Hospitals across Kansas could soon split up to $50 million to retain frontline workers as the COVID-19 pandemic nears the 18-month milestone.
The lion’s share of the money, which comes from the state’s COVID relief fund allotment through last year’s CARES Act, will help to fund retention bonuses and premium pay. As approved, hospitals could increase nurse salaries by up to $13 an hour among other measures.
The plan is not finalized yet and will see more discussion next week.
Separately, Morris County’s latest mask mandate is facing a legal challenge. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser of Olathe says the Morris County mandate and a different one in Johnson County aren’t focused enough to comply with state law that lets people “aggrieved” by mask protocols at city and county level file lawsuits. Kriegshauser tells KVOE News the Morris County protocol “didn’t even try” to align with the state law that calls for “narrowly tailored” COVID mitigation policies. The lawsuit stems from a lack of exemptions for people working in private office spaces that can be shut off from public access, strenuous physical labor or religious events.
This is a portion of the state’s recently-updated emergency management law that has gone back and forth in the courts over the last six weeks. In late July, a Johnson County judge said a provision allowing residents to sue cities and counties if they were “aggrieved” by those entities’ usage of COVID-19 mitigation protocols could lead to “legal anarchy” and was unconstitutional. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt appealed and asked Johnson County to stay that decision pending results of the appeal, saying the pertinent section had expired with the end of the state’s emergency declaration and the issue was now a moot point. With the district court denying that motion, Schmidt made the same point to the Supreme Court and won a stay of the lower court ruling.
Morris County’s latest mask mandate was enacted Aug. 4.
The high court could issue its opinion on the Johnson County case this month, but lawsuits can be filed at least until a ruling is made.
