Kansas passes huge incentive bill to lure KC Chiefs and Royals, Illinois families look forward to new Child Tax Credit, Trump thinks must-win Milwaukee is horrible and more

The Heartland POD, Friday June 21, 2024Kansas Legislature passes incentive bill to lure Kanas City Chiefs and RoyalsRather than preside over clown show convention, IL GOP chair resignsIllinois families cheer $300 state Child Tax CreditDems confident, Republicans morose in ongoing IVF battleThis week in ‘unforced errors’ Trump calls Milwaukee a ‘horrible city’ causing his pollster to be… also morose. We’re glad to have you with us. If you’re new to our shows make sure you subscribe and leave a 5-star rating wherever you listen. You can also find Heartland POD content on Youtube and on social media @ THE heartland pod, and learn more at https://theheartlandcollective.comLots to do, so let’s go! Kansas Legislature passes incentive bill to lure Kansas City Chiefs, RoyalsBY: ALLISON KITE - JUNE 18, 2024 3:26 PM   Brady Singer of the Kansas City Royals throws in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Kauffman Stadium in April. (Ed Zurga/Getty Images).TOPEKA — The Kansas City Royals and Chiefs could receive hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue to move from Missouri and build new stadiums across the state line under legislation passed Tuesday by Kansas lawmakers.The House voted 84-38 and the Senate voted 27-8 to approve legislation that would expand a state incentive program in an attempt to lure one or both teams from Kansas City. The bill now heads to Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, who said in a statement following the Senate vote that the effort to bring the teams to Kansas “shows we’re all-in on keeping our beloved teams in the Kansas City metro.”“Kansas now has the opportunity to become a professional sports powerhouse with the Chiefs and Royals potentially joining Sporting KC as major league attractions, all with robust, revenue-generating entertainment districts surrounding them providing new jobs, new visitors and new revenues that boost the Kansas economy,” Kelly said.Neither team has promised to move to Kansas, though both actively lobbied for the legislation’s passage. The Chiefs said in a statement that the team appreciated Kansas leaders reaching out for input on the legislation.“We look forward to exploring the options this legislation may provide,” the statement said. The Royals said the team was grateful to the legislature for its vote. “The Kansas City Royals look forward to additional conversations as we evaluate where we will play baseball in the future,” the team said. “We will always prioritize the best interests of our fans, associates and taxpayers in this process.”State Rep. Sean Tarwater, a Republican from Stilwell, said during debate in the House that Missouri had a history of losing professional sports teams and implored fellow House members to pass the legislation.“I ask you today, do you really want to put that type of an economic generation in the hands of the state of Missouri?” Tarwater said just before the vote.Rep. Sean Tarwater speaks on the floor of the Kansas House of Representatives in favor of expanding economic incentives in an attempt to bring the Kansas City Chiefs or Royals to Kansas. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)Passage of the bill represents a monumental step in Kansas lawmakers’ attempts to court the teams. Both teams have signaled a willingness to move from their current stadiums at the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, Missouri.While neither team has announced a proposed site for a Kansas stadium, legislators speculated it could land in Wyandotte County near the Sporting KC soccer stadium, NASCAR track and outlet shops.“We have the history of building amazing projects that have brought in retail commerce, restaurants, hotels and have improved an area that was largely just a field and turned it into a tax-generating machine for our state,” said Sen. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican.The legislation, he said, would put Kansas in a “very good position to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals in the Kansas City metro area.”The bill, which was not voted on by any legislative committee, would expand the state’s Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond program, which is meant to help finance tourism and entertainment districts to help pay for a professional football or baseball stadium of at least $1 billion.A developer building a stadium under the program would be eligible to finance up to 70% of the project cost by issuing bonds and repaying them with the increased sales tax collections from the stadium site. The expansion would have initially allowed up to 75% of project costs but was tweaked before introduction. Debt on a stadium constructed under the expansion wouldn’t have to be repaid for 30 years instead of the normal 20.The project could also receive a boost from liquor taxes generated in the STAR Bond district and revenues from a fund Kansas created when it legalized sports betting.During House debate, Rep. Paul Waggoner, a Hutchinson Republican, argued subsidized stadiums never generate the economic activity that they promise. He was alarmed by what he called “minimal transparency” in the deal-making process laid out in the legislation.The bill says any agreement between the state and a team would be confidential until after it has been executed.Waggoner called the legislation “bad public policy.”