During the last week of the 2025 Missouri legislative session, state lawmakers failed to pass a bill intended to keep the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs in the state.
However, two weeks later, lawmakers were able to get that same package across the finish line in a special session.
The legislation gives Missouri the ability to partially pay for new stadiums or stadium improvements. It does that by providing matching funds covering annual bond payments to the amount that the team is currently generating in taxes in Missouri.
The law, which was signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe soon after it passed, also caps state contributions at 50% of the cost.
Additionally, it would only apply to NFL and MLB stadiums with a capacity of more than 30,000.
The new law is a response to legislation passed last year in Kansas. That law offers to pay 70% of the cost of building new stadiums.
Now all there is to do is wait for the teams to announce their decisions.
The Kansas law expired at the end of June. However, the president of the Kansas City Chiefs has asked for an extension of that deal.
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said the State of Missouri has “bent over backwards to do what [they] need to do, to keep these teams.”
“For them to continue to be hedging with Kansas as an option, that's frustrating, and I really just wish that the Chiefs and the Royals would make a decision, stay here in Missouri, and let's move on and keep going,” Aune said.
Aune was a guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. Here’s what else she talked about on the show:
- Why it was important for the state to try to keep both the Royals and Chiefs from leaving.
- The success of the special session, when lawmakers not only passed the stadium bill but also over $100 million in storm relief, including for the tornado that hit St. Louis in May.
- Other previously failed budget items that got a second chance during the special session.
- Which issues Aune expects to see front and center for the 2026 legislative session.
- Possible backlash to Missouri Republicans voting for legislation that eliminated voter-approved earned sick leave, as well as a proposed constitutional amendment that would again ban most abortions in the state.
- Aune’s optimism for Democratic seat pickups in the Missouri House in 2026.
Aune was first elected to the House in 2020. She is in the middle of her first term as House minority leader.
Her district includes a part of Platte County, which encompasses some of Kansas City.
