By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph might well be on the outside looking in during the special legislative session beginning Monday in Jefferson City.
A capital improvement package Gov. Mike Kehoe wants lawmakers to consider does not contain two major St. Joseph projects: money for the UMKC dental school and Chiefs Training Camp.
State Rep. Brenda Shields, a Republican from St. Joseph, says she will look for avenues to secure financing for the two projects.
“As of right now he’s made the call rather tight, but I’ve had conversations that some of those things might be able to be added back in,” Shields tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “I don’t want to give people lots of hope, but if they have to add things into (HB)19, for some other reasons, we’ll make sure that we’re at the table.”
House Bill 19 was a $513 million capital improvement bill that provided financing for projects throughout the state. It failed when House leadership decided to skip over it and not bring it to the floor for a vote. The move angered senators and set a sour tone for the final week of the legislative session.
In the official call to bring the legislature back into a special session, Gov. Kehoe request the General Assembly approve only a portion of HB 19, not the entire bill which contained $7 million for UMKC to establish a dental school on the Missouri Western State University campus as well as $2.8 million to make improvements to the Chiefs Training Camp on the Missouri Western campus requested by the Chiefs. The bill also included $1 million to enhance behavioral services at the Mosaic Life Care ER and $800,000 to pay for a new roof at the Pony Express Museum.
Under the rules of a special session, the legislature can only address the issues outlined in the governor’s call. Shields says that while the St. Joseph projects are outside the official call, there still might be some room to revive the projects.
“Right now, the governor called the call pretty tight, but if we need to add additional dollars for other things across the state, I have made the governor’s office acutely aware about the importance of those two items, especially the $7 million for the dental school,” Shields says. “We need that dental school in St. Joseph and north Missouri.”
Shields points to federal studies that indicate there are not enough dentists in northern Missouri to meet the need, with one dentist for every 2,100 residents.
UMKC has proposed to establish the dental school on the Missouri Western campus as students complete the final two years of study in a clinic. It would serve as an extension of UMKC’s work in St. Joseph begun when the university established a medical school in conjunction with Mosaic Life Care.
The issue garnering the most attention, of course, is a package of incentives aimed at keeping the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Missouri. When the legislature adjourned early to wrap up the regular session that package became a victim.
Shields isn’t surprise lawmakers will return to Jefferson City and return to this issue.
“The Chiefs and Royals are too important to Missouri’s economy for us not to attempt to do something around this issue,” Shields says.
Shields points out Kansas has an attractive offer on the table with cities such as Salt Lake City looking to land a Major League Baseball team.
The regular legislative session ended abruptly and acrimoniously after Missouri Senate Republicans cut off a filibuster staged by Democrats and forced a vote on two controversial issues. One will ask voters to reinstate some restrictions on abortion. The other removed the paid sick leave provisions from the minimum wage law approved by voters in November.
Shields is hopeful the tension that led the regular session to adjourn early has cooled as legislators return to the Capitol for the special session.
“You know, I really like what the governor said that sometimes we can be frustrated with each other, but we need to make sure that we look at the common good and the things that are necessary,” Shields says. “And sometimes we just need to be adults and move passed that.”
The special legislative session will also consider tax breaks for St. Louis homeowners that suffered storm damage.
The special legislative session begins Monday, June 2nd, at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
