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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div> A pair of Missouri Republican lawmakers were in court Friday seeking to strike down a law designed to keep the team in Missouri. <\/p>\n The Kansas City Star<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n <\/p>\n While the Kansas City Royals weigh where they want to build a new stadium, a pair of Republican state lawmakers were in court Friday seeking to strike down<\/a> a law designed to keep the team in Missouri.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cole County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Limbaugh held a roughly two-hour hearing on Friday in a lawsuit<\/a> that could ultimately determine whether Missouri\u2019s sweeping stadium-funding law<\/a> will remain in effect.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The lawsuit was filed in July by Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, Rep. Bryant Wolfin, a St. Genevieve Republican and conservative activist Ron Calzone, who argue that the law is unconstitutional and should be struck down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Limbaugh did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit on Friday, but the case could have broader implications on Missouri\u2019s efforts to keep the Royals inside state lines. The law, approved by state lawmakers last summer, served as Missouri\u2019s bid to prevent the Royals and Kansas City Chiefs from moving to Kansas.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Moon, the lead plaintiff in the case, told The Star after the hearing that he supported the Royals remaining in Missouri, but that decision should not be left up to the state\u2019s taxpayers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s great for the state to have them,\u201d said Moon, who voted against the law in the Senate. \u201cBut it\u2019s a choice that they need to make and it\u2019s not up to the legislature to give public money to a private entity in order to tease them to stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Clayton Weems with the Missouri Attorney General\u2019s Office and Marc Ellinger, an attorney representing the leaders of the Missouri House and Senate, argued on Friday that Limbaugh should dismiss the case outright.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The two attorneys made a slew of arguments to defend their position, including that the pair of lawmakers did not have legal standing to bring a suit related to their official duties in the first place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe forum for this is in the Capitol. The forum for this is not the courtroom,\u201d Ellinger told Limbaugh. \u201cThe two legislators that are here, they voted against this bill. They lost\u2026They\u2019ve chosen to invoke an entire separate branch of government to get involved in what are purely political decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friday\u2019s hearing came just weeks after the Chiefs announced plans to move across the state line<\/a>, a decision fueled by Kansas\u2019 supercharged bonding program known as STAR bonds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Chiefs\u2019 announcement has energized Missouri leaders<\/a> around keeping the Royals. But, amid all the energy surrounding the team\u2019s future, the looming lawsuit against Missouri\u2019s stadium-funding plan has drawn little public attention over the past several weeks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The suit, among other allegations, takes aim at several amendments lawmakers added to the legislation during a chaotic special session designed to incentivize the teams to remain in the state, including disaster money for residents affected by tornadoes in St. Louis and property tax changes that affect only some Missouri counties.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The addition of those provisions, the lawsuit argues, violated a requirement in the Missouri Constitution that laws only deal with one subject. The suit also specifically pushes back on the incentives Missouri passed for the teams, calling them a \u201cdirect gift or bribe\u201d to the Chiefs and Royals owners.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friday\u2019s courtroom dispute also came as recent comments in Kansas and Clay County have suggested that the Royals\u2019 options could be narrowing. The Royals have said they plan to move out of their home at the Truman Sports Complex after their lease expires in 2031.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The leader of the Kansas House has argued that the Royals missed a Dec. 31 deadline<\/a> to take advantage of his state\u2019s bonding program for a move across the stateline. Meanwhile, a Clay County official told The Star that the team was expected to miss a Thursday deadline<\/a> to commit to North Kansas City.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over the past several months, three potential stadium locations have been publicly floated for the team: downtown Kansas City at Washington Square Park, North Kansas City in Clay County and Overland Park in Kansas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n Neil Nakahodo
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