Governor Laura Kelly spent time Thursday with the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and the US House Financial Services Committee.
Kelly’s testimony before the Congressional committee dealt with issues Kansas has seen as part of the coronavirus pandemic, including problems acquiring personal protective equipment and the overload of the Labor Department when responding to unemployment claims. She urged Congress to keep working to help Americans suffering through the pandemic.
Kelly’s testimony came after the governor had general updates on different departments and the COVID-19 response for the Chamber of Commerce during its annual Day in Topeka. Chamber President and CEO Jeanine McKenna hopes meetings like this lead to broader conversations across the state. She says that definitely happens locally.
McKenna says the Day in Topeka was created to keep Emporia “in the forefront of different departments across the state,” so when partnerships are discussed or developed, Emporia would at least be kept in the loop.
During the meeting, the governor was asked to revisit the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s recent decision to name cluster locations and numbers, especially after the debut Wednesday featured overall cluster numbers and not active caseloads. The governor said she would take that request under advisement.
Besides Governor Kelly’s remarks, additional information was presented by Transportation and Commerce Department officials as well as Education Commissioner Randy Watson.
