Missouri lawmakers will be back in Jefferson City sooner than usual to address stadium funding for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals.
A last-minute bill that would have allowed the state to help fund new stadiums or stadium improvements for professional football and baseball teams failed to pass in the final week of session.
The bill passed the House but did not make it through the Senate.
The legislation is a response to a bill passed by the Kansas Legislature that offered hundreds of millions of dollars to persuade the Royals and Chiefs to move across the border.
Gov. Mike Kehoe said Friday lawmakers will be back for a special session to consider a counteroffer to keep both teams in Missouri. He called it an economic development package.
“The Chiefs and Royals packages, and this has been very public, about remodeling on the Arrowhead Stadium and a potential new baseball stadium are somewhere between $2.5 and $3 billion, I would consider that significant economic development,” Kehoe said.
Kehoe said there is not a date set yet for the special session.
However, Kansas’ bond proposal is set to expire at the end of June, so a special session is likely to occur before that expiration date.
One of the hurdles the bill originally faced in the Senate was the blowback from the House not passing a budget bill that contained hundreds of millions of dollars for projects across the state.
Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said on the floor Tuesday he wasn’t necessarily against the plan, but he did not appreciate the House refusing to take up a roughly $500 million budget bill while passing a stadium funding package that could cost more.
The official cost of the legislation is still unknown, but is expected to cost hundreds of millions.
Speaking after the Senate adjourned on Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, said that she loves the Chiefs but that a stadium bill shouldn’t override the projects that were lost in the failed budget bill.
“While the Chiefs do bring a significant economic impact as well as the Royals, the greater economic good is to put a hospital down in the rural parts of our state, it is to make sure that we have obstetrics care north of US 36, it’s to make sure that we get the $48 million that we still need to do the mental health hospital in Kansas City,” Washington said.
Kehoe said he understands the concerns from senators and representatives on the failure to pass the budget bill and that they could also be included in the special session.
“I think it's fair to say everything is on the table of what that special session might look like,” Kehoe said.
2025 regular session
Kehoe called the 2025 session a success and highlighted several bills that passed, including:
- Placing the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department under a state-appointed board.
- Eliminating the capital gains tax in the state.
- Funding for 1% raises for state employees for every two years served, up to 20 years.
- Banning cellphone usage in schools.
“I really believe we made some great progress, and really proud of what the House and Senate and both sides of the aisle [did] and some critical legislation, where they came together, negotiated out a compromise and put something forward,” Kehoe said.
Kehoe also spoke on the passage of the final two pieces of legislation in the Senate this year: a bill that repeals voter-approved earned sick leave and limits minimum wage increases and a constitutional amendment that, if passed by voters, would again ban most abortions in the state.
The governor said there has not been a decision made on when the proposed amendment will be voted on. He says if he doesn’t call for any changes, it will appear on the November 2026 ballot.
Kehoe said that he must look at the legislation that repeals the earned sick leave portion of Proposition A, but that he’s a big fan of the bill.
“I'm not a big fan of mandates. I think the markets should set what employees get paid and what the compensation is. And I know businesses are very competitive in doing that,” Kehoe said.
The Senate used a rare procedural move to force a vote on both of those pieces of legislation. Senate Democrats decried the move, saying it will have consequences in the future.
Kehoe said the motion, known as a previous question, isn’t any more a nuclear option than long filibusters.
“It's the same coin, just two different sides,” Kehoe said.
However, Kehoe did say he expects there will be some rebuilding of relationships in the Senate.
