Kansas Gov. Kelly Vetoes Bill Curbing Power to Mandate Masks, Vaccine Passports

epoch times ^ | 14 May A.D.2022 | Caden Pearson

[lightman]

Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a bill to limit the power of state health officials to mandate measures for contagious diseases, including face masks and vaccine passports.

Kelly said the bill went beyond COVID-19 and would considerably limit government response to any infectious disease outbreak.

Senate Bill 34, brought by the Republican-controlled Legislature, sought to curb the power of government agencies as well as state and local health officials in response to COVID-19 mandates imposed during the pandemic.

Amendments to the Kansas Emergency Management Act would prohibit the mandating of protective mask requirements (pdf), except for hospitals and other medical facilities, including nursing homes.

Officials and government entities would also not be able to require COVID-19 vaccine passports for any purpose within the state.

The bill would also require judicial review of certain emergency actions to occur without unreasonable delay and limit the powers of the secretary of health and environment related to enforcement of quarantine and student inoculation requirements.

In vetoing the bill, Kelly said it posed “significant safety concerns” for workers, employers, and the economy.

“I have consistently opposed vaccine passports and mandating any COVID-19 vaccination. However, this bill goes beyond COVID-19 and implements a one-size-fits-all approach for all infectious diseases. It significantly limits any government entity’s response to any infectious disease outbreak,” she said in a veto message.

The vetoed bill, she said, would mean that schools, businesses, and the agricultural sector could not adequately respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases such as measles, tuberculosis, or avian flu.

“We have a responsibility to protect our critically important agricultural industry and the farmers and ranchers who feed the nation,” Kelly said.

“We need to be prepared for what’s down the road to best protect Kansans. This bill puts the safety of all Kansans and our economy at risk,” she added.

The bill, which struggled to pass last month, would also prohibit law enforcement officers from enforcing orders from state and local health officials.

GOP leaders faced an uphill battle to win support for the bill in both houses, with some Republicans reportedly identifying some unintended consequences.

Senate Bill 34 would also prohibit the health secretary from mandating inoculations as a requirement for first-time enrolment at schools, preschools, or daycare programs operated by a school without full FDA approval.

Kelly has in the past opposed President Joe Biden’s requirement that businesses with 100 or more employees get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to regular testing.

She has spoken in support of a measure to force businesses that require COVID-19 vaccination to give broad exceptions to workers who don’t want to get the vaccine.

[LS]

Didn’t like Salmon in his last few years as a Cong.

He started strong, but faded badly I think. Lake has been 100% pro Trump from the get-go. Most important, unlike Salmon she fights just like Trump does.

Salmon is the exact mistake you want to avoid. Another Jeff Flake.

[Wayne07]

“Salmon is the exact mistake you want to avoid. Another Jeff Flake.”

Please, Salmon co-founded the Freedom Caucus. He is 100% guaranteed conservative, nothing like Flake. And unlike Lake, he wasn’t a registered democrat supporting John Kerry and Obama. Lake reeks of opportunism.

[kiryandil]

We're asked to believe that Kobach "lost" because Trump became unpopular in Kansas in 2018.

That trend should have stayed static or edged up/down a bit in 2020.

Instead, Trump gained 100,000 votes in Kansas over his 2016 showing [a 15% increase].

[blue is associated with counties that were blue for Kelly in 2018]

