logo
Kansas House passes childcare licensing, training requirement bill

Kansas House passes childcare licensing, training requirement bill

Yahoo22-03-2025

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas House of Representatives passed house bill 2294 on Thursday, with an overwhelming vote of 103-15.
The bill addresses childcare licensing and training requirements, and for the most part, is highly agreed upon.
'There are lot of good things in this bill,' said Dr. Brandan Kennedy, a certified pediatrician and board chair of the Immunize Kansas Coalition.
'There are some things that will streamline childcare in the state of Kansas. And so, I think that there's things that are favorable that everybody agrees on.'
Whistleblower sues Children's Hospital after controversial firing
Dr. Kennedy says that there is a part of the bill that 'the majority of the medical community is really concerned' about.
The immunization requirements listed in the bill include an exemption for 'religious beliefs' of the parent or guardian. The authors of the bill use the definition of 'religious beliefs' found in a 2021 statute regarding employer COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
According to K.S.A. 44-663, ''religious beliefs' includes, but is not limited to, theistic and non-theistic moral and ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong that are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.'
Dr. Kennedy thinks that the definition 'widens the gap for what people can say in order to try to sidestep any vaccine requirements.'
Kennedy used recent measles cases in Kansas as an example.
'We're already in an uphill battle in Kansas because we don't have sufficient vaccination rates against measles in order to maintain herd immunity,' he said.
'It put us at a risk for an outbreak and we're seeing the consequences of that. Anything, I think, that weakens requirements and potentially lowered those rates only increases our risks.'
Kennedy and the coalition are asking that lawmakers give experts a chance to review the impact of that definition.
'All we're asking is that those amendments are removed and that they're vetted appropriately through the appropriate committees so that there are opportunities to discuss the potential implications on the health of all Kansans.'
As a pediatrician for nearly 30 years, Kennedy says he's seeing sick children.
'We've already seen consequences in doing what I do. I've had to take already take care of some children with vaccine-preventable diseases who are seriously and critically ill.'
Kennedy also said that he understands the situation that parents have been put in regarding vaccine choice.
'I am never going to tell you that a vaccine has a 0% risk. There's not a 0% risk with anything. And in medicine, we always have to weigh risk versus benefit. I totally validate people's fear and anxiety are around the entire situation. They hear a lot of things, and they see a lot of things. And unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation.'
By and large, the coalition says the bill is a positive for Kansans, and that reviewing the definition of 'religious beliefs' would keep the vast majority of the legislation surrounding other topics.
'This would not change the effectiveness of the bill,' Kennedy said.
'The remaining part of the bill? I think everybody is in favor of.'
Kennedy says the only job he has is to protect children.
KC Farm School brings back annual spring sale on plants, seeds
'We're just trying to do our best and to be the most effective at protecting children against these illnesses,' he said.
'And all you'd have to do is be in my shoes and see one or two of these kids and how sick they are to understand. Many of those kids don't have a voice. And we as pediatricians, we, many times have to be their voice. And like I said, you know what we want to try to do is what's best for them and lowers their risk for health problems and harm.'
The bill heads to the Kansas Senate for discussion. Fox4 reached out to several local lawmakers who voted to approve HB2294, none of them returned our requests in time for this story.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

After decimal error cost Florida $5M in COVID vendor deal, company agrees to repay state
After decimal error cost Florida $5M in COVID vendor deal, company agrees to repay state

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

After decimal error cost Florida $5M in COVID vendor deal, company agrees to repay state

