The state’s COVID-19 emergency declaration has been extended as part of changes to the Kansas Emergency Management Act.
The Kansas Senate voted 31-8 and the House voted 118-5 in favor of Senate Bill 40. This extends the disaster declaration to May 28 while ending all statewide COVID-19-related mandates — mask mandate included — on March 31. For months, Kansas has had a mask mandate in place in counties that had not opted out of the governor’s order and did not have their own local orders in place. New executive orders have to be reviewed by a legislative coordinating council and those orders can be revoked at any time by either the Legislature as a whole or the council if lawmakers are not in session.
In addition, SB 40 says only school boards will have the authority to take action like closures as part of the pandemic. People who feel “aggrieved” by decisions can file civil action in district court.
All lawmakers representing Lyon County — 17th District Senator Jeff Longbine, 60th District Representative Mark Schreiber, 51st District Representative Ron Highland and 76th District Representative Eric Smith — voted in favor of the bill, which now goes to Governor Laura Kelly.