“This is not your mother’s STAR Bonds,” Waggoner said. “This is a jacked up super-sized version of STAR Bonds.”Patrick Mahomes throws pass against the Buffalo Bills during the third quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 23, 2022. Kansas lawmakers could offer the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals millions of dollars in tax incentives to move from Missouri to Kansas. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images).The bill limits the eligibility to National Football League or Major League Baseball teams currently near Kansas. The financing mechanism could be used for both stadiums and training facilities.Both teams have pressed lawmakers in recent weeks to pass the bill with representatives from the Royals hosting dinner for Democratic lawmakers at a steakhouse Monday night and the Chiefs throwing a lunchtime block party Tuesday steps from the Capitol.Earlier this month, a nonprofit called Scoop and Score Inc. launched to advocate for a Kansas stadium deal. The organization, which does not have to disclose its donors, hired 30 lobbyists to advocate for the STAR Bond expansion legislation. In a statement, former Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a lobbyist for Scoop and Score and the Chiefs, said the Legislature “stepped up in a big way, paving the path to make sure the Chiefs stay right where they belong — in Kansas City with their loyal fans.”“The votes show overwhelming bipartisan support because Kansas lawmakers know what the Chiefs mean to us and how big of an economic opportunity this is for Kansas,” Ryckman said.Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignationAfter 3 ½ years as ILGOP chair, Don Tracy cites intraparty fighting as reason for quittingBy HANNAH MEISELCapitol News Illinoishmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.comHalfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party.Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in a two-page letter that cited intraparty “power struggles.” He also said he is concerned about the direction the party is taking under the current membership of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee – a 17-person body that steers the ILGOP, with one member elected from each congressional district.“In better days, Illinois Republicans came together after tough intra party elections,” Tracy wrote. “Now however, we have Republicans who would rather fight other Republicans than engage in the harder work of defeating incumbent Democrats by convincing swing voters to vote Republican.”Tracy was narrowly elected Illinois Republican Party chair in the wake of the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol by those who sought to stop certification of the election for its winner, President Joe Biden, over former President Donald Trump. Even as Republicans publicly reckoned with the events of Jan. 6, hardline conservatives on the state central committee were pushing for a more ardent supporter of Trump and his politics than the previous chair, who was hand-picked by former Gov. Bruce Rauner.Instead, the party got Tracy, another Rauner ally who served as chair of the Illinois Gaming Board during the one-term governor’s administration. Tracy had unsuccessfully run for lieutenant governor in 2010, and in 2002, he lost a bid for a state Senate seat – but as a Democrat.Tracy’s electoral history, as well as his experience as an attorney and co-owner of his family’s food distribution business, fit the mold of previous ILGOP chairs in a state where fiscally conservative and socially moderate suburban Republicans for decades were a political powerhouse.But as Republican politics have changed both nationally and in Illinois, Tracy’s run as party chair proved tumultuous.Additionally, Tracy wrote that he was “concerned about the current infatuation” of some state central committee members “with certain individuals they call ‘grass roots’ leaders.”One such self-proclaimed grassroots Republican, former state Sen. Darren Bailey, celebrated Tracy’s resignation on social media Wednesday, calling it a “cleansing” of the state GOP.“Fake republicans got us into this mess,” wrote Bailey, who earlier this year lost a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Mike Bost and unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022. “Real Republicans standing firm will get us out!!!”Read more: Dems seek unity as new, former chair take no questions from media after party voteDemocrats panned the state GOP as “defined by a litany of electoral disasters, constant infighting, meager fundraising, and a strict adherence to a losing set of anti-choice, anti-worker, pro-Trump policies.”