A South Florida health care company that was overpaid millions by the state for a COVID-related contract is going to pay the state back. Trinity Health Care Services, which was contracted by the state to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations, recently settled a lawsuit filed against it by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, court records show. Trinity agreed to pay the agency $5,624,659.43 over the next several years. But it's going to do so in installments. According to the lawsuit, filed in Leon County and settled April 9, FDEM entered into a contract with Trinity for $50,578.50 in 2021, but the agency instead paid the company $5,057,850 to Trinity – an overage of five million bucks. At the time the contract was signed, the CEO was Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, now a member of Congress and the subject of an unrelated House ethics complaint. Edwin Cherfilus, who was the CEO of Trinity at the time of the lawsuit and is now the vice president of operations, is the congresswoman's brother. Requests for comment for both the state and Trinity are pending with spokespeople. As previously reported, the state argued that Trinity, as a contractor, "was required to return any overpayments of invoices for work not actually performed and money not actually owed." According to the invoices attached to the lawsuit, many were submitted and paid in 2021. The letter to Trinity demanding repayment, however, was dated June 13, 2024. Trinity denied the allegations and the two parties agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid the cost of future litigation. The company agreed to pay: $25,000 on or before April 18, 2025. $25,000 on or before May 8, 2025. $92,910.99 on or before Jan. 2, 2026. $92,910.99 on or before the first day of each quarter thereafter for 15 years until the settlement amount is paid in full. More: Florida files COVID-19 related suit after accidentally overpaying company $5 million Ana Goñi-Lessan, based in Tallahassee, is State Watchdog Reporter for USA TODAY - Florida. She can be reached at AGoniLessan@ This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: State settles after $5M overpayment on $50K COVID contract

Opinion: Bringing students back — chronic absenteeism is a crisis Utah can't ignore
Opinion: Bringing students back — chronic absenteeism is a crisis Utah can't ignore

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Opinion: Bringing students back — chronic absenteeism is a crisis Utah can't ignore

In Utah's classrooms — from St. George to Cache Valley — an invisible crisis has taken root: students aren't showing up to school. In the wake of the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has spiked to unprecedented levels across the state and the nation. The result isn't just missed instruction — it's missed opportunities, missed futures and missed connections to our communities. Before COVID-19, Utah had one of the lowest chronic absenteeism rates in the country. But since 2020, those numbers have nearly doubled in many districts, including in Cache County, where teachers and administrators are raising alarms about students slipping through the cracks. Statewide, roughly 1 in 5 students now meets the threshold for chronic absenteeism — defined as missing 10% or more of the school year. That's about 18 full days of instruction. This isn't a temporary dip in engagement. It's a structural issue that threatens long-term educational success, workforce readiness and, perhaps most importantly, civic health. The causes are complex but painfully familiar. Mental health struggles have increased significantly among Utah's youth. Anxiety, depression and burnout, exacerbated by academic disruption and social isolation, are keeping students home. Economic pressures weigh heavily on many families. In parts of Cache County and rural Utah, limited access to transportation or reliable childcare can turn everyday logistics into barriers to attendance. Academic disengagement, especially after the shift to remote learning, has made it harder for some students to reconnect with school. Once behind, many simply stop showing up. A cultural shift in how some families view the importance of in-person schooling has emerged. The rhythm and routine of school have been disrupted, and many communities haven't fully restored them. These are not problems schools can fix on their own. This is a community problem, and it requires a community solution. We often talk about education in terms of curriculum, testing and funding, but none of it matters if students aren't in class. Chronic absenteeism is one of the clearest predictors of academic decline, high school dropout and long-term economic struggle. It also puts strain on teachers, complicates classroom management and disrupts learning for students who do attend. In rural counties like Cache, where every student counts and community cohesion is strong, absenteeism doesn't just affect schools — it weakens our shared future. And the stakes are especially high in Utah, where we pride ourselves on strong families, tight-knit communities and a forward-looking vision for our children. This is not a challenge that can be solved by state policy alone. We need local, community-based responses, starting now. Faith groups, nonprofits and local employers can partner with schools to offer transportation help, mentorship and family support. Parents and neighbors can play a more active role in encouraging daily attendance and reinforcing the value of education. Local officials can prioritize funding for after-school programs, student wellness and attendance outreach teams. Community leaders and media outlets can help reframe the conversation: this is not about punishment — it's about connection, belonging and showing students and parents they matter. Let's make school a place where students want to be — not just for grades, but for growth, purpose and community. Hope begins at home. Here in Utah, we don't wait for Washington to solve our problems. We come together, roll up our sleeves and take care of our own. Tackling absenteeism will require that same spirit, especially in close-knit places like Cache County, where community strength is one of our greatest assets. We can't afford to let this become the new normal. It's time to bring our students back — one day, one connection and one conversation at a time.