							Trump 2020	Trump 2020
							minus	div
County	Trump 2016		Kobach		Trump 2020		Trump 2016	Trump 2016
Allen	3,651		2,292		4,218		567	116%
Anderson	2,435		1,596		2,929		494	120%
Atchison	4,049		2,558		4,906		857	121%
Barber	1,850		1,155		2,014		164	109%
Barton	7,888		4,841		8,608		720	109%
Bourbon	4,424		2,970		5,023		599	114%
Brown	2,906		1,836		3,262		356	112%
Butler	19,073		12,822		22,634		3,561	119%
Chase	969		653		1,123		154	116%
Chautauqua	1,236		808		1,402		166	113%
Cherokee	6,182		4,284		6,766		584	109%
Cheyenne	1,173		733		1,183		10	101%
Clark	825		521		904		79	110%
Clay	2,891		1,743		3,177		286	110%
Cloud	2,919		1,744		3,242		323	111%
Coffey	3,050		1,926		3,489		439	114%
Comanche	715		453		762		47	107%
Cowley	8,270		5,165		9,656		1,386	117%
Crawford	8,624		5,662		10,045		1,421	116%
Decatur	1,210		736		1,260		50	104%
Dickinson	6,029		3,790		7,126		1,097	118%
Doniphan	2,606		1,699		2,976		370	114%
Douglas	14,688		10,154		17,286		2,598	118%
Edwards	1,037		692		1,141		104	110%
Elk	1,048		669		1,140		92	109%
Ellis	8,466		5,138		9,758		1,292	115%
Ellsworth	1,969		1,168		2,148		179	109%
Finney	6,350		3,891		7,236		886	114%
Ford	5,114		3,574		5,803		689	113%
Franklin	7,185		4,742		8,479		1,294	118%
Geary	4,274		2,769		5,323		1,049	125%
Gove	1,140		720		1,291		151	113%
Graham	1,025		671		1,080		55	105%
Grant	1,804		1,096		1,936		132	107%
Gray	1,698		1,138		1,911		213	113%
Greeley	534		313		549		15	103%
Greenwood	2,160		1,214		2,444		284	113%
Hamilton	705		373		698		-7	99%
Harper	1,996		1,243		2,168		172	109%
Harvey	8,668		5,872		10,182		1,514	117%
Haskell	1,040		681		1,122		82	108%
Hodgeman	855		597		875		20	102%
Jackson	3,939		2,565		4,517		578	115%
Jefferson	5,213		3,485		6,334		1,121	122%
Jewell	1,223		765		1,387		164	113%
Johnson	137,490		102,813		155,631		18,141	113%
Kearny	1,075		687		1,164		89	108%
Kingman	2,530		1,764		3,130		600	124%
Kiowa	900		615		980		80	109%
Labette	5,335		3,273		5,735		400	107%
Lane	718		437		762		44	106%
Leavenworth	17,638		12,379		21,610		3,972	123%
Lincoln	1,179		769		1,283		104	109%
Linn	3,484		2,401		4,048		564	116%
Logan	1,132		785		1,249		117	110%
Lyon	6,552		3,920		7,550		998	115%
Marion	4,003		2,564		4,465		462	112%
Marshall	3,307		1,581		3,729		422	113%
McPherson	8,549		5,832		9,964		1,415	117%
Meade	1,415		914		1,523		108	108%
Miami	10,003		7,160		12,308		2,305	123%
Mitchell	2,308		1,375		2,504		196	108%
Montgomery	8,679		6,133		9,931		1,252	114%
Morris	1,820		1,106		2,124		304	117%
Morton	995		626		1,034		39	104%
Nemaha	4,124		2,605		4,664		540	113%
Neosho	4,431		2,930		4,970		539	112%
Ness	1,228		808		1,339		111	109%
Norton	1,840		1,187		2,007		167	109%
Osage	4,826		2,964		5,705		879	118%
Osborne	1,460		907		1,629		169	112%
Ottawa	2,283		1,497		2,610		327	114%
Pawnee	1,904		1,145		2,045		141	107%
Phillips	2,233		1,419		2,418		185	108%
Pottawatomie	7,612		5,384		9,452		1,840	124%
Pratt	2,838		1,701		3,108		270	110%
Rawlins	1,220		771		1,261		41	103%
Reno	15,513		9,892		18,443		2,930	119%
Republic	2,024		1,245		2,182		158	108%
Rice	2,837		1,729		3,262		425	115%
Riley	10,107		6,514		11,610		1,503	115%
Rooks	2,031		1,409		2,325		294	114%
Rush	1,197		754		1,350		153	113%
Russell	2,574		1,564		2,790		216	108%
Saline	13,828		8,384		15,722		1,894	114%
Scott	1,865		1,244		2,014		149	108%
Sedgwick	104,353		70,879		122,416		18,063	117%
Seward	3,159		2,009		3,372		213	107%
Shawnee	35,934		23,933		40,443		4,509	113%
Sheridan	1,197		795		1,282		85	107%
Sherman	2,089		1,376		2,269		180	109%
Smith	1,661		1,074		1,763		102	106%
Stafford	1,490		950		1,645		155	110%
Stanton	492		376		614		122	125%
Stevens	1,599		1,042		1,760		161	110%
Sumner	6,984		4,203		8,105		1,121	116%
Thomas	2,908		1,856		3,130		222	108%
Trego	1,227		755		1,363		136	111%
Wabaunsee	2,372		1,582		2,845		473	120%
Wallace	721		506		770		49	107%
Washington	2,194		1,342		2,363		169	108%
Wichita	769		560		808		39	105%
Wilson	2,788		1,869		3,153		365	113%
Woodson	1,082		693		1,228		146	113%
Wyandotte	15,806		10,526		18,934		3,128	120%
	671,018		453,030		771,406		100,388	115%

[Wayne07]

Yes, turnout in presidential election years is always higher.

