Governor Laura Kelly’s administration is continuing to explore steps towards a safe and swift reopening of the state economy.
During her daily press conference Wednesday, Governor Kelly stated this will be a gradual process and much more complex than simply “flipping a switch” or reversing an executive order. Governor Kelly says as the state plans to pursue this possibility in earnest, public safety has to remain the foremost focus in the minds of state leaders.
The Trump administration recently advised that no state begin recovery efforts until it surpasses its expected peak of cases and begins to see a noticeable decline.
Governor Kelly says the main focus for her administration this past week has been identifying specific state-wide benchmarks and metrics which would help to determine the state’s viability for reopening the economy. Kelly says they are confident Kansas’ recovery timeline will be predominantly determined by the state’s testing capacity, hospital surge capacity, personal protective equipment supply, and contact tracing operation.
Kelly says all of these items have been major daily talking points since the pandemic began. She says now that they have narrowed the categories they plan to prioritize in their decision-making process, her administration plans to attach specific benchmarks to each category at some point next week.
Meanwhile, lawmakers won’t start the veto session Monday and it’s unclear when that will start. The Legislative Coordinating Council has voted unanimously to delay a decision to May 6 at the latest. This is beyond the current end of the state’s emergency declaration, which is May 1, and means Governor Laura Kelly may well have to issue a new statewide emergency declaration.
Leaders of the LCC say Kelly could issue a new disaster declaration and retain her emergency authority. However, Will Lawrence, the governor’s chief of staff, says that step could end funding for the Kansas National Guard as linked to coronavirus. It could also mean the state has to ask for a new federal disaster declaration, jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal aid.
The Kansas Constitution currently says lawmakers have to meet in person. The Topeka Capitol-Journal says most lawmakers — 30 of the 40 senators and 78 of the 125 representatives — are considered at risk of COVID-19 just because they are above 60 years old and it will be tough to keep the six-foot social distance guideline for lawmakers once they go back into session.
Governor Kelly is scheduled to continue her daily news conferences Thursday at 2 pm. You can hear the briefing in its entirety on 14KVOE, 96.9 fm and KVOE.com.
