Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe knows he faces some headwinds in the renewed push to pass the Show-Me Sports Investment Act , which would create a new tax-incentive option for qualifying professional sports stadium construction and renovation projects.

“There are some raw nerves out there and some wounded feelings, and I'm asking them (unhappy legislators) to consider that these initiatives that we will put before them are very time sensitive and very needy,” Kehoe said.

That's why he announced Tuesday morning at the Missouri Capitol that he was calling the legislature back to Jefferson City for a special session , which begins at noon on June 2.

An amendment to Senate Bill 80, which marked Kehoe’s first effort to push the legislation through , breezed through the House of Representatives by a 60-vote margin May 13, but the Missouri Senate declined to take up the amendment before the regular session adjourned a day later.

House Budget Chair Dirk Deaton’s decision to spike a $520-million infrastructure spending bill, House Bill 19, in the final days of the budget fight rankled some in the Senate — who, in turn, questioned the wisdom of carving out a new tax-incentive tool for pro sports teams mere days after scuttling funding for cancer research, mental-health facilities, law-enforcement priorities, and other projects.

“As legislators return to Jefferson City next week, I hope they will find common ground on these priorities for our state,” Kehoe said in announcing a special session and recalling the state legislature next week. “I want to say to them, as a former legislator, I know it can be tough to move on from disagreements and failed negotiations, but we must.”

Several of the projects chopped when HB19 was axed also are part of the special session, an effort to appease angry legislators and cobble together the 18 votes needed in the Senate to get the bill across the finish line.

Kehoe addressed the timing of the Show-Me Sports Investment Act — saying he would have brought forth the proposed stadium-funding bill, which many view as a prerequisite to have any chance of keeping the Chiefs and Royals in Missouri, earlier in the session, but the parameters needed to be decided.

“I thought the package was significant enough that it may ultimately require a special session as we were developing it, but we really didn't have the cake baked until the last couple of weeks of session with agreement from the teams and stakeholders and different people ... just an understanding of what a competitive offer should look like,” Kehoe said.

But he made no bones about the importance of the bill with respect to the future of the Royals and Chiefs in Missouri.

“I believe if Missouri does not put some sort of offer forward, and I'm not speaking for either of those teams, but I think the risk is real that they don't stay here,” Kehoe said.

The impacts are real as well, he said.

“If they move out of our state, the significant effect it's going to have on our state's economy is massive,” Kehoe said. “... This just isn't about football and baseball. As I said before, this is about economic development. This is two organizations that have businesses, employees and a ripple effect on our state's economy that we do not want to move to any other state.”

Kehoe’s office said in a release the Chiefs contribute $575 million in economic value and 4,500 jobs annually in Jackson County alone, generating nearly $30 million in annual tax revenue, while a new Royals ballpark district would support 8,400 jobs and generate $1.2 billion in annual economic output.

“The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals are Missouri's teams ... and they drive billions of dollars in economic activity through tourism, job creation and small business — including hotels, restaurants and retails,” Kehoe said.

He doesn’t want to be the governor who lost them — leaving Missouri with no NFL teams and only one major pro sports team, the Kansas City Current, outside St. Louis.

“They'll still have to make a decision, but we wanted to get our ducks in a row,” Kehoe said.

The proposed new funding mechanism redirects tax revenue generated from an NFL or MLB stadium back to the team to cover a portion of construction and renovation costs.

It’s similar to STAR Bonds, a tool in Kansas that the legislature expanded last summer in an effort to poach the Chiefs and Royals, but it’s also principally the same as abatements or other tax-deferral/forgiveness strategies that governments use to spur development or redevelopment, examples of which abound in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Kehoe stressed that there’s no deal in place with the teams guaranteeing they remain in Missouri, adding that additional funding at the local and county levels probably would be necessary — though those costs would be significantly lower with the state tax incentives in place.

“For months, we have worked with legislators, local leaders and the teams to make sure that Missouri has a competitive package on the table,” Kehoe said. “We believe this financing tool, the Show-Me State Sports Investment Act, is a competitive offer, but also a good deal for Missouri taxpayers.”

The funding plans would yield 30-year lease agreements, preventing the state from being stuck holding the bag as it was when the Rams abandoned The Dome at America’s Center, formerly the Trans World Dome and the Edwards Jones Dome, for Los Angeles.

The Chiefs and Royals declined to comment on Kehoe’s announcement.

The special session also will discuss money for natural-disaster relief, Kehoe announced.