[kiryandil]

Yes, turnout in presidential election years is always higher.

Except in Kansas in 2018, where Laura Kelly turned out 81,000 more "votes" than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.

Yeah, I read your old posts.

You believe in polls and polling, and the Media Narrative on whatever "horserace" is important to them.

For example, you believe the 2012 "Todd Akin" Narrative.

Allow me to show you why that Narrative is simply ponyplop:

Missouri 2008
McCain          Obama
1,445,814	1,441,911
Missouri 2012
Romney          Obama
1,482,440	1,223,796
Akin            McCaskill
1,063,698       1,484,683

Notice anything odd?

[kiryandil]

You understand polls, and a lot of their nuances. Much more so than most people.

HOWEVER - there's another dynamic in play here - a top-down national vote-rigging machine run by the Democrat Party.

You can't see it unless you know how to look at it in the correct manner - and until you see it, it's all just statistical noise.

[Wayne07]

Yeah, but it is Kansas. Trump won Kansas in 2016 and 2020. Roger Marshall won the Senate Race in 2020. If there was a democratic vote-rigging machine in Kansas, it wouldn’t have just been used to knock Kobach off. Unless things go terribly wrong, Republicans will win back the governors race in 2022. The whole story is warning about nominating weak candidates. I can see it happening in multiple states right now. They might still win since Biden is such a disaster, but it is not comforting.

[kiryandil]

If there was a democratic vote-rigging machine in Kansas, it wouldn’t have just been used to knock Kobach off.

They used it to steal KS CD3 from Yoder under the cover of the phony "Blue Wave":

Kansas's 3rd congressional district election (2016)

Party	        Candidate	Votes	     %
Republican	Kevin Yoder 	176,022   51.3
Democratic	Jay Sidie	139,300   40.6
Libertarian	Steve Hohe	 27,791    8.1
Total votes	                343,113  100.0
Republican hold

Kansas's 3rd congressional district election (2018)

Party	        Candidate	Votes	    %
Democratic	Sharice Davids	164,253	  53.3
Republican	Kevin Yoder	136,104	  44.2
Libertarian	Chris Clemmons	  7,643	   2.5
Total votes	                308,000	 100.0

As Joe would say - "Come on, man!"

Yoder lost 40,000 votes and Davids gained 24,000 "votes" in 2 years?

In Kansas CD1, the Republican dropped 13,000 votes, and the Democrat gained 5,500 votes - about normal.

Hang on a second! Looks like they were putting a full-court press on in Kansas CD2!:

Kansas's 2nd Congressional District Election (2016)
 
Party	        Candidate	Votes	   %
Republican	Lynn Jenkins*	181,228	 60.9
Democratic	Britani Potter	 96,840	 32.5
Libertarian	James Bales	 19,333	  6.5
Total votes	                297,401	 99.9
Republican hold

Kansas's 2nd Congressional District Election (2018)
 
Party	        Candidate	Votes	   %
Republican	Steve Watkins	126,099	 47.6
Democratic	Paul Davis	123,900	 46.8
Libertarian	Kelly Standley	 21,386   7.2
Total votes	                271,386	100.0
Republican hold

CD4 was Pompeo's district - about normal:

Kansas's 4th Congressional District election (2016)

Party	        Candidate	Votes	   %
Republican	Mike Pompeo 	166,998	 60.7
Democratic	Daniel Giroux	 81,495	 29.6
Independent	Miranda Allen	 19,021	  6.9
Libertarian	Gordon Bakken	  7,737	  2.8
Total votes	                275,251	100.0
Republican hold

2017 special election
Kansas's 4th Congressional District special election (2017)

Party	        Candidate	Votes	   %
Republican	Ron Estes	63,505	 52.5
Democratic	James Thompson	55,310	 45.7
Libertarian	Chris Rockhold	 2,082	  1.7
Total votes	               120,897	100.0
Republican hold

Kansas's 4th Congressional District election (2018)

Party	        Candidate	Votes	   %
Republican	Ron Estes 	144,248	 59.4
Democratic	James Thompson	 98,445	 40.6
Total votes	                242,693	100.0
Republican hold

I'll have to examine CD2 to see what was so special about it that they thought they could peel off another US House seat under Blue Wave camo.

