The governors of Missouri and Kansas will travel to Kansas City on Tuesday morning to sign a joint commitment aimed at ending the “border war” between the two states, which involves tax incentives.
State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Missouri Senate floor on April 16, 2019 (file photo courtesy of
Harrison Sweazea of Senate Communications)
Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) will headline the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Governor summit, which is taking place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.
Governor Parson has signed legislation into law from State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, which restricts incentives to companies moving from Kansas to Missouri’s Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties. Senator Cierpiot, who will be attending the summit, tells Missourinet the border war has been “a gigantic waste of money” for both states.
“Companies move from one side of the state line to the other and the economic development that is supposed to occur when a company arrives does not happen, because nobody’s moving here, they’re already living here, all the employees are here,” Cierpiot says.
The Kansas City-based Hall Family Foundation says more than 10,000 jobs moved between Missouri and Kansas in the past decade, with an incentive cost of $330 million.
It looks like the war will end, when the two governors sign the joint commitment at about 9:30 a.m. Parson, a conservative Republican, and Kelly, a progressive Democrat, both say the border war has been costly.
Senator Cierpiot agrees, telling Missourinet this is and has been a bipartisan issue in the Missouri Legislature.
“We passed this a few years ago, Kansas at the time with Governor (Sam) Brownback did not agree to join,” says Cierpiot. “But that effort was bipartisan with (State Sens.) Ryan Silvey and Jason Holsman, two Kansas City senators, one Democrat and one Republican.”
Parson says both states have spent “well over $100 million on this.” State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, the ranking Democrat on the House Higher Education Committee, agrees, saying it has drained resources from critical programs for both states.
Governors Parson and Kelly also plan a 10:40 a.m. press conference at Memorial Hall.
Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, which was recorded on August 9, 2019:
Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet
