s future in the state loomed over the day of celebration. Kansas lawmakers this month passed an aggressive plan to potentially poach the Chiefs and Royals with more than a billion dollars in bonds. Gov. Laura Kelly signed the bill this week.
Missouri lawmakers, who ended their annual session last month, have not rushed to respond to Kansas directly. However, at least one top lawmaker told The Star that lawmakers could consider holding a special session after the August primary elections.
Parson on Thursday signaled that a special session is not likely to come soon. But he also stressed a sense of urgency to come up with a plan to respond to Kansas.
“Probably the next year is critical — so, I think, how you put a plan together and how you may finance that plan,” he said. “But the reality of it is, you can’t just let month after month go by not doing anything while your competitor over there is doing something all the time.”
The Republican governor said his office has been talking with representatives from both teams. He acknowledged that the state would have to “spend some money to keep them” but did not offer specifics (including whether the state should offer a bonding plan similar to Kansas).
“I think by the end of this year, we’re going to have something in place to be able to say where we’re going and to hopefully be able to say what I believe the state should do,” he said.
Kansas’ push to attract the teams comes after Jackson County voters in April rejected a stadium tax in April that would have effectively guaranteed the teams would stay in Missouri after their 25-year leases expire in January 2031.
The Kansas plan, critics say, has potentially reignited a years-old economic border war between the two states. But Parson on Thursday rejected that argument, echoing attempts by both states to contain the conflict to the future of the teams.
“I don’t really think of it as the border war,” he said. “All I’m telling you is we’re going to do everything we can to make sure they stay.”