[kiryandil]

I can bet without checking that the CD2 counties have wild numbers for Laura Kelly over Hillary’s 2016 turnout...

[Wayne07]

You are missing the big picture. Hilary Clinton beat Trump in CD3 in 2016. Throw in the suburban mom’s flipping to democrat, and Yoder was in big trouble in 2018, which is why the Dems threw a TON of money at that race to knock off Yoder. Not cheating, effective politics. Dems put a up a woman, and gave her a ton of money. Biden went on to win CD3 by 11 points in 2020.

[kiryandil]

Throw in the suburban mom’s flipping to democrat

That is The Narrative.

The Media combines with the Democrat vote fraud machine and runs with a Narrative to cover the vote fraud.

you wrote: If there was a democratic vote-rigging machine in Kansas, it wouldn’t have just been used to knock Kobach off.

Right! They were scoring a couple of US House seats under the cover of their phony "Blue Wave 2018" Narrative.

They got one [Yoder's seat] and came within 2,200 "votes" of grabbing the second one.

One of us is missing The Big Picture.

Throw in the suburban mom’s flipping to democrat, and Yoder was in big trouble in 2018, which is why the Dems threw a TON of money at that race to knock off Yoder. Not cheating, effective politics.

As we have seen from 2000 Mules, the Democrats have a nationally-directed vote fraud machine.

The "ton of money" was spent Getting Out The Cheat in a 20 by 20 mile square. Not a mail ballot drop box operation [I'll have to check the Kansas voting laws to make sure], but lots of room in a little space to shuttle "votes" to the desired places.

you wrote: Hilary Clinton beat Trump in CD3 in 2016.

Pretty thin sauce you're spreading there, pard:

                  Hillary   Trump 
Johnson	County    129,852 137,490
Miami County	    3,991  10,003
Wyandotte County   30,146  15,806

Hillary BARELY beat Trump, 47% to 46%, with Wyandotte saving her bacon.

Don't trot that out there like a "crushing victory".

The Democrat vote fraud machine made sure that didn't happen again...

[LS]

I seem to recall Amash was in the Freedom Caucus. Means nothing.

He is not to be trusted, at all.

[centurion316]

Everyone on this forum, and probably every national political pundit are mistaken about the Kansas Republican electorate. Many Kansas Republicans are liberals, and historical artifact of the birth of the state when the new state was a magnet for left wing activists who were the early core of the Republican Party. It’s not an accident that the main street in Lawrence is named for Massachusetts.

Laura Kelly was a lifelong Republican until she saw and opportunity to win the Governor’s mansion by winning against Kobach by changing to the Democrat Party. Many Kansas Republicans were never going to vote for Kobach.

Now, she has been overruled multiple times following her vetoes. She won’t win reelection. Many of the new Republicans are working class Hispanics who have never been to the Free State Brewery, but they believe that the Republican party can best deliver the opportunities that they seek.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Where was Kelly’s “mothership” located to get her the win?

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

As I understand it, Brownback was a conservative, but he had the usual habit of stealing from the state’s highway fund to take care of his priorities. And this after a tax increase to bolster the highway fund!

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Not so much that Kelly was overcounted, but that Kobach was undercounted, by your reckoning. Well, you can always get a few Post Office trusties to throw out the absentee ballots from GOP neighborhoods.

[kiryandil]

Where was Kelly’s “mothership” located to get her the win?

The big one was in Johnson County/Wyandotte.

I'll have to analyze the 2nd CD to see where that one (s) was.

All you have to do to find them is do the 2008-2020 Kansas spreadsheet, print a state map by county and write in the Joek percentages that are more than about 105% of the Obama 2008 turnout.

[kiryandil]

Not so much that Kelly was overcounted, but that Kobach was undercounted, by your reckoning.

Good point, and one to think about. Kelly STILL beat Hillary by 80K votes, though.

I find that these spreadsheets and comparisons lead to further questions - like "are they trying to pick up a Senate seat?" or "are they trying to pick up a US House seat" or "was there a consequential local race involved".

I'm only very familiar with the state politics of my state and some of the surrounding states, and local politics within my state.

I have plenty of time, so I just let the thoughts simmer like a stew pan on a back burner.

[kiryandil]

Thanks for this post.

I'm not really familiar with Kansas politics, so I'm speculating in an information vacuum on this thread.

Would there be any particular reason that Trump would have increased his Kansas turnout by 100,000 over his 2016 outing?

[Wayne07]

He also quit the Freedom Caucus, and was condemned by the Freedom Caucus, so being a member in good standing does mean something.