Kansas Republicans unveil new bill to limit Kelly’s powers after talks with her aides

Kansas Republicans unveiled a proposal Tuesday that limits Gov. Laura Kelly’s power to close businesses during the coronavirus pandemic and requires her to obtain permission from the State Board of Education before closing schools.

GOP lawmakers described the plan as the product of days of discussions with the Democratic governor’s office. Kelly has acknowledged negotiations with Republicans, but a spokeswoman for the governor didn’t immediately comment on the proposal.

Kelly and top lawmakers huddled in the governor’s office for two hours last Thursday, according to Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine, an Emporia Republican. A smaller group of legislative leaders continued negotiations with high-ranking Kelly aides through the weekend and reached an agreement.

“I think you will be very pleased with the product,” Longbine told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Republicans released the draft ahead of Wednesday’s start to a rare special session called by Kelly. Last week, the governor issued a fiery veto of a bill that would have restricted her emergency authority and recalled them to Topeka to try again.

“I feel like we’re getting pretty close,” Rep. Fred Patton, a Topeka Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said of discussions with the governor’s office.

But during a video call Tuesday afternoon, members of the committee demanded to know whether Kelly supported the proposal and who had been involved in crafting it. Patton was unable to tell them.

“Typically, when documents are presented to a committee, somebody takes responsibility for them,” Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said.

Carmichael said during the meeting that he had received an email from the head of “one of the most important agencies involved in this COVID response” who told him he has “serious objections” to what’s in the bill. Carmichel did not identify the agency head.

The draft bill extends the disaster declaration that has provided Kelly with emergency authority during the pandemic to Sept. 15. After that date, Kelly may not close businesses for more than 15 days unless the State Finance Council – a panel comprised of top legislators and chaired by Kelly – authorizes an extension.

While the language would restrict the governor in the future, Kelly last week abruptly lifted all statewide coronavirus restrictions — handing a key concession to Republicans, who had demanded more local control over the pandemic response.

The proposal gives counties the power to adopt rules to fight the coronavirus that are less strict than statewide standards from the governor. And Kelly would need the State Board of Education’s approval before closing schools by executive order. Kelly was the first governor in the nation this spring to close schools statewide for the rest of the academic year.

The bill includes privacy protections for individuals whose personal information is shared as part of contact tracing efforts to identify cases of the virus. Under the proposal, contact tracers would be prohibited from disclosing the identify of an infected person to a contact.

Kansas has received $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds. Kelly would have to receive permission from the State Finance Council before spending it.

That provision appears to have Kelly’s approval. “I’m feeling pretty good about that,” she told a coronavirus recovery task force meeting Tuesday.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 7:03 PM.