Lucas blasts proposed Missouri oversight Kansas City’s COVID relief spending

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Jeanne Kuang, Steve Vockrodt
·4 min read
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Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas slammed a proposal Monday by state lawmakers to review cities’ pandemic aid spending, the latest in a series of legislative moves that city officials say undermines the principle of local control.

The proposal was heard by the House Budget Committee Monday, as Lucas’ administration prepares this week to outline how he wants to spend the first $95 million that the city has received from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan.

The bill sponsored by House Budget Chair Cody Smith, a Carthage Republican, would form a state oversight committee to look into local governments’ spending of those dollars to root out fraud.

Cities and counties would be required to report their American Rescue Plan expenditures to the committee, which would also hold hearings, take testimony, review contracts and issue public reports on the local spending. It would not have veto power over local spending decisions.

Lucas blasted the bill shortly after the hearing at a City Hall press conference, calling it a “check” on the city that would interfere with local decision-making. He has also denounced efforts in the General Assembly to lift the Kansas City Police Department’s residency requirement and a bill that would allow passengers to carry guns onto public transit.

“I have incredible disagreements with the legislature signing off on our plans” with the federal money, Lucas said. “The reason [the bill] was written the way it was was because the last time kind of shafted a lot of American cities, including this one.”

Smith told the House Budget Committee that the bill was not an attempt to assert control of local relief spending.

“The concept would be that they provide oversight to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, to not necessarily direct [cities] on the spending but to make sure that they’re within the guidelines and not wasting any of the money,” Smith said. “I think that it’s almost inevitable with the volume of dollars that are coming to the state, that some mistakes will be made, potentially unintentionally.”

Kansas City will get $195 million from the American Rescue Plan. In total, $2.4 billion will flow to cities and counties across Missouri while the state government would get $2.8 billion directly. Federal rules on spending the money are more flexible than those that covered the aid provided by last year’s bill, the CARES Act. For example, this year, state and local governments can use the money to replace revenue lost during the pandemic.

CARES Act, distributions to cities with fewer than 500,000 residents were handled by counties. Kansas City fell just short of that threshold, putting the city in the awkward position of having to ask each of the counties its sprawling municipal boundaries cross — Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass — for funds. It had more success with some counties than others.

“Is Kansas City just a colony of a bunch of voiceless people who have no idea what they can do or are you actually going to trust the people of Kansas City to do something?” Lucas said.

Some House Democrats questioned whether the oversight is necessary because State Auditor Nicole Galloway already has the power to review local spending. Others said the proposal appeared to be a partisan check on Democrat-controlled big cities’ spending of their own money.

But Smith said the proposed committee would review all local governments.

“When I speak to counties and cities that are ill-prepared for this, I am speaking of the more rural areas that I’ve heard from, from county commissioners and city managers that are telling me, ‘Hey, we don’t really know how to do this, it makes us very nervous,’” Smith said.

The oversight panel would consist of a state senator appointed by Senate President Dave Schatz, a representative appointed by House Speaker Rob Vescovo, Galloway, State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick and the state’s budget director, Dan Haug. Of those, only Galloway is a Democrat. Haug answers to Gov. Mike Parson’s administration.

David Kirby, legal counsel for Galloway’s office, said the office is concerned that her serving on the committee would raise conflicts of interest because she already audits local spending.

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