14-05-2025
New Missouri funding plan for Chiefs, Royals passes out of House
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As of Tuesday, there were just three days left in the Missouri state legislative session, and there's a last minute effort from lawmakers in the Show-Me State to try to keep the Chiefs and the Royals.
The Missouri State House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday afternoon that would provide a tax credit for the teams for their stadium projects.
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The discussion went on for about two hours late in the morning and into the afternoon, but it ultimately passed out of the House quite easily.
Republican State House Rep. Chris Brown from Kansas City, North proposed the amendment for funding for the Chiefs and the Royals stadium projects in a bill that deals with high school athletes and the creation of a Clay County Sports Complex Authority.
The funding would provide a tax credit of up to 10% of the Chiefs and the Royals' investment in their stadium projects of up to $50 million. Brown brought up Kansas' Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond proposal when explaining why he believed his state needed to act.
'It's Hank Stram to Andy Reid, right?' Brown said on the House floor. 'It's Len Dawson to Patrick Mahomes. Four Super Bowls. It's Willie Wilson to George Brett to Bobby Witt Jr. It's two World Series. These are Missouri teams. They need to stay in Missouri.'
Push back came from lawmakers on the east side of the state though, especially because people like Democratic State House Rep. Bridget Walsh Moore haven't gotten what they wanted this session.
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'I go home to St. Louis, I say, 'We're giving this big tax credit on top of capital gains, but sorry folks, we're not getting our streets and sidewalks because we didn't vote on that part of the budget. We're not getting another rural hospital,'' Walsh Moore said on the House floor.
Walsh Moore was also upset she had just seen the amendment to the bill five minutes before she spoke. Her question to Brown was what should she go back and say to her constituents who would likely benefit less from the package since they're on the east side of the state.
'I would say that the option that if we don't do it is we would lose the Chiefs and the Royals.'
The amended bill ended up passing out of the state house 108-40. As of late Tuesday afternoon, the Missouri State Senate was considering the measure.
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