Kansas Governor Laura Kelly’s request for a longer emergency declaration related to coronavirus has been denied.
The Legislative Coordinating Council voted Tuesday to cancel the declaration, so it expires as scheduled later in the day.
Senate President Ty Masterson, Vice President Rick Wilborn and Majority Leader Larry Allen, all Republicans, say it’s time for the state to return to normal operations. They also say they pushed the governor to develop an exit strategy and they were disappointed when the governor “opted for an extension strategy instead.”
Kelly, a Democrat, said the state can’t properly finish its COVID-19 response without the declaration in place. She has said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will have to fully fund vaccination and testing efforts and the Kansas Adjutant General loses all his authority to assign agencies to the state response.
