Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) and Missouri Governor Michael Parson (R) its July 2024 Porkers of the Month for renewing the fight to locate the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to their respective sides of the Missouri River.

In 2019, the governors agreed to a truce to avoid a border war for the teams. However, that came to an end when Gov. Kelly signed legislation to provide up to $1.4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to move the teams to Kansas, after which Gov. Parson began looking for options to keep the teams on his side of the Missouri River. The losers in this new battle will be the taxpayers.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “Professional sports teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals may bring local pride but they provide little to no economic benefits to local communities. Battles over stadium retention or relocation place a substantial financial burden on the backs of taxpayers, instead of the team owners who are the real beneficiaries in subsidized stadium deals. The decision to make Governors Kelly and Parson the July Porkers of the Month was therefore easy and well-deserved as they push ahead with the scourge of stadium subsidies that should be stopped rather than expanded.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. For more than two decades, Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the taxpayers.

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