KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One day after Amendment 4 passed in Missouri, forcing Kansas City to boost funding to its police department, Mayor Quinton Lucas has filed a motion, asking a judge to investigate Senate Bill 678.

The mayor argues the state law raising the city’s required police funding to 25% of general revenues is unconstitutional. Kansas City is the only city impacted by the bill and amendment that Missourians statewide voted on.

Lucas said the second step will be challenging the ballot language of Amendment 4.

“It’s not constitutional,” Lucas said. “The very simple reason for that is they passed the bill before they passed the amendment, and there’s nothing in the amendment that makes the amendment retroactive, goes backwards applying back to when it was signed I believe in June of 2022.”

Lucas said he’s not surprised the amendment passed Tuesday night, but the mayor also said that doesn’t stop him from trying to intercede.

“The other thing that I think is problematic and why I will continue to fight the courts on this is because nothing in that amendment actually supports our police officers,” he said. “It does not guarantee increased salaries for them. It does not guarantee increased benefits.”

State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer who introduced the bill, said:

“The mayor’s lawsuit is frivolous after voters overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4. He should stop wasting taxpayer money, and accept the will of the over one million Missourians who said loudly and clearly, they want to support our police, not defund them.”

FOX4 also reached out to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners attorney, who said they received the mayor’s papers Wednesday morning and will respond soon.