Kansas lawmakers to introduce bill during special session to finance Chiefs move across state line
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Will the Kansas City Chiefs move to Kansas? That is the question fans have asked since a Jackson County, Missouri, stadium sales tax vote failed to pass in April.
Five weeks ago, a sports architect released renderings to Kansas lawmakers of what a football stadium for the Chiefs would look like at the Legends. A group used those renderings to bolster an online effort aiming to gain signatures for the team to cross state lines.
And those efforts appear to be ramping up.
Kansas Rep. Sean Tarwater confirmed to KCTV5 that lawmakers had a bill in hand to bring to the special session called by Gov. Laura Kelly on June 18. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate sent a joint letter to Chiefs owner Clark Hunt informing him of the drafted bill.
Legislative Leadership Letter to the Chiefs by Greg Dailey on Scribd
“The Chiefs will also weigh in saying they are in support, and they have spoken with us,” Tarwater told KCTV5.
The team declined to give a statement or comment on the matter on Tuesday evening.
The website’s goal is apparent on its home page: Make Kansas the permanent home of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
The new website is paid for by the political action committee called Scoop and Score, Inc. Manica Architecture produced the rendering. The Chiefs will also weigh in saying they are in support, and they have spoken with us.
KCTV5 has contacted David Manica with the company, who said he was out of the country and “deferring further interviews on the subject.”
Lawmakers said in April that if a STAR bond is passed in the legislature is signed by Kan. Governor Laura Kelly, it would give the Department of Commerce the authority to negotiate with the Royals or Chiefs to bring either or both to the state.
Those efforts fizzled.
Jackson County voters rejected a 3/8-cent sales tax proposal that would have gone toward funding a downtown ballpark for the Royals and renovation of Arrowhead Stadium.
In late April, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the organization is reassessing its options for the future, whether that be at Arrowhead Stadium or building a new venue.
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