TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins and Republican Senate President Ty Masterson sent out a joint statement early Tuesday evening asking Kansas City Chiefs Owner Clark Hunt to consider moving to the Sunflower State.
“The rich tradition and history of the Chiefs are beloved across the entire Kansas City region and throughout Kansas,” a statement read from both lawmakers Tuesday. “The potential to establish a home for the Chiefs family here on the Kansas side of the state line is an opportunity that deserves a thorough conversation. We have reached out to the Chiefs organization and asked them to weigh in on the possibility of using Kansas’ unique STAR Bond funding tool and explore what that collaboration could hold. We’re excited that the Chiefs are open to this conversation and look forward to seeing what mutually beneficial opportunities might lie ahead for both the people of Kansas and the Chiefs franchise.”
To see the letter they released, click here.
That same day, FOX4 also obtained a survey from co/efficient dealing with the Chiefs. The entity surveyed 1,006 likely Kansas general election voters statewide from May 13 to May 15. They asked Kansans a number of questions in the survey.
“Voters in Jackson County, Missouri recently voted against a proposal that would have funded improvements to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium,” one of the questions began with. “The Kansas City Chiefs are now looking to secure their home in the region for generations to come. The Kansas Legislature is considering a proposal that would bring them to Kansas and keep them in the area. Do you support the Kansas City Chiefs leaving Missouri and moving to Kansas?”
To that question, 63% of the respondents said yes. 20% said no, and 16% were undecided.
The proposal in the question above has to do with the Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bonds that according to the letter Hawkins and Masterson wrote to Hunt, will be discussed during the Special Session that starts Tuesday, June 18.
The state legislature though does not get the final say in whether the Chiefs move to Kansas. That’s up to the team themselves. A spokesperson for them had not responded to a comment about the survey earlier in the day. They also have not commented on the letter from state leaders.
“You have to kind of start with, ‘What is the attitude coming in?’ co\efficient Founder Ryan Munce said in an interview with FOX4 Tuesday when asked why the question was worded that way. “Then that lets us measure any other variable against it, so we knew that because of that data set, almost three to one, Kansans say ‘yes,’ they’d love for the Chiefs to come across the line, so it kind of puts everything else into perspective.”
After our interview with Munce, FOX4 also interviewed Johnson County Community College Communications Professor Terri Easley-Giraldo. She thought the survey results were specifically geared for state legislators.
“The question itself was rather worded in a unique way,” Easley-Giraldo said. “So, when you read the question that they ask, it was very leading, [speaking as] someone with a debate and communication background. It’s pretty obvious that they were trying to get a desired answer.”
Munce said he was hired by a public affairs firm that’s been involved in talking to legislators about this project. He would not say who hired him.
Separately Tuesday, FOX4 also found out about a group called ‘Scoop and Score’ that just filed an article of incorporation with the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office May 13. That turned out to be the same day Kansans were surveyed on the Chiefs idea.
Early Tuesday evening, FOX4 confirmed that former Republican House Speaker Ron Ryckman is a co-founder of Scoop and Score, which has a website.
“We’ve got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make Kansas the permanent home of the Chiefs,” Ryckman said in a statement sent to FOX4. “Scoop and Score’s mission is educating, advocating, and marshaling grassroots support for initiatives such as this spectacular economic development and cultural landmark opportunity for our state and region. We’ve learned a lot watching the Chiefs. You better believe we’re going to have an air game and a ground game to secure this win – we don’t intend to come in second.”
Munce says this issue transcends politics and is bipartisan among voters.
“Folks care about the Chiefs,” Munce added. “They care a lot about the Chiefs, and while they certainly care about marginal tax rates and sales tax and a lot of other of the minutia of how state governments operate, this is something that they see every day, and that they feel and touch and taste, and the idea of going to a Kansas stadium to watch their Super Bowl champions, people have more intense attitudes towards it. They’re more focused on it than really just about anything else.”
The Royals were not sampled in the survey. Munce said the group that hired him didn’t ask him to do that.
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