Collected Item: “The Order That Wasn't: Kansas Executive Order 20-52”
Give your story a title.
The Order That Wasn't: Kansas Executive Order 20-52
What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?
Text
Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.
As COVID-19 case numbers accelerated in Kansas in the summer of 2020, Governor Laura Kelly issued this executive order declaring that Kansans must wear masks in public spaces, especially in places where the 6-foot distance rule was not possible, beginning on Friday, July 3, 2020. However, this order proved empty, since it allowed for local county authorities to enforce it, with several counties, including Sedgwick, which is home to the state's largest city, Wichita, to either opt out of the order entirely, or declare it a "strong recommendation." This document reflects the partisan politics that stymied Kansas's COVID-19 response efforts, as Democratic Governor Kelly eventually relinquished her statewide executive authority to direct the anti-virus effort in favor of a decentralized, locally-driven patchwork response favored by the state GOP, which had earlier passed legislation to curb her executive powers and threatened lawsuits against what they perceived to be a gross over-reach of executive power.
Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)
Office of the Governor of the State of Kansas
Give this story a date.
2020-07-02