Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is outlining her goals for the state in 2021. Kelly delivered her annual State of the State address Tuesday evening.

COVID-19 is of top concern. The governor said “the way that Kansans have stepped up these past 10 months has been nothing short of heroic – from health care workers to first responders, teachers and parents, farmers and ranchers – the character of Kansas has been on full display. And I want to commend the state and local officials who continue to work around the clock with the public health experts to make sure we’re taking the right, aggressive, steps to slow the spread of the virus, while also balancing the need to keep the Kansas economy moving.”

 

Kelly’s main priority is to get every Kansan vaccinated for COVID-19 within the next couple of months. She said “as of today, 84,555 Kansans have been vaccinated. And we will continue this coordinated effort so every Kansan can get vaccinated. My goal is to make sure that each of you know when and where you can get vaccinated in your county.”

 

Kelly also expressed the importance of expanding Medicaid to cover another 165-thousand Kansas residents.

The speech this year was different. Because of COVID, the governor did not address a joint session of the house and senate. Instead it was a virtual event with the governor speaking from her desk.