Kansas Governor to Sign Bill That Makes Businesses Allow Broad Exemptions to COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements
November 24, 2021 | Kansas
The governor of Kansas has said she intends to sign a measure that will force businesses that require COVID-19 vaccination to give broad exceptions to workers who don’t want to get the vaccine.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said in a one-sentence Nov. 22 statement that she will sign the legislation “when it reaches my desk.”
Derek Schmidt, Kansas attorney general and a Republican, also said he would sign it if he were governor. Schmidt is challenging Kelly in the Kansas gubernatorial race.
The Republican-controlled state House of Representatives and state Senate approved House Bill 2001 earlier on Nov. 22 during a special session. The Senate vote was 24–11 and the House vote was 78–41.
The legislation (pdf) states that any employer who imposes a COVID-19 vaccine requirement must exempt workers if they submit a written waiver request stating that complying with the requirement would endanger the life or health of the waiver applicant or somebody they live with or if receiving the vaccine violates a sincerely held religious belief…. (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)