“While we don’t expect new leadership to change any of that, we do wish the best of luck to the inevitable MAGA extremist who will succeed Don Tracy as Chair,” the party said.Tracy’s letter indicated he would resign upon the election of a successor, “preferably no later than” July 19 – the day after the RNC is scheduled to conclude. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?(Capitol News Illinois illustration by Andrew Adams)Thursday, June 13, 2024$50M tax credit program will provide up to roughly $300 for low-income familiesBy ANDREW ADAMSCapitol News Illinoisaadams@capitolnewsillinois.comIn the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although it has exceptions, that credit is generally available to married couples earning up to about $60,000 and single people earning up to about $50,000, depending on the number of children they have. For taxes on 2024 income, the tax credit will cap at just over $300 for tax filers with three or more children who meet certain income requirements. Taxpayers with two children face a cap of about $270 and taxpayers with one child face a cap of about $170. The child tax credit equates to 20 percent of the state’s EITC, which allows Illinois taxpayers a credit equal to 20 percent of the federal EITC. Starting in tax year 2025, the state’s child tax credit will double to 40 percent of the state EITC, meaning that it will max out at a bit over $600 for families with three children. Because the federal tax credit that determines its size is tied to inflation, the actual size of future years’ child tax credits is yet to be determined. In its first year, the program is expected to cost the state $50 million, with a cost of about $100 million in subsequent years. The idea of a permanent child tax credit in Illinois has been floated for several years, with various proposals being put forward by legislators in the General Assembly as well as advocacy groups and think tanks. Gov. JB Pritzker pitched a child tax credit in his proposed budget earlier this year that was smaller than the version that passed in the final budget. It would have applied to children under three years old and cost about $12 million. Proponents of the idea say that in addition to helping low-income families, programs like this help local economies. “Every dollar we invest in the child tax credit is immediately spent locally,” Erion Malasi, the policy director for Economic Security for Illinois, told Capitol News Illinois. Researchers at the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, a labor movement-affiliated think tank, found in a January report that child tax credits have a higher economic impact than cuts to corporate income taxes or to capital gains taxes. That report also cited several research teams that found the temporary expansion to the federal child tax credit between 2021 and 2023 reduced child poverty in the U.S. by between 25 and 36 percent. That credit provided an additional $1,000 per child on top of an existing $2,000 credit, with increases for younger children. State Sen. Omar Aquino, D-Chicago, sponsored legislation that would have created a $300 million child tax credit program that was more expansive than the version that passed. Aquino told Capitol News Illinois he will be watching the rollout of the child tax credit to see if there is room for an “expansion” in future budget years or if there is a route for the credit to be automatically applied for qualifying taxpayers. The Illinois Department of Revenue is working on guidance for next year's filing season and will provide information about how to claim the child tax credit on its website. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.Kansas’ Davids lauds court decision on abortion pill; Marshall critiques Democrats’ IVF billBY: TIM CARPENTER - JUNE 13, 2024 4:56 PM   U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, applauded a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to turn aside a lawsuit seeking to direct the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to significantly limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas said the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of an attempt to undermine the federal Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of a widely available abortion medication wouldn’t be the final act by opponents of reproductive rights.On Thursday, the Supreme Court said the plaintiffs, comprised of anti-abortion physicians and organizations, didn’t have standing to pursue the lawsuit against the FDA aimed at curtailing access to the drug mifepristone. It’s possible other plaintiffs capable of showing they were harmed by availability of the pill could challenge FDA approval of the drug. It is used in approximately half of all abortions in the United States.“I will always stand with Kansans who overwhelmingly rejected extremist attempts to limit reproductive health care access,” said Davids, the 3rd District Democrat. “Yet, for the second year in a row, a vital and safe reproductive health care medication was under attack, threatening to strip Kansans’ ability to freely make health care decisions that are best for their families and futures.”Davids said the Supreme Court opinion was “a victory for our freedoms,” but the legal fight regarding abortion access was far from over. She vowed to continue opposing attempts to “interfere in our most private health care decisions.”U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, signed an amicus brief urging federal courts to rule the FDA overstepped its authority years ago in regard to use of mifepristone. U.S. Reps. Ron Estes, Tracey Mann and Jake LaTurner, signed a brief that argued the Supreme Court should reverse the FDA.These Kansas lawmakers said the FDA’s action to deregulate “chemical abortion drugs” subverted Congress’ public policy interests and patient welfare.Mifepristone, which is authorized for up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy, was part of two-drug regimen that included misoprostol as the second pharmaceutical.Meanwhile, both U.S. senators from Kansas, Republicans Jerry Moran and Marshall, voted Thursday to block legislation offered by Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois that would affirm the right of women attempting to become pregnant to seek fertility treatments that included in vitro fertilization or IVF.The Senate vote on that measure was 48-47, short of the 60 votes required to advance the measure.On Wednesday, Marshall said the Duckworth bill contained “poison pills” that violated the religious freedom of physicians and would unnecessarily broaden access to reproductive technology. He praised a piece of IVF legislation sponsored by Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.Marshall, a physician who delivered babies for 30 years in Kansas said, “The country needs to know that Republicans believe in IVF. I happen to believe IVF is a gift from God.”Sean: Unfortunately for Senator Marshall, he doesn’t speak for all Republicans, many of whom are far out of the mainstream on whether they believe families should be able to access IVF.And today in unforced errors…Trump tells House Republicans Milwaukee is a ‘horrible city’BY: HENRY REDMAN - JUNE 13, 2024 10:51 AM   Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally on Wednesday, May 1, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson | Getty Images)In a closed door meeting with Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, Donald Trump reportedly called Milwaukee, the location of this summer’s Republican National Convention, a “horrible city.” Trump’s comments were reported by Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman. “Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city,” Trump is reported to have said on Thursday. The former president visited Wisconsin in May, holding a rally in Waukesha. During that visit, he talked about the RNC coming to Milwaukee, making fun of Democrats — who planned to hold the 2020 Democratic National Convention in the city but canceled it due to the COVID-19 pandemic — for not showing up to the city. Wisconsin’s House Republicans responded to the report with varying stories about what happened. Rep. Glenn Grothman told reporters Trump was talking about “election integrity” in large urban centers, Rep. Derrick Van Orden said the report was a lie and that Trump was talking about the city’s crime rate and Rep. Bryan Steil denied that Trump made the comment at all.In response to the comment, Democrats said if Trump doesn’t like Milwaukee, he doesn’t need to come. “If Donald Trump hates Milwaukee so much, we have one message for him: don’t come, we won’t miss you — your campaign is barely here in the first place,” Democratic National Committee spokesperson Addy Toevs said in a statement. “In November, Wisconsinites will show Trump how the dislike is mutual and will reject him again once and for all.”Other Democrats touted Milwaukee’s beer, food and sports teams while connecting the comments to regular Republican attacks against Wisconsin’s largest and most diverse city.“Donald Trump attacking the great city of Milwaukee as a ‘horrible city’ exactly one month before he shuffles out on stage at the Fiserv reflects the backward, twisted man Donald Trump has always been,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Vice Chair Felesia Martin said. “With entertainment, recreation and a quality of life that is unparalleled — to say nothing of a great basketball team — I am blessed to call Milwaukee home. We’re used to Republican politicians like Donald Trump showing nothing but contempt for Milwaukee and the folks who live here: they know our power, and they’re afraid of the city we are building here, together. Once again, Trump has demonstrated why he should not be elected to the highest office in the land. He does not possess the discipline, respect, thoughtfulness, nor the maturity necessary to lead our country.”Trump is expected to visit southeastern Wisconsin again next week, for a planned rally in Racine on Tuesday. Because he knows if he wants to be president again, he has to win there. Wild.
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