KCC orders utilities to offer payment plans, waive late fees through 2020

TOPEKA – An order issued by the Kansas Corporation Commission this morning requires utilities under its jurisdiction to offer 12-month payment plans and waive late fees through the end of the year to help residential and small business customers avoid disconnection.

The Commission’s earlier order suspending disconnections is set to expire on May 31. Today’s order will help customers, struggling with the economic effects of COVID-19, pay off past due balances gradually while avoiding disconnection of service. Customers are also encouraged to apply for available utility assistance programs. Information is posted on the KCC website (https://kcc.ks.gov/consumer-information/utility-assistance-programs).

KCC staff filed a report with the Commission on May 6 recommending baseline customer protections prior to the end of the disconnect suspension order. Utilities had the opportunity to respond to the recommendations prior to today’s order. Several utilities have advised they plan to offer protections in excess of the minimums required.

The order states utilities may defer any extraordinary bad debt expense and lost fee revenue that arises from the required customer protections into a regulatory asset for accounting purposes only. Any recovery requests will be considered in a utility’s next rate case or rate recovery filing.

The Commission may extend the consumer protections outlined in today’s order if the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into 2021.

Today’s order can be viewed at: https://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/ViewFile.aspx/20200521111445.pdf?Id=932794de-f0cc-4397-b1bf-948512be107e

DCF and KSDE partner to offer one-time benefit

The Department for Children and Families in collaboration with the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) announced today the creation of the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Program (P-EBT). The program will help families who have been impacted by school closures due to COVID-19 to purchase food for their children.

“We know the pandemic has made it difficult for families to access food, especially if they relied on school meals,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Thanks to the partnership between DCF and KSDE the state will be able to automatically enroll most families into the P-EBT program, so they receive their benefit as quickly as possible.”

“Food insecurity should be the last thing our Kansas children should have to face right now,” Cheryl Johnson KSDE director of child nutrition and wellness said. “P-EBT provides temporary funding to address emergency food needs and avert financial hardship for families affected by the pandemic. I am thankful that through this partnership, Kansas is able to put healthy food on the table for Kansas children.”

P-EBT provides a one-time benefit of up to $291 on a Kansas Benefits Card to Kansas families whose children between the age of 5 to 18 would receive free or reduced-price meals at participating schools. There is no application process to receive the P-EBT benefit.

DCF will issue the benefit in phases. Those Kansas families who currently receive free or reduced-price meals and are enrolled in the food assistance or TANF programs should begin to receive their benefit later this week.

The second phase also will include an automatic match with those families on free or reduced-price meals and who also are receiving Medicaid or child care assistance.

The final phase will include families that need to provide additional information to receive the benefit. Those families will receive access to a parent portal to register for the program beginning June 5. Parents should receive information from their school district on how to access the parent portal.

“Most families should expect to see their benefit in the next two weeks,” DCF Secretary Laura Howard said. “If families have not yet received information about P-EBT, I encourage them to reach out to their local school district.”

In order to provide additional information about P-EBT and to answer questions, DCF is hosting a virtual town hall meeting tomorrow from 11 a.m. to noon.

Virtual P-EBT Town Hall Thursday, May 21 from 11 a.m. to noon.

Use this link to join: https://bit.ly/KansasP-EBTTownHall

Click below:

https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1125/Historical—May-20?bidId=

To keep Kansans safe, details in Phases 2 and 3 amended

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly will sign Executive Order 20-34, which moves Kansas into Phase 2 of “Ad Astra: A Plan to Reopen Kansas.” Phase 2, effective Friday, May 22, 2020, will be modified to include data-driven restrictions necessary to prevent community transmission of COVID-19.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, all of my administration’s decision-making regarding our reopening efforts has been driven by data – not dates,” Kelly said. “Because of the great work Kansans and businesses have done to keep others safe, data now indicate we are seeing a more consistent decline in hospitalizations, COVID-19-related deaths and a consistent decrease in disease spread. This puts our state in a position to safely move into a modified version of Phase 2.

“I would like to be clear – moving forward in Kansas’ reopening plan does not mean that COVID-19 no longer threatens our communities. Modifying Phase 2 to keep some restrictions allows us to reopen Kansas’ economy as quickly and safely as possible, while exercising necessary caution to keep Kansans healthy.”

