The governors in Kansas and Missouri have moved to end an economic “border war” that has gained their states unwanted national attention for using millions of dollars in incentives to entice companies into shifting jobs close to the Kansas City-area border.
Their truce appears shaky. An executive order that Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed Friday showed that officials in both states have yet to fully resolve a final sticking point: the ability of cities, counties and other local governments in Missouri to offer more lucrative local tax breaks than their counterparts in Kansas.
If Missouri officials don’t stop their generous local tax breaks, Kelly in her order threatens to call off the two states’ big, bipartisan deal, even with Friday’s declarations that the border war is over.
(Read more: Atchison Globe Now)