TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday signed legislation rewriting Kansas laws for managing the coronavirus pandemic and future emergencies even though she believes it could hinder disaster response efforts.
Kelly’s action on the measure approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature came only hours after the county commission in the state’s second-most populous county ended all remaining COVID-19 restrictions.
The Legislature also gave final approval Wednesday to a bill that would require all public schools to offer all students full-time, in-person classes by March 31, through the end of the current school year. It’s largely symbolic because only a handful of the state’s 286 local school districts didn’t plan to have a majority of students returning full-time to their buildings by then, according to the State Department of Education.
