by Noah Taborda, Kansas News Service
Topeka — Kansas legislative leaders and the governor Thursday approved $14.9 million to extend state testing programs through the end of the year.
With COVID-19 cases rising in Kansas and the omicron variant looming, the Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas Executive Committee requested the funds last month to maintain testing capacity across the state. The surge of cases from the delta variant sapped the budget, said Lt. Gov. David Toland, chairman of the SPARK executive committee.
Toland reaffirmed to the State Finance Council the importance of maintaining testing during a time when case numbers are climbing.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s “employer and community testing programs, which were set up early in the pandemic response, are really critical to ensuring our management of the pandemic,” Toland said. “It’s especially important to continue this testing and make sure that it’s available across our state, both for those who are experiencing symptoms or those that have potential exposures to COVID-19 in their communities.”
The finance council — made up of Senate and House leadership, as well as Gov. Laura Kelly — moved unanimously to approve the additional funds. The money would come from recouped COVID-19 relief funds and maintain testing through Dec. 31.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, raised concerns she had heard from some Kansans about accessing affordable testing.
“I know we had different places where residents could go, and some of those are charging like $120 for testing,” Sykes said. “Will that offset that cost, so people are not having to pay that much?”
Myron Gunsalus, director of KDHE labs, said some sites that previously were using funds from KDHE labs to provide free testing may have added fees. While the newly allocated funds will not provide expanded testing capacity, it would ensure free community testing continues.
Businesses previously participating in the testing program would also be eligible for testing.
“This does extend free testing across Kansas, either through antigen testing with our community partners or through our community site testing sites,” Gunsalus said. “That includes about eight to 10 mass testing sites, basically like a drive up or a walk-up site that (KDHE) will actually man as one of the ways to save some money and yet maintain a public-facing free testing option.”
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