Aethlon Medical to Present New Pre-Clinical Data at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes
Aethlon Medical to Present New Pre-Clinical Data at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Aethlon Medical to Present New Pre-Clinical Data at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes

Poster Presentation Reviews the Hemopurifier® Affinity Resin's Ability to Bind Extracellular Vesicles in Long COVID Samples SAN DIEGO, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEMD), a medical therapeutic company focused on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases, today announced that an abstract has been accepted for poster presentation at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes being held at Eldorado Hotel & Spa, Santa Fe, NM, United States, August 10-13,2025 ( Long COVID refers to persistent symptoms following acute SARs-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19). These symptoms - including fatigue, post-exertional malaise, shortness of breath, chest pain and cognitive difficulties such as "brain fog" - may last for weeks or months after the initial illness. Long COVID is estimated to affect between 44 and 48 million people in the United States alone with a projected economic burden of $2 billion for those with symptoms lasting a year. Despite over $1 billion allocated to Long COVID research funding, no treatment has proven effective. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanoparticles 50-500nm in diameter, released from all cell types and involved in cell-to-cell communication, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Long COVID. EVs have been found to contain viral particles and other cargo associated with abnormal blood clotting and inflammation. Aethlon Medical's Hemopurifier® is an investigational extracorporeal device designed to bind and remove harmful EVs from the blood through a combination of plasma separation, size exclusion and binding to a proprietary affinity resin containing the plant lectin Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA), previously found to bind to the sugar mannose. The Hemopurifier has previously been shown to remove EVs in a patient with severe acute COVID-19 infection. Aethlon Medical collaborated with the University of California San Francisco Medical Center Long COVID clinic to evaluate plasma samples from participants with Long COVID and control participants who had fully recovered from COVID-19 in order to examine whether individuals with Long COVID would have EVs with the mannose target on their surface that would bind to the affinity resin in the device. The data to be presented will review the binding of both larger and smaller EVs to GNA lectin and the lectin-based affinity resin, respectively. Presentation details and times are as follows: Title: Extracellular Vesicles from Participants with Long COVID are Mannosylated and Bind to the Galanthus Nivalis Agglutinin Resin in the Aethlon Hemopurifier® Authors: Miguel Pesqueira1, Rosalia de Necochea Campion1, Thomas Dalhuisen2, Emily A. Fehrman2, Jeffrey N. Martin2, Timothy J. Henrich2, Steven G. Deeks2, Michael J. Peluso2, Steven P. LaRosa1 Aethlon Medical Inc., San Diego, CA, USA University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA Presenter: Steven P. LaRosa, M.D, Chief Medical Officer, Aethlon Medical, Number: 2001Date and Time: August 12, 2025, 1930, MDT. This poster will be available following the meeting on the Aethlon Medical, Inc. corporate website at About Aethlon and the Hemopurifier® Aethlon Medical is a medical therapeutic company focused on developing the Hemopurifier, a clinical stage immunotherapeutic device which is designed to combat cancer and life-threatening viral infections and for use in organ transplantation. In human studies, the Hemopurifier has demonstrated the removal of life-threatening viruses and in pre-clinical studies, the Hemopurifier has demonstrated the removal of harmful EVs from biological fluids, utilizing its proprietary lectin-based technology. This action has potential applications in cancer, where EVs may promote immune suppression and metastasis, and in life-threatening infectious diseases. The Hemopurifier is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated Breakthrough Device indicated for the treatment of individuals with advanced or metastatic cancer who are either unresponsive to or intolerant of standard of care therapy, and with cancer types in which EVs have been shown to participate in the development or severity of the disease. The Hemopurifier also holds an FDA Breakthrough Device designation, and an open Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application related to the treatment of life-threatening viruses that are not addressed with approved therapies. Additional information can be found at Company Contact:Jim FrakesChief Executive Officer and Chief Financial OfficerAethlon Medical, Inc. Jfrakes@ Investor Contact:Susan NoonanS.A. Noonan Communications, LLCsusan@ View original content: SOURCE Aethlon Medical, Inc. Sign in to access your portfolio

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store