Kansas state senator undecided on STAR Bond extension

LENEXA, Kan. — We’re getting new information about why Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan wrote a letter to Kansas Republican Senate President Ty Masterson, asking leaders to extend the Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond package, aimed at getting the team to try to move across the state line.

Even though fans thought the deadline for Kansas to try landing either the Chiefs or the Kansas City Royals was June 30 unless state leaders extended it, FOX4’s learned they can extend the STAR Bond deadline retroactively. Those leaders, made up of the Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC), will meet Monday, July 7.

“When they reached out to me, I said, ‘I just need something that confirms’ you can use your football analogy, ‘confirms that you’re advancing the ball down the field,’ right?” Masterson said to FOX4’s John Holt on Sunday’s episode of “4 The People.” “If it seems like we’re in real conversation and not just a pawn in a negotiation, I think you’ll find it to be pretty easy for us to get an extension.”

That something, according to Masterson’s Director of Communications Mike Pirner, was the letter Donovan wrote Thursday, June 26. On Sunday’s episode, Masterson was also asked about part of Donovan’s letter.

“We’ve have had no response to our last proposal from the administration for six weeks, though we recognize the many demands of State leadership and remain optimistic about where advanced discussion could lead,” Donovan wrote.

Masterson said he was a bit surprised by that part of the letter.

“I don’t think it’s a secret over in Kansas that the governor seems to be more interested in the Royals than the Chiefs,” he continued. “I think most everyone else has that priority in the inverse in Kansas.”

FOX4 asked for comment from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly Monday. Her spokeswoman said that all that information needs to be sent to the Department of Commerce, led by Lieutenant Governor David Toland.

“I’ve heard the Governor say she thinks the Chiefs are coming,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes said in an interview with FOX4 Monday.

Sykes, who’s on the LCC says, she doesn’t know how she’s going to vote July 7 on extending the STAR Bond offer.

“I’m looking at the statute, having conversations with revisers,” she continued. “Again, I don’t want to be played by the Chiefs or the Royals. We’ve had a year to do negotiations, so I need to look and see where we are. I don’t want to put something out there that we’re going to have another 365 days just to go back and forth.”

Sykes and House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, both from Lenexa, are the only two Democrats on the eight member LCC. Woodard plans to support extending the STAR Bond deal on July 7, allowing negotiations to continue. Sykes added that if Masterson has enough Republican support, this will pass without the need of Democrats that day.