Steady progress is providing more positivity at the state level as coronavirus recovery efforts continue.
During her first of two press conferences this week Monday afternoon, Governor Laura Kelly announced she has signed a recent compromise bill passed by the Kansas Legislature during a special session last week. Kelly says the bill, like most compromises, is not perfect, however:
House bill 2016 extended the state’s disaster declaration to Sept. 15 and will require Governor Kelly to seek approval from the state’s Finance Council for an extension if it is needed among other provisions.
Separately, Governor Kelly discussed the recent work of the state’s Strengthening People And Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) task force. The task force has been charged with allocating CARES Act funding throughout the state to support COVID-19 recovery efforts.
The governor says the task force began developing criteria to allocate up to $525 million in federal funds across Kansas to aid public and private entities. Governor Kelly says as the pandemic continues “we need to seek out as many ideas as we can for how best to provide economic support.”
Earlier Monday, Governor Kelly’s administration announced a change to her weekly news briefing schedule. The governor will now hold news conferences twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays at 4 pm.
You can listen to the governor’s conference on KVOE 1400 am, 96.9 fm and KVOE.com.
