Citing danger she’ll ‘blindly’ follow CDC, KS Senate panel declines to recommend health director
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s pick to lead the state’s health agency will advance to the Senate floor without the recommendation of the committee that reviewed her.
The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee declined Thursday to take a position on the permanent appointment of Acting Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Janet Stanek. Chief among the concerns of the Republican-controlled committee was her willingness to follow Centers for Disease Control guidance.
“I just feel very uncomfortable and very unwilling to just accept someone who blindly accepts CDC guidelines,” said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican.
Stanek’s nomination will still advance to the Senate floor where it will need a simple majority to gain confirmation.
The panel’s decision follows a similar episode in the Missouri Senate last month, when Senators failed to confirm Donald Kauerauf, Gov. Mike Parson’s selection to lead the state health department. Hardline conservatives saw Kauerauf, who had been acting director since last summer, as overly aggressive in pressing for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Stanek, a former hospital executive and director of Kansas’ health benefit program for state employees, became acting KDHE director in November after the departure of former secretary Lee Norman.
Norman resigned after disputes with Kelly’s office over how to communicate about COVID-19 and the state of emergency.
In her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Kansas Republicans grilled Stanek on her beliefs about COVID-19 mandates, shutdowns and whether she would have handled the pandemic in the same way her predecessor had.
“Are you going to continue down the path of following the CDC or are you going to consider other scientific evidence?” Thompson asked, insisting that measures like masking and gathering restrictions hadn’t worked.
Stanek, who has kept a lower public profile than Norman, said state health agencies across the country follow Centers for Disease Control guidance.
However, she batted back the idea of further mandates and shutdowns in the state.
“It would, again, be an individual choice over whether people want to follow it,” Stanek said.
Stanek declined to respond when asked if she thought Norman handled the pandemic appropriately. But when asked what she would do differently, she said she would work to better engage “stakeholders” impacted by a decision.
Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a Galena Republican, and Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson Republican, both asked Stanek whether she would ever sacrifice personal freedoms in the interest of public health.
Stanek said she did not forsee that occurring. Church closures, she said, would only be likely if a church is the location of a specific outbreak, as allowed in statute.
Thompson, who has been a vocal critic of COVID-19 measures, pointed to these exchanges Thursday as he pushed for the committee to block Stanek’s confirmation altogether.
“We now have the hindsight of the past two years and what has happened and what can happen if someone doesn’t look outside those institutional health guidelines,” Thompson said.
The committee opted instead to send Stanek’s confirmation forward but not recommend any action.
Sen. Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican, said that on paper she had no doubt Stanek could lead the agency but her confirmation hearing “brought more questions to mind than answers.”
Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican, voiced frustration that Stanek said the COVID-19 pandemic had not ended even as state agencies cite an end to the pandemic when asking for larger travel budgets this year.
Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City Democrat, said the committee was doing a “disservice to Kansans” by basing its decision on personal beliefs about COVID-19 rather than Stanek’s resume and ability to lead the agency.
“I think that we need to have someone with great abilities in this position and I think that Mrs. Stanek exhibits those,” Pettey said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Citing danger she’ll ‘blindly’ follow CDC, KS Senate panel declines to recommend health director."
