TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is criticizing a legislative effort to block his administration’s effort to lure the American Royal horse and livestock exhibition out of Kansas City, Missouri.
But the Republican governor said Thursday that he’s willing to work with lawmakers to overhaul a program in which the state authorizes bonds backed by sales tax revenues to help finance economic development projects. Brownback said the so-called STAR bonds program is “loose.”
Legislators included a provision in budget legislation that blocks Brownback’s administration from issuing such debt for any Wyandotte County project through June 2017 unless lawmakers tighten up the STAR bonds program.
The governor said it’s inappropriate to single out a single county. A recent Department of Commerce report showed a site in Wyandotte County for an American Royal development.
