Kansas Legislators Push to Protect Workers Who Refuse Vaccine

Kansas state legislators are attempting to reconvene for a special session in order to pass legislation protecting workers who choose not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ty Masterson, the state’s Senate president and a Republican, urged his fellow legislators to reconvene before Thanksgiving to combat “all this garbage” from the Biden administration, the Associated Press reports.

Possible ideas include making it easier to use religious exemptions from the vaccine mandates or giving unemployment benefits to workers fired for refusing the vaccine. 

Kansas House Speaker and fellow Republican Ron Ryckman Jr. said in a statement that “Kansans should not be forced to choose between their personal beliefs and their jobs.”

Although Democrat Governor Laura Kelly came out last week against President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates, she opposes the idea of a special session. However, lawmakers can still call one if two-thirds sign a petition.

On Tuesday, the legislature’s Special Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates endorsed the idea of calling a special session soon. 

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