Kansas GOP lawmakers agree on how to resist COVID mandates

By JOHN HANNA and ANDY TSUBASA FIELD
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas have agreed on a measure to make it easy for workers to claim religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Their deal Monday night also would provide unemployment benefits to people who lose their jobs after refusing the shots. GOP leaders in the Republican-controlled Legislature had been divided over whether promising unemployment benefits would be necessary if workers who refused vaccinations could claim religious exemptions without being second-guessed by their employers. The Senate was set to vote first on the agreement, followed by the House. The measure is a response to federal vaccine mandates. Negotiators dropped a proposal to ban mandates from private employers.