JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Mike Kehoe on Saturday signed a series of bills following the Legislature’s special session, approving a $1.5 billion stadium incentive plan for Kansas City and more than $100 million to help St. Louis recover from the May 16 tornado, among other measures.

The House sent the plans to the governor on Tuesday.

“We called legislators back to Jefferson City because the stakes were too high to wait,” Kehoe said in a statement. “Families and communities needed disaster relief, taxpayers deserved certainty, and critical job-saving investments were on the line.”

Kehoe, a Republican in his first year in office, called lawmakers back to the Capitol to secure the stadium subsidy plan to compete against an offer from Kansas.

The Kansas City Royals baseball team plans to build a new stadium and surrounding entertainment district totaling $1 billion to $2 billion in the coming years. The Chiefs football team is considering $1.15 billion in upgrades to Arrowhead stadium.

The governor, who actively lobbied lawmakers for approval, pushed for the subsidies to counter an offer by Kansas lawmakers that would pay for 70% of the cost of new stadiums at a location west of the city. Kansas had set a June 30 deadline for the teams to decide.

The Missouri plan would pay an estimated 50% of the stadium costs, using tax revenue generated by the teams. The legislation calls for local governments to pay a share of the costs.

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team also would be eligible for aid in future years, although Busch Stadium was not the focus of the effort.

In a move aimed at garnering Democratic votes to get the proposal over the finish line, Kehoe called for the addition of $100 million in tornado relief for St. Louis, reeling after an EF3 twister blasted the city a day after lawmakers ended their regular spring session.

Other provisions aim to help offset insurance and property tax liabilities of people affected by the storm. Another $25 million will go to other areas of the state facing tornado cleanup costs.

The sprawling package also includes $360 million in brick-and-mortar projects that were left on the wayside during the tumultuous end of the Legislature’s regular session.

Among the projects: The University of Missouri will receive $50 million in state aid for a research nuclear reactor at its flagship campus in Columbia. The Department of Agriculture will get $55 million for new barns at the Missouri State Fair. And the Department of Natural Resources lands $13 million for state park improvements.

Conservative Republicans in the Senate inserted language limiting property tax increases in 97 counties, which garnered needed votes from two members of the Senate’s hard-right Freedom Caucus.

Under the proposal, 22 counties could have their property taxes frozen at the current rate, and 75 would be limited to only a 5% maximum increase every two years. The freeze or limitations would need to be voted on by the county’s residents.

Property taxes could still be increased through a voter-approved levy or if the value of property increases due to renovations or new construction.

St. Louis and St. Louis County were not included in the property tax portion of the package.