Kansas governor declared a World Cup emergency. GOP senators may let it expire

Matthew Kelly, The Kansas City Star on Feb 24, 2026

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Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Republicans in the state Senate are at an impasse over the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Earlier this month, the Democratic governor declared a state of emergency in three counties — Johnson, Wyandotte and Douglas — that will be most impacted by the sudden arrival of an estimated 650,000 visitors to the Kansas City region this summer.

Some GOP senators worry the move could give her too much power.

Kelly’s office has described the emergency declaration as a necessary step for ensuring public safety. It provides the legal structure to coordinate local, state, and federal resources for preparation and emergency management activities, said Grace Hoge, a spokesperson for Kelly.

“A state of disaster emergency proclamation is the implementing factor for the state to request assistance from other states if needed through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact,” Hoge said in an email statement.

But without the Legislature’s approval, emergency declarations only last for up to 15 days. Kelly issued the declaration on Feb. 9, meaning it will expire Tuesday if no action is taken.

She asked lawmakers to extend the declaration through July 30. Last week, the House voted 121-2 to do just that. But the same resolution was pulled from the Senate calendar Thursday without a debate or vote.

“It became very clear to me that the caucus, Senate Republicans, had a lot of reservations and a lot of questions about why this emergency declaration was even warranted and whether state statutes were even set up for emergency declarations for something like the World Cup,” said Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi, a Wichita Republican, in an interview.

“All we were told was, it’s just to collaborate with federal and state partners. But the question was, can that not already happen without an emergency declaration?”

A soccer emergency

Under state law, when an emergency has been declared, the governor can compel evacuations, commandeer private property to cope with the disaster and suspend regulatory statutes related to how state business is conducted, among other things.

Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, said he’s hesitant to give Kelly broad authority to make decisions without lawmakers’ approval for the next five months.

“I fail to see what kind of an emergency there is,” Thompson said in an interview.

Kansas City will play host to four group-stage World Cup matches in June and two knockout-round matches in July. All six matches will be held at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri, but two national teams will make their base camps in Kansas — Algeria at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and Argentina at the Sporting KC Training Centre in KCK.

Kansas lawmakers contributed $28 million of state money to help secure the World Cup.

“If it was a disaster, why did we give them money to entice them to come? Do they expect riots in Leawood? I don’t know,” Thompson said.

He said some Republican lawmakers are still bitter about Kelly’s use of emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Once we had that emergency declaration for COVID, she shut down the state — kept it shut down for a long time, really. A lot longer than we should have,” Thompson said.

“Once you abuse your authority in that regard, it’s kind of hard to regain trust, and a lot of us are very skeptical of allowing that kind of authority for something like this,” he said.

Hoge, Kelly’s spokesperson, said, “there are significant legislative guardrails that ensure balanced governance during emergency proclamations.”

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said extending the emergency declaration would guarantee that first responders have the funding they need to handle any emergencies that may arise during the tournament.

“This declaration is crucial to ensuring our state is prepared to host one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and I am disappointed in my Republican colleagues who have placed their own political woes about our governor ahead of the safety and security of Kansans and our visitors,” Sykes said in an email statement.