Stadium funding bill runs into trouble

Associated Press WriterJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A bill providing state money to stadiums in St. Louis and Kansas City ran into big trouble Thursday when a lone lawmaker used her authority to try to block the bill.

The stadium legislation, which already has passed the Senate, received a hearing before the House Fiscal Review Committee, which must clear all bills with a cost.

But chairwoman Kate Hollingsworth, D-Imperial, tried to adjourn the meeting without a vote and hurried out of the room. After she left, fellow committee members voted not to adjourn, then voted 5-3 to send the stadium bill back to the House floor for debate.

But the committee vote may not hold up.

As committee chairwoman, Hollingsworth must physically turn in the bill to House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, in order for it to receive House debate.

Hollingsworth said she was not inclined to release the bill yet and was concerned about its future cost to taxpayers.

The bill would authorize the state to spend $644 million over three decades, with the biggest bulk benefitting the Cardinals, Chiefs and Royals. Some of that money also would go to the Savvis Center in St. Louis and developments in Branson and Springfield.

State funding for the major projects would start in July 2005. Even then, supporters say the projects would return more to the state in new taxes than the state provides in subsidies.

But Hollingsworth said she was not convinced.

By House rules, the committee only considered the bill's financial impact for the next three fiscal years, which is minimal. Hollingsworth said she wants to examine the bill's long-term efffect.

"I am not going to send out a bill that's potentially costing millions of dollars to the taxpayers of the state of Missouri without a full review of that," Hollingsworth said in an interview. She said she had not decided whether she would ultimately vote for the legislation.

Rep. Dennis Bonner chased Hollingsworth out the back door of the committee room, saying she had no authority to adjourn the meeting. When Bonner returned, vice chairwoman Yvonne Wilson, D-Kansas City, continued the meeting and allowed a vote on the bill.

Bonner, D-Independence, said Hollingsworth "was trying to kill the bill using dictator-style tactics."

News of Hollingsworth's move sent shockwaves through the Capitol as lobbyists for the Cardinals huddled in the hallways trying to come up with a strategy to somehow get the bill on the House floor for debate.

While a major setback, Bonner said the fight for the stadium funding plan is not over.

"Does it complicate passage of the bill? Possibly," Bonner said. "We'll see what happens. Things are crazy right now."

Should the stadium funding bill make it the House floor, it could face another battle from representatives who are staunchly opposed to it.

------Stadium bill is HB1279 (Kinder).

On the Net:

Missouri Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us