(Jefferson City, MO) – Gov. Mike Kehoe signed three bills on Saturday to help disaster victims and fund stadium projects that he hopes will keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Missouri. The third bill is designed to ask voters in 97 counties whether to freeze or limit property tax increases.
Kehoe convened a special session of the state legislature this month to pass the bills.
“We called legislators back to Jefferson City because the stakes were too high to wait—families and communities needed disaster relief, taxpayers deserved certainty, and critical job-saving investments were on the line. Without action, thousands of Missourians would have been left without much-needed support, and the state would risk losing jobs and economic development opportunities that are key drivers for growth—not just for Kansas City, but for our entire state,” the governor said in a news release.
Senate Bill 1 designates $25 million to the Missouri Housing Development Commission to provide additional emergency aid to low-income households impacted by severe weather. It assigns $100 million to the Department of Public Safety for disaster relief. Another $50 million will go to the University of Missouri for the building of a future University of Missouri Research Reactor in Columbia, which is used for research and the manufacturing of cancer-fighting isotopes.
The bill also provides funding for a variety of construction projects across the state, including:
• $55 million for new Missouri State Fair stalling barns
• $13.25 million for State Parks capital improvements
• $20.6 million for conservation projects across the state
• $800,000 for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop A headquarters improvements
• $12.7 million for a new Troop E crime lab
• $35 million for national guard sites
• $48.1 million for a new Kansas City mental hospital
• $2.1 million for Supreme Court building improvements
Senate Bill 1 is sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield and co-sponsored by Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-Seneca.
The second bill, SB 3, authorizes the state to partner with professional sports teams to help finance stadium construction through bond payments and one-time tax credits. It will cover as much as 50% of the total cost of new and improved stadiums by using state taxes collected from sales at the stadiums.
The price tag of this plan is about $1.5 billion over 30 years.
If the teams relocate before their agreement expires, they would have to pay back the state.
Missouri is in competition with Kansas, who is trying to lure the teams across the state line with a promise to fund up to 70% of the construction costs for new stadiums. The Kansas offer expires at the end of this month.
Another component of the bill creates a tax credit of up to $5,000 for home or renter insurance deductibles incurred due to severe weather damage in a declared disaster area this year.
It also requires 97 Missouri counties to ask voters whether to freeze or limit property tax hikes for eligible homeowners. Under the plan, 22 counties could have their property taxes frozen at the current rate and 75 would be capped at a 5% maximum increase every two years.
Senate Bill 3 is sponsored by Sen. Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall, and co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Brown, R-Kansas City.
SB 4 streamlines the delivery of disaster housing relief by allowing the immediate transfer of emergency aid to the Missouri Housing Development Commission when the governor requests a presidential disaster declaration. The legislation also expands existing program eligibility from 50% to 75% of median household income and removes administrative burdens and costs to expedite aid for Missouri families.
Senate Bill 4 is sponsored by Sen. Jason Bean, R-Holcomb and Rep. Brad Christ, R-St. Louis.
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