By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A St. Joseph state representative who supported the incentive package for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals approved during the special legislative session sees it as an economic development issue.
Rep. Brenda Shields, a Republican, says the state needed to act to keep the Chiefs from crossing the state line into Kansas and keep the Royals from moving to another city. Shields understands many object to offering incentives to professional teams.
“And if Missouri was the only state offering incentives, I could question incentives, but there are incentives offered for every industry across every state in America,” Shields tells KFEQmmunity. “Incentives are just part of the deal of growing your economy in your state, because businesses are going to go where they get the best deal. And currently, right now, Kansas had a deal on the table that they would pay for 70% of the build of a new stadium.”
Missouri lawmakers met in special session the first two weeks of the month to primarily consider an incentive package to keep the Chiefs and Royals in Missouri. The special session called by Gov. Mike Kehoe also delivered disaster aid for homeowners in the St. Louis area as well as a few capital improvement projects, such as the nuclear reactor own by the University of Missouri vital to cancer research.
Shields says the Missouri economy has become stagnant and cannot afford the loss of a Chiefs and Royals.
“We’ve lost a Congressional seat, because Missouri hasn’t grown,” Shields points out. “We used to have nine. Now we have eight. I think that should be evident to everyone that we need to do everything we can to continue to grow Missouri’s economy.”
The prestige factor plays a role as well.
“Prestige has a lot of impact,” Shields says. “When we are attracting businesses to our state, they are looking for the amenities that they need for their employees.”
Shields says the Chiefs and Royals generate tremendous tax revenue and economic activity to Missouri. Shields adds keeping the teams provides that little extra used to attract other businesses to the state.
“They want to know what type of amenities that you have in your community. Is it major league baseball, major league football? Is it arts? It’s the whole package. And how we draw top quality to our state is based upon what we have to offer them in their spare time.”
Gov. Mike Kehoe has signed the three bills approved in the special session into law.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ.