Tag: Wes Rogers

Legislature votes to strengthen Kansas City’s shot at World Cup

      The Missouri legislature has offered an assist to Kansas City’s bid at bringing the World Cup to Kansas City, and with it, hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s economy. 

Representative Jonathan Patterson (Photo credit: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “It’s estimated that it would bring $750-million to the state.  You’re going to need 50,000 hotel rooms.  [Fans] are going to come from all over the world and get to see all of Missouri.  They’re going to travel within Missouri and the country,” said Representative Jonathan Patterson (R-Lees Summit).  “100-million people watch the Super Bowl.  One billion people will watch the World Cup, so this is equivalent to 7 to ten Super Bowls.”

      The House and Senate passed legislation that would exempt tickets to the 2026 World Cup from sales taxes if it is held in Kansas City, which is one of 22 cities among 16 potential host sites vying for the event. 

      Patterson, who has spearheaded the effort in the House to get this legislation passed, said FIFA (the International Federation of Association Football) stipulated that whatever state hosts the World Cup not charge sales tax on their tickets.  He said Missouri would be the first state to meet that requirement, assuming Governor Mike Parson (R) signs into law House Bill 1606 and/or Senate Bill 652, both of which were sent to him last week. 

Legislators say the measure is a priority for the governor.

      “So we are going to be first in the organizers’ minds about states that have filled out a criteria that they wanted to meet before awarding a host site,” said Patterson.  “So I think with [these bills] we put ourselves in a very good position to get a host site.”

      Representative Wes Rogers (D-Kansas City) said this legislation was in no way just about Kansas City.

Representative Wes Rogers (Photo credit: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “People from as far away as the Lake [of the Ozarks] will need to provide housing.  There’s not enough housing in [Kansas City] and there won’t be.  You’re talking about people staying in Columbia, probably even Jefferson City and the Lake, so it’s statewide economic impact,” said Rogers.  “And they’re going to be here for a month, too, and there’s only a few soccer games, so they’re going to be going back and forth from Kansas City to St. Louis, and they’re going to go down to Springfield, and they’re going to see what else is around.  It’s not just the games, it’s also everything people are going to do while they’re here.”

      Rogers is quick to note that while the legislation would exempt taxes on the tickets, it will not exempt taxes on all the other places people will spend money while attending the World Cup. 

“For every hotel room, for every meal that they eat, for any time they go to the convenience store they’re going to be paying a lot of taxes, just not on the tickets themselves.”

      Both representatives say Kansas City is a great sports town with impressive facilities to go with good food and other draws, and they would hold it up against the other potential host sites.

      “I think this would put it on the map and really showcase it to the world,” said Patterson.  “I think with [these bills] we put ourselves in a very good position to get a host site.”

      The proposed exemption has broad bipartisan support.  The House vote on SB 652, which included only that language, was 141-5.  That bill and HB 1606 are awaiting action by Governor Parson.

Rep. Wes Rogers’ farewell address to the House

Representative Wes Rogers (D-Kansas City) spoke to his colleagues on Friday as he prepares to leave the House after serving two sessions.

“The amount of respect I have for so many people in this body, how much I truly just enjoy your friendship and your kindness and your perspective, even when it’s a different perspective than mine, I’m really going to miss that.”

Missouri college athletes to be able to profit from name, likeness under House bill

      Student athletes in Missouri colleges and universities can now profit off of their name, image, and likeness and hire an agent, under House legislation that has been signed into law.  The change would be effective beginning July 1 of next year and comes after the NCAA adopted a new policy on the matter.

Representative Nick Schroer (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communciations)

      Representative Nick Schroer (R-O’Fallon) was one sponsor of a proposal on the subject.  He said even before other states began passing such legislation, he saw it as an issue of freedom.

      He said students who weren’t athletes could make money, especially on social media, or sign endorsements.  This included anything from teaching piano lessons for pay to having a popular YouTube channel on a subject that could have nothing to do with what they were studying.

      “However if you’re a student athlete, the walls of liberty are blocked off, and for me it wasn’t fair.  Our free market should be something that everyone can take advantage of in our state and across the nation.  That was the biggest compelling point for me,” said Schroer.

      Representative Wes Rogers (D-Kansas City) agreed with that and other points, and noted that as long as Missouri didn’t have this kind of law its institutions were at a disadvantage in recruiting, to counterparts in other states.

      “We’re seeing that,” said Rogers.  “I represent parts of Kansas City and they didn’t do it in Kansas and they’re worried about us, and so absolutely it’s going to help.  Every state [with an SEC school that Mizzou plays against] have passed this, so if we didn’t pass it we would fall even further behind.”

      Rogers said this wasn’t just an issue for football and basketball programs in major schools.

      “This actually got started by women’s athletes in the PAC-12 out west who were Olympic-level athletes who were sleeping in their cars.  So you’ve got these women who are winning national titles on a track that can’t afford their basic needs because their scholarship doesn’t go far enough … it wasn’t big time football that got this rolling,” said Rogers.

Representative Wes Rogers (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Schroer said it also just makes sense to let students begin making money with which they can begin to control their educational debt even before they graduate.  He thinks it is that argument that led to many lawmakers supporting the language.

      “Let’s allow this freedom across the board – the same freedom that’s made this country phenomenal, the same freedom that has allowed people to pull themselves out of poverty.  I think we’ll be able to tackle this student debt issue by allowing this freedom here in the State of Missouri.”

      Colleges that use students’ names, images, and likenesses in commercial deals would have to have a financial development program for each of those students once a year.  Students who have entered into endorsements could not display a company’s name or logo during team activities if that display would conflict with the school’s contracts and licenses.

      The NCAA’s new policy adopted earlier this year allows students to profit off their name, image, or likeness within the bounds of their state’s laws.

      The language passed as part of House Bill 297, sponsored by Representative Wayne Wallingford (R-Cape Girardeau).