TOPEKA — Democrats in the Kansas House are worried about lax health safety protocols, relocated COVID-19 testing, and the confirmed and rumored infections of legislators and staff.
Few lawmakers regularly wear a mask at the Statehouse, despite record-setting numbers of hospitalizations and escalating death totals from COVID-19.
The Kansas Department for Health and Environment on Wednesday reported 128 more deaths from COVID-19, along with 151 hospitalizations and 39,326 cases since Friday.
“Leadership doesn’t seem to care,” said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita. “They have thrown in the towel on preventing the spread of this disease in the Kansas Legislature, and I fear that within days we’ll have a hard time finding a quorum around this place.”
Alexis Simmons, a spokeswoman for House Democrats, confirmed that three members of the caucus have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the session. They declined to be identified. Two more, Rep. Heather Meyer, D-Overland Park, and Rep. Brandon Woodard, D-Lenexa, said they tested positive shortly before the start of the session.
Woodard and Meyer both said they are fully vaccinated and boosted. Meyer stayed away from the Statehouse during the first week of the session.
“I hear my constituents say they are tired, and my former colleagues in health care talk about how concerned they are about this surge,” Meyer said. “At this point, we are all exhausted and overwhelmed by the pandemic, which is why it’s important for everyone to step up their game, and continue to do all that we can to help stop the spread because we won’t beat this virus if we don’t work together.”
Woodard said he tested positive before New Year’s Eve and was asymptomatic. He expressed frustration about the lack of concern for COVID-19 he has seen so far this session.
On Tuesday, Woodard said, he asked a Republican lawmaker if they had COIVD-19. The response: COVID’s not real.
“It’s so frustrating because folks from our caucus are wearing masks and taking precautions, while science-deniers walk around the building,” Woodard said.
Lawmakers from both parties can be seen without a mask in hallways and any given committee hearing. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly left the State of the State speech without a mask last week and posed for maskless pictures with a group of education advisers on Friday.
Even the acting health secretary, Janet Stanek, didn’t wear a mask when she appeared before Senate and House panels this week.
Carmichael said Stanek must have learned from the fate of former health secretary Lee Norman, who was fired for speaking beyond politically calculated talking points provided by the governor’s office.
“The governor started out doing the right things,” Carmichael said. “She met with political opposition. She had to compromise. But what she’s doing now is setting a poor example.”
Few legislators have been forthcoming about their illnesses, and medical privacy issues make it difficult to verify the many rumors of infected lawmakers. Several committees abruptly canceled hearings on Wednesday, with staff and lawmakers absent from the Statehouse.
