JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe remains optimistic that the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals will stay in the Show-Me State.
Speaking exclusively with FOX4’s Missouri Capitol Bureau reporter Mark Zinn, Kehoe said he has weekly conversations with team owners and other parties interested in keeping both teams in Missouri.
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Kansas lawmaker expects Royals stadium proposal soon
“I’ve had great meetings with the ownership groups. Obviously, there’s at least one county, potentially two counties, in the Kansas City area that are involved in that. And they understand what they need to do,” Kehoe said.
“We have a new county executive in Jackson County. I’ve spoken with county executive-elect LeVota, and he’s very interested in making sure we do what we can to make sure the Chiefs stay a Missouri team, where they belong.”
Kehoe says he takes Kansas’ Dec. 31 deadline seriously and admits that Missouri is up against tough competition in the state of Kansas, which passed STAR bond packages that pushed the decision deadline to the end of the year after it was initially set for June 30.
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STAR bonds previously helped develop Kansas Speedway and Children’s Mercy Park, and would generate sales tax revenue to help fund stadium developments.
Kansas State Senate President Ty Masterson told FOX4 on Monday that the Kansas City Royals are expected to present a stadium proposal at an upcoming Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) meeting at the end of November or in early December.
Welcome to the City: More Kansas City Royals news on FOX4
While the clock is ticking for the teams to decide on the Kansas incentive package, Kehoe says his state doesn’t have a firm deadline.
“Our deadline is when the counties are right and they have the right package put together, along with the state package that we passed. Again, to keep any business, we would do this for any business that wanted to leave Missouri and go to some other state that had the kind of employment those two operations have,” Kehoe said.
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