JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.—Missouri's governor said Friday that he will call the Legislature into a special session to consider incentives aimed at keeping the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from moving to Kansas after lawmakers failed to pass a plan during their regular, annual session.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe wants his state to help with a renovated or new stadium for pro football's Chiefs and with a new home venue for baseball's Royals. A Kansas law enacted last year authorizes state bonds for 70% of the cost of a new stadium, paying them off over 30 years with revenues from sports betting, Kansas Lottery ticket sales, and new sales and alcohol taxes.

Kehoe did not officially issue the special session call Friday, but legislative leadership expects it to take place some time in June, ahead of an end-of-the-month deadline the teams face to act on Kansas’ incentives.

The GOP-controlled Missouri House approved a Kehoe-backed bill Tuesday that would have allowed the state to issue bonds for up to half the cost of the stadium projects and allow tax credits of up to $50 million. It would have included clawbacks in the event the teams left the state and would also be an incentive vehicle for potential future improvents at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. But the Republican-controlled Senate abruptly ended its regular-session work Wednesday after a contentious fight over an anti-abortion measure, without taking up the stadium financing measure.

Further complicating matters is the fact that days before the stadium language was introduced, House GOP leaders killed a budget bill that would have funded more than $500 million in construction projects around the state, including hospitals. Kehoe may need to add elements of House Bill 19 to his special session call to placate lawmakers in both parties, including those who support the stadium incentives but couldn’t get past the optics of eliminating funding for needed community projects while supporting the stadium incentives.

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune said efforts to keep the teams was worthy of a special session but criticized Kehoe for waiting too long to bring the bill to the table.

“I worry that the governor may have missed the one shot that he had to get this passed this week. I think that it was truly legislative malpractice to leave everything so close to the vest,” she told reporters on Thursday.

Kehoe said Friday that legislative leadership was aware of developments dating back several months, but that non-disclosure agreements were in place to safeguard confidential information. 

“This is a huge economic development package,” Kehoe told reporters during a news conference at his Capitol office following the end of his first legislative session as governor. “I’d like to see us make sure we can solidify our offer with legislative approval.”

Voters in Jackson County, Mo., where the teams are located, encouraged Kansas officials to make a play for the teams by turning down a sales tax extension last year that would have helped finance a new, $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals and an $800 million renovation of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs and Royals have played for more than 50 years in side-by-side stadiums in eastern Kansas City, drawing fans from both states of the split metropolitan area. Their stadium leases run until 2031.

At least a few Kansas and Missouri lawmakers from both parties are skeptical of state incentives. Many economists contend that public funding for stadiums isn’t worth it, because sports tend to divert discretionary spending away from other forms of entertainment rather than generate new income.