Calls executive orders troubling
FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 22, 2016) — Attorney General Andy Beshear is filing an intervening complaint in Franklin Circuit Court to challenge Gov. Matt Bevin’s recent executive action taken against the Kentucky Retirement System Board of Trustees.
In the complaint, the Office of the Attorney General is asking the court to also consider the similar executive action against the University of Louisville Board of Trustees.
Both boards were dissolved last week by executive orders issued by the governor’s office.
“As attorney general, I have a duty to the law and to enforce Kentucky’s system of checks and balances,” Beshear said. “The governor’s actions against these boards eviscerate all checks and balances and effectively give the governor undue influence over all decisions, including tuition and staffing at U of L, and how the $16 billion in assets is managed at KRS. Such power threatens our very liberty.”
Beshear said Friday’s executive action troubles him because it rewrites or dissolves specific statutes passed by lawmakers about the dynamic of boards under Kentucky law.
Beshear said he is requesting to intervene in the lawsuit by KRS trustees because it challenges the power of the governor to reorganize that board under Kentucky law.
“The procedure we are following will allow one court to address all of these issues, and will allow us to quickly move this case to a decision and ultimately the Supreme Court of Kentucky,” Beshear said. “This case is solely about the law.”
Statement from Gov. Bevin’s office regarding the lawsuit
The following is a statement from Communications Director Jessica Ditto:
“Six short months ago, Attorney General, Andy Beshear, personally selected as his top law enforcement deputy a lawyer who recently pled guilty to federal bribery charges. Since then, Attorney General Beshear has attempted to change the subject by filing frivolous lawsuits and traveling around the state handing out fake checks for funds he had no role in securing.
“His filings today are, once again, purely political in nature. Sadly, this court room circus act is what the people of Kentucky have come to expect from him. It is more than a little hypocritical, however, considering that Attorney General Andy Beshear’s own father relied on the exact same statutory authority to reorganize similar organizations in state government more than 100 times in eight years. Governor Bevin’s executive orders stand on solid legal ground.
“Governor Bevin will continue to do the job he was elected to do. Attorney General Beshear’s frivolous political lawsuits will not deter the Bevin Administration from working to fix Kentucky’s economy, protect the pensions of teachers and state workers, and clean up the mess and corruption left behind by the previous administration.”
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