‘Kansas lives are on the line’ if state doesn’t extend emergency, governor Kelly says
Gov. Laura Kelly made an impassioned plea Thursday to legislative leaders to extend the COVID-19 emergency, warning that if they don’t, it will mean “dire consequences” for food supplies, coronavirus testing and personal protective equipment for health-care workers.
Kelly, who’s a Democrat, took to the podium in her ceremonial office to make a public appeal to members of the State Finance Council, a committee controlled by Republican lawmakers, whose support she needs to extend her emergency declaration and keep the pipeline open for various types of federal aid being provided to states to address the pandemic.
“I cannot stress this enough, Kansas lives are on the line,” Kelly said. “Today I call on the State Finance Council members to consider the dire consequences we will face if they do not extend this declaration. I implore them to put public health before politics.”
The emergency declaration is scheduled to expire Tuesday. Kelly has called a meeting with the finance council on Friday.
“If they fail to act, they will singlehandedly prevent Kansas’ ability to leverage critical resources needed to respond to the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
Although she chairs the committee, a recent state law took away her vote and requires that she get five of the eight members to approve emergency measures. Of the eight, six are Republicans.
At the start of the pandemic, Kelly had the authority to order the declaration on her own. But since then, the Legislature has clipped her powers and given the finance council the ability to overrule her orders in response to the COVID threat.
Among the resources the governor cited are money and supplies for widespread coronavirus testing; masks, gowns and other supplies for hospitals; and food for people who have lost income from business closures due to the pandemic.
The news conference marked the end of a busy day for the governor.
Earlier, she testified to a congressional committee on the state’s coronavirus response and participated in a group phone discussion with Dr. Deborah Birx, a key advisor to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
“She made it very clear to me and the others on the call that Kansas is in the ‘Red Zone’ and that we are eighth in the country in terms of positivity in cases, so we have a lot of work to do,” Kelly said.
She said Birx strongly urged that Kansas follow the lead of Arkansas, a “prime example of a state that’s done it right.”
“Arkansas was really under water, they had serious outbreaks, and they imposed a number of mitigation efforts including a mask mandate and really enhanced community-based testing,” Kelly said. “And they have seen their numbers come down.”
Audio of the State Finance Council meeting will be livestreamed at 10 a.m. Friday at http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00287/Harmony/en/View/Calendar/
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 5:11 PM.
