‘A little tough to deal with’: Kansas Gov. Kelly chafes at federal COVID vaccination rules
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called the federal COVID-19 vaccination rules released Thursday “a little tough to deal with,” striking a note of reservation about one of President Joe Biden’s signature initiatives.
The Democratic governor’s comments come nowhere near the militant opposition of Republican officials, including in Kansas, to the Biden administration’s vaccination push. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Kelly’s likely general election opponent next year, has already sued over rules requiring employees of federal contractors to get vaccinated.
But Kelly’s remarks nevertheless distance her from an effort that has the enthusiastic support of the Democratic president.
“Kansas has really developed our own strategy for dealing with this pandemic and it has been really in partnership with our business community, our schools, our health folks, and we were forced to do that right at the beginning of the pandemic when the governors were really, literally told, ‘you’re on your own,’” Kelly told reporters.
“So we took that and we developed systems and strategies that work within our state. So at this point to have the federal government come in and say, ‘OK, now you all have to do it this way,’ is a little tough to deal with,” she said.
The governor made the comments after addressing a luncheon of business and civic leaders in Lake Quivira. During the event, Kelly made a point of noting that Kansas itself hasn’t issued mandates in response to an audience question about the federal rules.
“We have not mandated vaccines in the state of Kansas. We’ve done everything we can to encourage people, to make it easy for folks to get vaccinated. But I’ve been in Kansas a long time now and I understand those kinds of things tend not to work,” Kelly told the luncheon crowd.
Kelly told reporters she would look to see if there are ways the federal rules can be implemented that are “more Kansas focused.”
On Thursday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule that will require most businesses with 100 employees or more to have their workers vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. A deadline of Jan. 4 has been set for compliance.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also will issue a rule requiring any health care provider, such as hospitals and clinics that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds, to mandate vaccines for their employees.
OSHA will enforce its rule by acting on complaints about businesses or conducting inspections. Penalties will be the standard workplace safety violation fines of close to $14,000 per violation, according to the Biden administration.
Biden has already issued an executive order requiring federal contractors to ensure their workforces are vaccinated by early December.
“Vaccination requirements are good for the economy,” Biden said in a statement Thursday. “They not only increase vaccination rates but they help send people back to work – as many as 5 million American workers. They make our economy more resilient in the face of COVID and keep our businesses open.”
Republicans have condemned the federal policies as government overreach. Schmidt and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt are already engaged in lawsuits against the order for contractors and Schmitt has promised to sue over the OSHA rule.
In a Wednesday evening call with reporters, senior Biden administration officials defended their legal authority, pointing to OSHA’s ability to impose workplace rules against other diseases and health hazards.
“There is well-established legal precedent for OSHA’s authority to evaluate existing scientific evidence and apply data to develop safety and health standards,” one official said.
Schmidt has called on the Kelly administration to ensure Kansans fired because of a vaccine mandate receive unemployment benefits. State officials have indicated cases will be handled individually, and Kelly reiterated that position Thursday, saying it would be approached on a “case-by-case basis like we do all other unemployment cases.”
Kansas lawmakers held hearings last week on how to respond to the federal rules, taking public testimony that often included misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines. A union leader and a legislator invoked the Holocaust, leading to an apology by the union official.
Some lawmakers have called for a special session. Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, has said he won’t rule one out if there’s something the Legislature can take action on, like religious exemptions.
Kelly said Thursday a special session isn’t needed.
The Star’s Jeanne Kuang and McClatchyDC’s Bryan Lowry contributed reporting
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 2:54 PM.
