TOPEKA — Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Labor Secretary Delia Garcia held a 30-minute new conference Thursday afternoon. They discussed some positive news for individuals seeking unemployment benefits.
The Federal pandemic compensation which provides an additional $600 weekly payment for those seeking unemployment benefits went live Thursday. See more on the program here.
It is part of the Federal CARES-ACT that is focused on expanding benefits in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. A processing issue that delayed implementation of the benefit has been resolved and the Kansas Department of Labor is expected to process over $3.4M in benefits Thursday.
In addition, the governor responded to questions about those protesting her stay-at-home order.
She also said the state is nowhere close to where it needs to be in terms of virus testing kits. Kelly said a key issue in lifting restrictions is being able to test enough to identify and contain outbreaks quickly and take steps to contain them locally.
Her goal is to start reopening the Kansas economy on May 3, but she said she may not because of the lack of testing. Kansas has struggled to get enough supplies from the federal government and private companies.