Lee's Summit committee hears state bill update; city readies white paper for land-transfer bill and seeks clarity on ARPA spending deadline

The Lee's Summit Legislative Intergovernmental Relations Committee received an update from city staff on state legislation and federal ARPA spending rules at a meeting where members approved the agenda and an action letter from the committee's Jan. 13 meeting.

City staff member Mr. Head summarized bills the city is tracking, led discussion of House Bill 431 (a land-transfer bill tied to a highway patrol location), and said the city provided a detailed white paper to legislators and expected to supply a brief written summary for committee testimony. "We provided a, kind of a white paper, kind of more significant than a white paper," Mr. Head said, adding Zach Pollock would testify on the city's behalf.

The update matters because the measures discussed affect local control over property needed for transportation projects and could alter how municipalities pursue design-build contracts, mutual aid and records protections. City officials said they are monitoring fiscal conditions at the state level and preparing materials to support Lee's Summit's interests.

Mr. Head told the committee the state is reporting a revenue decline: "it does appear that the the the decrease in, the state has had a decrease in overall, revenues coming in, and it was a negative 2.1%." He described House Bill 431 as the final land-transfer step for an area now held by the Office of Administration: the bill would transfer that parcel to MoDOT, which could then convey it to the city. Mr. Head said the bill was scheduled for a hearing before the Special Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs and that Representative Catton would carry the measure, with a companion Senate bill handled by "Senator Serpoy." He said the city had already received right-of-way parcels MoDOT previously held.

Other state measures Mr. Head flagged include Senate Bill 10, which would repeal the sunset on design-build authority and permit continued municipal use of design-build construction methods; Senate Bill 92, which would clarify jurisdictional agreements for officer or responder resources (mutual-aid) ahead of large events such as the World Cup; and a sunshine-law proposal that would allow closure of records containing identifiable personal information for people 17 or younger. Mr. Head said the Missouri Municipal League had testified for the design-build bill and that local police chiefs supported the mutual-aid bill.

Committee members pressed staff about federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds cited in the lobbyist report. One council member noted the report listed $2,600,000,000 and asked whether that differed from earlier figures and what "fully expended by the end of '26" would require. City staff Crystal explained how the city interpreted prior ARPA rules: "for our projects, it had to be actually expended. So we actually had to have paid whatever we were asking for, whatever we were using it for or asking for reimbursement for." She added that rule-making since the city's earlier ARPA awards had introduced more-lenient interpretations for some programs, and staff planned to ask lobbyists for clarification.

Mr. Head said staff planned to provide short, "shovel-ready" project lists to legislators and lobbyists so the city could be positioned if remaining funds became available. He also noted Representative Kim Strickler filed a parallel bill (numbered 1232) to provide bipartisan support for the land-transfer measure.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved the meeting agenda and approved the committee action letter from Jan. 13, 2025; both motions passed by recorded voice/roll-call votes.

The committee moved to roundtable discussion after the legislative update; members outlined upcoming visits to Jefferson City and Washington, D.C., to advocate for transportation and public-safety priorities and to invite state officials to a planned downtown farmers market ribbon-cutting. The meeting adjourned after setting the next meeting for March 10 at 11:30 a.m.