
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators put off a debate on delaying tougher regulations for amusement parks following the death of a young girl injured at a Wichita carnival.
The House had been scheduled Friday to debate a bill delaying the new rules for a year until July 2018. Lawmakers approved the tougher regulations last month in response to the death of a colleague’s son on a waterslide last summer.
The new law requires annual inspections of rides by qualified inspectors or certified engineers. The state Department of Labor sought a delay over concerns that some operators couldn’t comply by July.
But the Wichita Eagle reported Friday that the family of a 15-month-old girl issued a statement through a local hospital that she had died after being critically injured at a carnival May 12.
Friends and family established a Gofundme account to assist the child’s family.