Kansas Lawmakers detail committee opposing vaccine mandates

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Kansas lawmakers Monday officially formed a committee opposing vaccine mandates.

The Special Joint Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates will review rules requiring vaccines and masks in various settings. Recommendations will then follow on how to preserve state control and safeguard personal freedoms, according to Sen. Ty Masterson and Rep. Ron Ryckman.

“Kansans are understandably upset about mandates at all levels of government, and that anger reached a crescendo when the Biden Administration announced its plan to use OSHA to impose a vaccine mandate on nearly 2/3 of the American work force, in a blatant attempt to circumvent the United States Constitution,” Sen. Masterson said. “Kansans impacted by these mandates expect us to take real action in defense of their liberty and freedom, and this special joint committee is a necessary and critical step in that process. It will allow us to hear directly from those hurt by mandates and then propose solutions to address them.”

“The federal government is exceeding its authority and we have a duty to sound the alarm on it,” Rep. Ryckman said. “This committee is entrusted to explore all the options we have for pushing back in order to protect Kansans and their businesses from an unconstitutional overreach.”

Senate President Masterson appointed Senator Renee Erickson (R-Wichita) to Chair the Committee, along with himself, Sen. Mike Thompson (R-Shawnee), and Senator Kellie Warren (R-Leawood) as members. House Speaker Ron Ryckman appointed Rep. Brenda Landwehr (R-Wichita) as Vice Chair, as well as Rep. John Barker (R-Abilene), Rep. Stephen Owens (R-Hesston), and Rep. Sean Tarwater (R-Stilwell) as members. One senator and two representatives will be named by Democrats.

The committee was approved by the Legislature last week.

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