Key changes to Phase 2:

• Mass gatherings of more than 15 individuals will be prohibited;
• All businesses and activities slated to open during Phase 2 will be allowed, with the exception of bars, night clubs and swimming pools. These will be moved to Phase 3;

• Businesses and activities that will be allowed to open in Phase 2 include:

• Recreational organized sports facilities, tournaments and practices will be allowed to begin on Friday, May 22, and must adhere to social distancing requirements and follow Parks and Recs guidelines, which can be found on covid.ks.gov;
• Community Centers will be allowed to open, except for indoor and outdoor swimming pools;
• Indoor leisure spaces such as arcades, trampoline parks, theaters, museums and bowling allies will be allowed to open on May 22;
• State-owned-and-operated casinos will be allowed to open once their re-opening plan has been approved by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment;
• In-person group exercise classes will be allowed to begin with groups of no more than 15 at a time. Locker rooms remain closed except for restroom facilities;
• Everything opened in Phase 1 and Phase 1.5 remains open pursuant to the restrictions outlined in Executive Order 20-34.

• Phase 2 will last until Sunday, June 7, assuming the current trends continue. Phase 3 is expected to begin on Monday, June 8, with mass gatherings of more than 45 individuals prohibited.

Under Phase 2, the following, unless they are repurposed for use in an essential function under the Kansas Essential Function Framework, shall remain closed to the public:

• Bars and night clubs, excluding curbside and carryout services;
• Outdoor and indoor large entertainment venues with capacity of 2,000 or more;
• Fairs, festivals, carnivals, parades;
• Swimming pools (other than backyard pools);

• Summer camps (with the exception of licensed childcare facilities).

The Governor will evaluate the state’s disease spread, testing rates, death rates, hospitalizations, ability of state and local public health authorities to contain outbreaks and conduct contact tracing, and personal protective equipment availability when determining if the state should move to the next “Phase.” Regardless of phase, the State Health Officer retains the authority to impose additional public health interventions in any area that contains an emergent and significant public health risk.

Throughout all phases, Kansans should continue to adhere to hygiene and social distancing protocols, including:

• Washing hands frequently, while avoiding contact with one’s face;
• Remaining home when sick or running a fever;
• Following isolation and quarantine orders issued by state or local health officers;
• Wearing a cloth face mask when in public;
• Working remotely, if possible.

Kelly’s “Ad Astra: A Plan to Reopen Kansas,” is available in full at covid.ks.gov, in addition to industry-specific guidance for Kansas businesses.

Click below:

https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1125/Historical—May-18?bidId=

TOPEKA, Kansas – A Lansing Correctional Facility resident who died Saturday, May 16, had tested positive for COVID-19. This is the fourth resident death related to COVID-19.

The resident was a male over the age of 60 with underlying medical conditions who tested positive for the virus on April 29 and was transferred to the hospital on May 1. The official manner of death for all COVID-19 deaths is natural causes.

The individual was serving a sentence for charges including aggravated robbery and first-degree murder. He had been imprisoned with the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) since December 1989 and his earliest possible release date was set for Oct. 1, 2020. For the privacy of his family and due to confidentiality laws, the KDOC will not release his name nor his underlying medical conditions. His family has been notified.

The Lansing Correctional Facility, formerly the Kansas State Penitentiary, opened in 1867 during the presidency of Andrew Johnson and is the oldest and largest state correctional facility in Kansas. Serving only males, the facility capacity is 2,432 residents.

For current information on COVID-19 in Kansas, and to sign up for updates, go to the KDHE COVID-19 Resource Center at kdhe.ks.gov/coronavirus. For information on the KDOC’s response to COVID-19, visit https://www.doc.ks.gov/kdoc-coronavirus-updates.

Governor Kelly signs new Executive Order as part of ongoing COVID-19 response effort

Governor Laura Kelly yesterday signed Executive Order #20-32 as part of her administrations comprehensive, ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order provides temporary relief from certain restrictions concerning shared work programs.

Shared Work is an alternative for employers faced with a reduction in workforce and allows an employer to divide the available work or hours of work among a specified group of affected employees in lieu of a layoff. Shared Work allows the employees to receive a portion of their unemployment insurance benefits while working reduced hours for their employers.

Executive Order #20-32 expands flexibility for Kansas employers, so they can take advantage of the existing federal programs.

“We want Kansas employers to be able to keep as many people on payroll as they can, and decrease the need for unemployment.,” Kelly said. “This is all about providing further support to people facing financial hardship and employers dealing with tough decisions right now.”

The order waives a provision in the law that prohibited a contributing negative account employer (an employer that has paid more in unemployment benefits to its employees than it has contributed to its unemployment insurance account with the state) to participate in a shared work plan.

Under the federal “CARES” Act, the federal government will reimburse 100% of any state unemployment insurance benefits paid through a “short-time” or “shared work” unemployment program, through the end of 2020.

Executive Order #20-32 can be found here.