Lawmakers Call for Special Session over Vaccine Mandates

(KWCH) – Republican lawmakers in Kansas say they have collected enough signatures to call for a special session, a first in the history of the state.

Speaker Ron Ryckman (R-Olathe), House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins (R-Wichita), and Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch (R-Ottawa) issued a joint statement on Thursday, stating, “This unprecedented action is necessitated by equally unprecedented actions from the Biden administration that enacted these mandates unilaterally, without respecting the constitutional law making power reserved for Congress. Never before has the federal government forced Kansans to choose between their personal beliefs and their livelihoods.”

The statement went on to say that every Republican in the legislature has signed petitions to return to Topeka on Nov. 22.

The legislature will discuss two bills during the special session to fight back against the federal vaccine mandates requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to require everyone to get a COVID vaccine or get tested weekly. One bill would address require employers to grant religious exemptions for anyone who claims it, without question. The other would allow employees fired for not meeting mandate guidelines to file for unemployment.

The petition will be presented to Gov. Laura Kelly Friday morning.