Following Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill that would have capped her emergency powers during the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, Johnson County health officials say they’re strongly recommending local businesses and residents follow the state’s Ad Astra reopening plan even though the county won’t impose new official limits. With Kelly’s veto of the bill, the authority to set and enforce public health policies to stem the spread of the virus effectively falls to the counties. While Johnson County’s top health officers say they don’t plan to put any new restrictions in place given current conditions, they stressed the need for businesses and residents to be responsible in exercising social distancing and hygiene practices.
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Kansas no longer will impose a statewide phased-in reopening plan, Gov. Laura Kelly said Tuesday. In deciding to veto a bill that would have restricted her powers to respond to the coronavirus, she issued a new emergency declaration. “This legislation creates more problems than it solves,” Kelly said. She argued it would ultimately delay coronavirus aid from the federal government. “This would only prolong the economic pain of this crisis.” Kelly’s new order makes her phase-out of the economic shutdown and limits on mass gatherings an advisory guidebook for county officials — not a statewide command.
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The Roeland Park City Council last week signaled support for the “Ban the Box” effort and agreed to remove a question about criminal history from employment applications not related to public safety. “Ban the Box” is a movement to level the playing field for applicants with a criminal background, according to city documents. Assistant City Administrator Jennifer Jones Lacy said Johnson County removed the question from job applications in 2016 and former Gov. Jeff Colyer signed an executive order removing it from executive branch jobs in 2018.
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