COVID-19 is becoming a hot potato with the Governor and the legislature
by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — There is a lot going on concerning the Covid-19 virus in Kansas this week. On Friday Kansas Governor Laura Kelley announced the state is moving to stage five of the vaccination plan, meaning as of Monday all adults will be eligible for the vaccine.
As of Monday, anyone over the age of 16 may get the vaccine as the national government is making more of the shots available. As of Friday state officials said 35 percent of the adults in Kansas have already been vaccinated.
It’s not over, however, as there are more things in play and more politics.
Late last week Kelly said she is set to reinstate the state’s mask mandate, and state republicans are set to try to block her order. This comes after the legislature passed a bill last week extending the emergency management plan through the end of May. It was to expire at the end of this month. She signed the bill on Wednesday of last week.
Kelly said she intends to re-issue the mask mandate on April 1. She plans to re-issue more executive orders related to the pandemic as well. The act passed this week rescinds all previous orders but gives her the option of renewing them.
The legislature has the authority to overrule her orders. Senate president Ty Masterson said they intended to stop her order.
Unless the statehouse or senate blocks her order, Counties and cities will have to opt-out again. Previously they had the option of going with or opting out of the mask mandate
Sumner County optioned out of the mask mandate. Wellington attempted twice to pass a mask ordinance, but it failed both times.
Even though Masterson said he and fellow Republicans would likely revoke her order, he still was glad she signed the bill.
State Representative Kyle Hoffman supported the bill and has said in the past he believes local governing bodies such as cities or counties, should be able to make their own rules in this regard.
Sedgwick County voted late last weekend to end its mask mandate.
The bill prevents the governor from closing schools or prohibiting public meetings by churches, civic, and business organizations.
Also late last week a bill was introduced that will give people who don’t want the vaccine some legal legs to stand on. The bill would not allow most employers, most organizations, or public facilities, to bar anyone who has not had the vaccine. Other than healthcare workers, employers would not be allowed to require people to be vaccinated to keep their job.
This bill is still in committee and may or may not come to a vote before either the House or Senate. It would also outlaw most stay-at-home orders and most curfews.
In other matters
The House passed a bill that would allow gambling on sports events through the state’s four approved casinos. It may also allow those that sell lottery tickets to take bets on sporting events. The Senate has already passed a bill like this but only allows casinos to take the bets. It does not address online gambling.
The Kansas House is also considering legislation that would allow gun safety to be taught in schools, using a curriculum created by the NRA. Individual school districts would be able to decide if they wanted to provide gun safety education using these programs. The legislation directs the state board of education to create appropriate age guidelines using the program.
A bill introduced in the Senate would require wind turbines to be at least a mile from property lines of neighboring landowners. Wind energy advocates say this would have a crippling effect on the renewable energy industry in the state.
