TOPEKA, Kan. — Some Kansas lawmakers see an opportunity to lure Kansas City's two major professional sports teams across the Missouri border, but the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Efforts to help the Royals fund a new stadium in the state have stalled over concerns about how the money would be raised. It may seem that way to taxpayers.
Lawmakers in the Republican-dominated Legislature on Tuesday authorized Kansas officials to issue at least $1 billion in bonds to fully pay for the construction of each new stadium, including tax revenue generated in the area over 30 years. He promoted a bill that would allow the government to repay debts. . But Republican leaders did not bring the bill up for a vote before lawmakers adjourned their annual meeting early Wednesday morning.
Some critics derided the plan as a corporate welfare benefit. Other lawmakers accepted, but did not want to pass the proposal until the Legislature approved a broader tax cut for voters, which Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is expected to sign. It didn't happen.
Lawmakers' decision came after voters on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area earlier this month rejected an extension of the local sales tax used to maintain the complex that includes the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium and the Royals' stadium. Work on the plan has begun in earnest behind the scenes. Kauffman Stadium has a history of over 50 years.
The bill's biggest pusher, Kansas House Commerce Committee Chairman Sean Tarwater (R-Kansas City area), said supporters believe two professional sports teams are considering pulling out of Kansas City. He said he wanted to give the United States another option, which he said would be devastating for both states.
“100 percent of the shots you don't take will miss,” Tarwater said. “We need to keep them in metropolitan areas.”
This idea isn't dead yet.
Mr. Kelly and his staff indicated Tuesday that they would likely veto the last tax plan approved by lawmakers that would cut income, sales and property taxes by a total of about $1.5 billion over the next three years. . Lawmakers expect Kelly to call a special session to try to get lawmakers to pass a tax plan she accepts, which could also consider stadium funding.
“We just need some time. We'll be fine,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita Republican. “So we're really thinking about nudging the Chiefs to move in our direction.”
The proposal would allow bonds to finance 100% of the construction costs of two new stadiums with at least 30,000 seats. State and local officials would have a year to approve it, leaving the team in a bind if local tax revenue isn't enough to pay off the bond.
“I was just concerned about doing it before we give the voters a real tax cut. It's like lining up what looks like corporate welfare before we give the people a tax cut,” Masterson said. '' he said after deciding not to introduce it. Senate vote.
Before Missouri's local sales tax vote, the Chiefs wanted to use their share of the revenue to pay for Arrowhead's $800 million renovation. The Royals had planned to use the stake to finance a new ballpark district worth more than $2 billion, part of a major wave of sports construction nationwide.
The current leases for both teams' complexes run through January 31, 2031. Royals owner John Sherman said the Royals will not play at Kauffman Stadium after the 2030 season. The Chiefs hope to remain at Arrowhead Stadium.
“We're going to be back to square one,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt told reporters last week. “We have a strong sense of crisis, and will continue to approach this issue from a broader perspective.”
Supporters argue that Kansas' plan is ideal because the bond repayments would come from new taxes that would only come if the area around each stadium was developed. Professional players also must pay state income taxes on a portion of the income they earn at stadiums in Kansas.
But Americans for Prosperity Kansas, a small-government, low-tax group that has long opposed the use of such bonds, opposed the stadium financing proposal. The group is influential in the Republican Party and told lawmakers it would consider Republican votes when evaluating the record.
Critics have long argued that allowing debt to finance large projects means the state is choosing economic winners and losers rather than a free market. Similar bonds have funded several projects, including NASCAR's Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
Democratic Sen. Tom Holland, a member of the northeastern Kansas state, called the stadium proposal “economic development for billionaires.” He added that it would be “utter stupidity” to subsidize stadiums through the taxes taxpayers pay when they visit the stadium or forgo revenue that would otherwise flow into the state's coffers. .
“Kansas has a lot of priorities, but I don't know if that's one of them,” said conservative Republican Sen. Dennis Pyle, another member of northeast Kansas. .
Other lawmakers were critical because Congress had not held any public hearings or debates until this week, when three senators and three representatives met in public to hammer out the details of the proposal. .
Democratic state Rep. John Carmichael said, “I would like to see both the Chiefs and Royals come to Kansas, but this is a very large expenditure of taxpayer money and should be done carefully and not as a last-minute plan.'' It's worth considering.” Wichita.
