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Governor issues strong rebuke following AG letter and vote to rescind her executive order

Governor issues strong rebuke following AG letter and vote to rescind her executive order

Governor issues strong rebuke following AG letter and vote to rescind her executive order

Governor Laura Kelly issued a strong rebuke Wednesday afternoon in response to a letter sent to local governments from the Kansas Attorney General, and the vote by the Republican controlled Legislative Coordinating Counsel to revoke her executive order limiting religious gatherings.

Governor Kelly issued the order Tuesday, citing the fact that 3 recent clusters of outbreaks had been traced back to religious gatherings, at least one of which led directly to the deaths of two people from Covid-19.  The order limited religious gatherings and funeral services to 10 or less people.

Wednesday morning, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt sent a letter to local governments saying while the order was good public health advice, the executive order violated the state constitution and couldn’t be enforced.  That letter prompted the Republican-controlled Legislative Coordinating Council to vote 5-2 to revoke the governor’s executive order.

At a press conference, Governor Laura Kelly said the Attorney General’s letter was a “bizarre, confusing, and overtly political attack.”  She says the LCC’s decision to revoke her executive order is “shockingly irresponsible decision that will put every Kansans life at risk.”

The governor says she has appreciated the bi-partisan effort of the legislature over the past few weeks as they worked together to respond to the pandemic and had hoped that the bi-partisan spirit would continue.

She says the Attorney General’s memo was “unusual, unwarranted, and non-sensical” and caused unnecessary confusion to the emergency response to the pandemic.  Kelly says the attorney general’s memo has no legal authority whatsoever.

‘What it does have is the ability to undermine and inject chaos into our statewide emergency response systems.  What it does have is the ability to confuse and frustrate our local emergency management officials who are already stretched far too thin and working under extraordinarly dangerous and stressful circumstances.  What it does have is the ability to detract our efforts away from saving Kansans lives and mitigating the threat of this deadly virus.  All because we are being forced to clear up confusion and respond to a shamefully political attack.”  said Kelly.  “There are real-life consequences to the partisan games Republican leaders played today and I simply cannot stand for it.  Kansans are dying every day at the hand of this pandemic and there is no room or excuse for these petty political distractions.”

Governor Kelly says she is directing her legal counsel to explore the administration’s legal options to resolve the issue.

“At the end of the day, I keep telling Kansans that we are all in this together, because that is the truth.  Coronavirus knows no boundaries, it knows no faith, it knows no political party.  It is a deadly threat to us all, no matter who we are, where we live or what our political affiliation might be.  If we are going to beat it, we have to attack it with the same resolve: united, as Kansans.” said Kelly.

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