Aaron Coleman For Kansas / Contributed Photo
Kansas Rep. Aaron Coleman, of Kansas City, was arrested Saturday in Douglas County on suspicion of driving under the influence, jail records show.
Expect the Legislature to grapple with an assortment of coronavirus bills, including one taking away authority of private businesses to mandate employees get a COVID-19 vaccination. Another proposal would add COVID-19 vaccination status to the list of prohibited forms of employment discrimination along with race, religion, color, sex, disability, ancestry, national origin and age.
Gov. Laura Kelly has signed legislation passed during a special session Monday, clearing the way for unvaccinated workers to keep their jobs in the face of federal mandates.
The Kansas Legislature completed a 14-hour special session Monday night by sending Gov. Laura Kelly a bill packed with generous medical, religious and philosophical exemptions to federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates and the potential of state unemployment benefits to people fired for refusing to be inoculated.
Anti-vaxxers packed the gallery overlooking the House chamber for this historic special session debate, and were repeatedly admonished for jeering, applauding or coughing on the lawmakers below.
The Kansas Senate struggled with a series of amendments Monday before passing a bill defining wide religious and medical exemptions to federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates and extending state unemployment assistance to people fired for refusing inoculations.
On the to-do list for the Kansas Legislature’s special session will be laws making it easier for a person to claim a religious exemption to vaccination mandates, and they’ll likely consider granting unemployment benefits to anyone fired for refusing to be vaccinated or to undergo regular testing.
Kansas legislative staff released details Wednesday about how to participate in upcoming public meetings on redistricting.
Aaron Coleman For Kansas / Contributed Photo
Coleman tried to “shame” his brother for wanting to get baptized, according to an affidavit. Coleman then pushed his brother backwards, hit him in the chest and spit on him, the document says.
While guidelines for testimony and the redistricting process remain up in the air, advocates for fair maps in Kansas are advising residents to look at past frameworks when speaking to lawmakers at upcoming town halls.
