Governor Andy Beshear today issued vetoes of five bills recently passed by the Kentucky General Assembly. As part of the veto process, he issued “veto message” documents, which are included under Resources below. He also went into some detail about his vetoes during his afternoon COVID press conference.
From the press release out of the governor’s office:
Normalized by population, Kentucky has a lower number of deaths than all neighboring states. The state has crushed or plateaued three different surges in cases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consistently has backed the effectiveness of Gov. Beshear’s restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 in restaurants and bars, gyms, schools and other venues.
Gov. Beshear also reminded Kentuckians that even the director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield, advised against any bill that writes public health guidance into law.
After the story broke that Senate President Stivers would be willing to negotiate some of these issues with the governor, Beshear said today that he hoped to sit down with legislative leadership and work some of this out directly.
Here are the bills he vetoed, and the reasons he gave.
House Bill 1
Would have limited the governor’s executive orders related to the pandemic, including replacing his Kentucky-based guidance with guidance from the CDC.
Beshear’s reasons for vetoing:
Unconstitutional – State Constitution expressly tasks the Governor to respond to emergencies.
Impractical – Would remove authority to deal with the pandemic from the executive branch and replace it with guidelines from the CDC, even though the CDC has expressly said their guidance is not to be used in this way. And, which CDC guidelines? Their guidelines change on a regular basis.
House Bill 2
Would give the Attorney General authority over abortion clinics without needing an intervention request from Health and Human Services.
Beshear’s reasons for vetoing:
The office of the Attorney General does not have the expertise or the necessary structure to directly regulate medical procedures or health care providers. Regulation of legal medical procedures is done by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
House Bill 5
Would severely limit the ability of the Governor to reorganize boards, departments, and cabinets within the Executive Branch.
Beshear’s reasons for vetoing:
Would remove a necessary tool for the Governor to “faithfully execute the law.” It would prevent the Executive Branch from implement laws passed by the General Assembly or U.S. Congress, or from receiving grants that require a new organization to carry out. And, it violates the Separation of Powers.
Senate Bill 1
Would put a number of constraints on executive orders and administrative regulations, including a time limit, the approval of the General Assembly, and other restrictions. Also prevents the governor and the secretary of state from changing how elections are run in the state.
Beshear’s reasons for vetoing:
Unconstitutionally interferes with the Governor’s power and responsibility to confront emergencies, thus putting lives at risk. Also, the bill forces the Governor to call the legislature back into session to deal with an emergency, perhaps over and over. This essentially turns our citizen legislature into a full-time, “professional” legislature. And finally, the bill is unconstitutional because it gives an inferior executive officer (the Attorney General) the power to approve or disapprove the Governor’s executive orders.
From the press release out of the governor’s office:
The Governor also said Senate Bill 1 would also be costly for taxpayers. If the General Assembly approved the Governor’s emergency action in 30-day increments, with no Saturday meeting days and five days to pass a bill or resolution through both chambers, special sessions would cost $65,000 per day. That would be $325,000 per five-day session and $3.25 million for 10 sessions.
Senate Bill 2
Would add much more process to implementing administrative regulations.
Beshear’s reasons for vetoing:
The bill is unconstitutional because allows interim committees to amend regulations with binding force. It also attempts to limit the authority of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to address infectious diseases by limiting their guidance to 30 days.
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Resources