A plan to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Missouri by partially funding stadiums for the teams is dead for now after the state Senate ended its annual session in bitter acrimony over abortion.
Gov. Mike Kehoe had attempted to push the plan through the General Assembly on a lightning-fast timeline this week. But the Republican chief executive, a former car salesman who entered office in January, came away without a passed plan.
The proposal is almost certain to come before lawmakers again. Kehoe previously signaled he was open to calling a special session if the legislature didn’t approve the measure this week.
“Legislators aren’t excited about coming into special sessions,” Kehoe said Tuesday morning, “but it’s that big of an economic project and that big of an economic impact that in the past it certainly has warranted other governors a special session.”
Kehoe’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The last-ditch plan marked Missouri’s most expansive proposal to keep the teams since Jackson County voters in April 2024 rejected a stadiums sales tax. After that vote, Kansas lawmakers approved a sweeping proposal to offer supercharged bonds to finance up to 70% of the cost of new stadiums for one or both teams.
The measure would hand the Chiefs and Royals a large incentive to remain in Missouri without requiring either team to commit to a specific stadium location. The package wouldn’t prohibit the Royals from moving from Jackson County into North Kansas City in Clay County — a possibility that has garnered renewed public interest in recent weeks.
Missouri’s plan relies on bonds and tax credits that could pay for up to half the costs of upgrading or building new stadiums. It would allow the Chiefs and Royals to apply for aid but the state would have to sign off on each project.
Under the plan, the total amount of state funding will be capped at 30 years and cannot exceed 50% of the total project costs. The proposal will also require contributions from local governments.
The House approved the measure on Tuesday, just hours after Kehoe revealed it. But the proposal encountered significant resistance in the Senate.
“We’re going to give floor time...to pass a special interest tax credit,” Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican, said at one point. “Well, I’m saying we’re not going to do that.”
Senators didn’t end up voting on the measure, which enjoyed bipartisan support. Late Wednesday, the Senate exploded in recriminations and anger after the Republican majority used a procedural maneuver to break filibusters of two major GOP priorities on abortion and sick leave.
The Senate then voted to place a constitutional amendment on a statewide ballot that would reimpose an abortion ban. The chamber also approved a repeal of sick leave protections passed by voters last year.
Senators voted to adjourn immediately after without taking action on the stadiums proposal.