Kelly orders end to Kansas-Missouri border war. Will the truce hold?

TOPEKA -- Kansas and Missouri have now agreed to halt an economic border war they waged for years in an effort to lure businesses across state lines, but the ceasefire hinges on whether cities in the Kansas City area will go along.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed an executive order Friday telling her economic development officials to stop using incentives to lure existing Missouri jobs in Kansas City-area border counties. The economic carrots can now only go toward jobs that businesses create by moving.

Kelly’s order comes after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill in June holding his state to the same restrictions.

Now, officials on both sides of State Line Road are watching to see whether local governments will follow suit. Kelly’s order asks cities and counties to comply with the agreement, but they aren’t bound by it.

Read more: https://www-1.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article233437437.html