TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are starting hearings on federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates with many Republicans already adamant that they violate people’s liberties and will damage the economy.
The joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates planned Friday to hear from Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office about potential legal challenges to President Joe Biden’s rules. It also planned to take testimony from the public Friday and Saturday.
Leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature formed the committee to consider ways Kansas might resist the Democratic president’s mandates, which could affect as many as 100 million people. Critics believe some workers will quit their jobs rather than get vaccinated.
Some GOP conservatives pushed for lawmakers to call themselves into special session, but they didn’t get much traction toward the necessary two-thirds majorities in both chambers. Lawmakers adjourned for the year in May and aren’t set to reconvene until January.
Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, has called Biden’s mandates “dictatorial edicts.” He is a committee member.
Biden is requiring all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly. He is mandating vaccines for government contractors and workers at health facilities that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funds.