Can Kansas lure the Kansas City Chiefs to leave Missouri? Lawmakers didn't vote on it.

Kansas lawmakers ended the legislative session without passing a plan intended to help make a pitch for the Kansas City Chiefs to leave Missouri and relocate across state lines.

Legislators met Monday afternoon on the penultimate day of the legislative session to discuss proposed changes to an economic development program. Despite agreement on the proposal, the bill never got a vote before the Legislature adjourned early Wednesday morning.

The "temporary and targeted changes" would be to sales tax and revenue bonds, said Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, as he wore a Chiefs lapel pin.

"We called this meeting because of recent events in the Kansas City region where there was a vote to extend sales tax for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals, which failed pretty miserably," Tarwater said. "We kind of had an idea that was going to happen, so we've been working on some sort of a solution for them for some time now without their involvement.

"We just want to make sure that we have the right plan for when the time is right for us to start those negotiations."

The government subsidy bill won support from a conference committee.

"We see an incredible opportunity, an exciting opportunity, to put Kansas on the map along with states that have professional sports," said Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita.

Is there still a chance Kansas lawmakers make a play for the Chiefs?

But the STAR bond bill was never brought up for a vote Monday or Tuesday before the Legislature adjourned. Internal political differences among Republican leadership appear to be to blame amid fear of a narrative that lawmakers were giving tax breaks to a large company while failing to secure meaningful tax relief for Kansans.

Gov. Laura Kelly has already vowed to call a special session because she will veto the tax cut plan passed by legislators on the last day.

Tarwater said lawmakers could try again at making a play for the Chiefs during the special session. But the process would be more laborious since they would have to start over, hold actual commerce committee hearings and have floor debates and possible amendment. The attempt during veto session did not follow that normal legislative process.

"That's going to be something that we're not going to have a whole lot of time to do," he said early Wednesday morning after the House adjourned. "Who know? Maybe? Because we did have the votes on both sides, and I'm very disappointed that they didn't even take it up."

The Associated Press reported that Americans for Prosperity-Kansas, a lobbying organization influential among Republicans, opposed the idea and had told lawmakers that votes on the bill would be considered in evaluating their records.

"We just need a little time on it — we'll be OK," Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Wichita, told the AP. "I mean, we're serious about trying to incentivize the Chiefs to come our direction."

STAR bond districts would try to lure NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL teams

The plan would have been done through a gut-and-go of House Bill 2663. It would authorize STAR bond districts to build a new stadium and practice facilities with a minimum investment of $1 billion, potentially paying for the entire cost. Up to two professional sports teams from the NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL could use the program.

Local cities and counties wouldn't have to offer their own incentives, but they could in what Tarwater likened to a bidding process among local governments in Kansas.

"We want to make sure that since Jackson County dropped the ball here that we're in a position to do a scoop and score," Tarwater said before the plan failed.

While there are no indications that state officials are actively negotiating with the football team, ESPN reported that Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said they would look at options beyond renovating Arrowhead.

Voters in Jackson County, Missouri, rejected a sales tax for the Chiefs and Royals. The Kansas plan wouldn't necessarily require any public votes.

"It's important to note that no Kansans will be asked to pay any more taxes than they currently are," Tarwater said. "There won't be a vote for sales tax because of this bill. This bill can happen in either way. We are using tomorrow's money to pay, and it's tomorrow's money that we otherwise wouldn't receive because these structures will bring it in the business and they will cause development around them."

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lawmakers didn't pass incentives to lure Kansas City Chiefs to Kansas