Following discussions in a special session of the Kansas legislature, lawmakers passed a measure to allow state bonds to be used to lure the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals to move from neighboring Missouri.
The measure passed the House and Senate by an 84-38 and 27-8 majority, respectively.
The legislature has now passed the plan on to Governor Laura Kelly, who will need to sign it before further action is taken. While the Governor has made no formal comment about whether she’ll sign the measure, she announced in a statement that “Kansas now has the opportunity to become a professional sports powerhouse.”
The plan to use state bonds to help finance new stadiums and practice facilities for the major league franchises had bipartisan support, with leading figures like the Mayor of Kansas City, Kansas publicly supporting the initiative.
The move also seems to have generated excitement with the major league teams most likely to be impacted.
“We’re excited about what happened here today. This is incredibly real,” Chiefs attorney Korb Maxwell said.
However, not all reactions to the measure were positive, with some lawmakers feeling the move has given major league franchises too much leverage.
“I think the Chiefs and the Royals are using us,” Kansas Rep. Susan Ruiz said.
The Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Quinton Lucas, seemed to agree.
“Today was largely, in my opinion, about leverage," he said. "And the teams are in an exceptional leverage position.”
He also dampened hopes that the State of Kansas would be successful in its bid to attract the teams, saying that Missouri would “lay out a good offer” for both teams.
