One simple reality explains muddled Kansas legislative special session, taxes and stadiums alike

Gov. Laura Kelly answers reporters' questions about the upcoming special session after a June 17, 2024, event at the Statehouse in Topeka. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

This year’s Kansas legislative special session baffled me.

What was the point of bringing together the House and Senate on June 18 to pass a mildly improved tax plan? Surely this could have been accomplished during the regular session — in 2024 or 2025. I have credited Gov. Laura Kelly for political savvy in bending legislative leaders to her will. But I assumed she would end up with a better deal. Medicaid expansion, anyone?

The last-minute addition of financing for new Chiefs and Royals stadiums made the whole affair even stranger. Lobbyists sprouted inside the Legislature like mushrooms on a rainy spring day, all of them eager to make a pitch for needy sports team owners.

The key to unlocking the whole mystery, I’ve come to believe, is the office of the governor itself.

Kelly wants to preserve as much political capital as possible for her final two years in office. If that means making a less-than-optimal tax deal with Republicans, she’s prepared to do it. Her central priority seems to be not running a deficit in years to come.

As for the Royals and Chiefs, it costs her nothing to smile benevolently as legislators fall over themselves to tempt teams across state lines. With seven years to go before the leases run out at Arrowhead and Kaufmann stadiums, Kansas can promise the moon without risk of immediate blowback.

More interestingly, House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson have set themselves up — potentially — as the legislative leaders who brought the Kansas City Chiefs or Kansas City Royals to Kansas. Although neither Republican has officially declared a campaign for governor, no one who has walked the halls of the Statehouse would be surprised to see either man take the leap.

Likewise, Lt. Gov. and Commerce secretary David Toland has much to gain. The freshly minted law hands the commerce secretary authority to reach an agreement with the teams. Toland already has a prime position to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in two years. This strengthens his hand.

In short, all of the major players in both the tax deal and sports stadium free-for-all want to sustain or gain power in the state.

The question going into the special session was whether legislators would play along. On both sides of the aisle, no matter their reservations, they did. The tax plan passed the Senate 34-4 and the House 121-2. The stadium finance package passed the Senate 27-8 and the House 84-38. Kelly signed both bills on Friday.

Sure, some folks voiced misgivings. Yet they voted for for the legislation away.

“I do not like this. It feels gross,” said Rep. Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson, about the stadium bill . “This whole show that’s going on feels disgusting to me. And it’s still the right thing to do. That’s how I see it.”

Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, D-Overland Park, offered an individual take: “I also understand the larger political implications for how this works. And nothing is going to warm the cockles of my cold dead feminist heart more than to see Gov. Kelly getting credit for the Chiefs and Royals moving to Kansas, and not the dude bros who have been working on this. That is why I’m a ‘yes.’ I want a woman getting credit for sports things. So I’m doing it out of spite, frankly.”

Former House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. , one of the lobbyists driving the effort, tried to dispel lingering concerns. Lawmakers “stepped up in a big way, paving the path to make sure the Chiefs stay right where they belong — in Kansas City with their loyal fans,” he said.

But was it good policy? We shall see.

For the few who stood firm on Tuesday, I sympathize.

It’s difficult being a Democrat in Kansas . It’s also difficult being a moderate Republican . Heck, it’s even difficult being a conservative Republican who wants to stick to his or her principles. Making good decisions and fighting the political tide always takes guts and seldom offers rewards.

The folks who came out of the special session looking best, at least in my view, were those from Americans for Prosperity-Kansas . They opposed Republican leaders’ giant stadium deal as a giveaway to billionaires and contrasted it with tax cuts for (supposedly) everyday folks. They stuck to their convictions despite overheated lobbying efforts. They made noise on social media.

While they may have lost this round, at least they went out fighting.

As for me, I’m ready to close out the year without any more meetings of the Kansas Legislature . In January, we’ll welcome a freshly elected assortment of senators and representatives.

Then we can start gearing up for the 2026 elections.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Ka nsas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here .

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