Missouri House votes against $10M for fund to help victims of KC Chiefs rally shooting

The Missouri House on Tuesday voted against providing funding to an initiative designed to help victims of the February mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade.

Rep. Emily Weber, a Kansas City Democrat, filed an amendment to the proposed state budget on Tuesday that would have contributed $10 million to the #KCStrong Fund created by the Chiefs and United Way of Greater Kansas City.

House lawmakers rejected the amendment in a 41 to 101 vote late Tuesday evening.

The initiative was created in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting that killed one person and injured more than 20. Money raised goes to support the victims of the shooting and to violence prevention organizations, according to the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

“You won’t let us have a discussion about common sense gun legislation. We can’t talk about it,” Weber said on the House floor. “At least let us fund an organization to help with the effects of gun violence.”

The fund has raised more than $1.6 million since its launch. Donations listed on the fund’s website include $200,000 from the Chiefs, Hunt Family Foundation and the NFL; $100,000 from The Kansas City Royals Foundation and The Sherman Family Foundation; and, $50,000 from Patrick and Brittany Mahomes — along with their “15 & the Mahomies Foundation.”

Weber’s amendment would have pulled $10 million from the federal fund for the Missouri Department of Mental Health. The fund includes federal grants and is used to pay Medicaid claims.

Rep. Cody Smith, a Carthage Republican who chairs the House budget-writing committee, said on Tuesday that the fund was already fully-appropriated and the state could not afford the proposal. It would cause the state mental health department to cut funding elsewhere, he said.

“All of that money in this fund is appropriated already,” said Smith, who is running for state treasurer. “There is no additional revenue there to support this appropriation. For that reason, I cannot support it.”

Weber pushed back.

“There’s $300 million that is in this fund that does not get spent,” she said. “We are only asking for $10 (million). That is it.”

Department spokesperson Debra Walker said in an email before the vote that the state agency does not comment on pending legislation. However, Walker said that the amount in the fund “changes constantly and is currently fully obligated” under Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

Prior to Tuesday’s rejection, a representative from the #KCStrong fund said in an email that the initiative was “accepting any and all contributions” and confirmed that dollars would have gone “to support the named priorities of the fund.”

The chamber’s rejection of Weber’s proposal comes as Missouri Republicans have largely refused to entertain calls from Democrats to address gun violence in the wake of the shooting.

Missouri Democrats from Kansas City used Weber’s amendment as an opportunity to discuss gun control on the House floor. One by one, Weber called on Reps. Patty Lewis, Yolanda Young, Ashley Aune, Richard Brown, Ashley Bland Manlove and Deb Lavender from Manchester in St. Louis County.

Young spoke about her 32-year-old son, Alan Young Jr., who was killed in a homicide in late 2022. His death has had a “profound impact” on her family, his friends and their community.

“I’m just really getting to where I can say his name,” Young said. “Alan Young Jr.’s life was taken by someone who used a firearm.”

“We have argued (about) gun violence, both sides of the aisle. (It) hasn’t produced much change,” Young said. “But I do believe providing some funding for organizations who do the work, who rub shoulders with the people in the communities whose lives it impacts every day, will make a big difference.”

The February shooting has sparked fury from gun control advocates who point to the state’s laws surrounding firearms which are among the loosest in the country and severely restrain local municipalities from setting their own gun laws.

Just days after the shooting, Missouri Democrats filed a slew of proposals that would allow Kansas City and other local governments to set stricter limits on guns. But the efforts face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

Tuesday’s vote came as the Missouri House worked through its version of the roughly $50 billion state budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. The proposed budget includes $727.5 million to rebuild Interstate-44, $1.5 billion to increase broadband access and $8 million to support border control efforts at the southern border with Mexico.

House Republicans on Tuesday also rejected a flurry of other amendments from Democrats, including proposals intended to boost teacher pay and add increases to higher education.

The House is poised to approve its version of the spending plan this week and send it to the Senate. Once approved by both chambers, it would go to Parson’s desk.