Kentucky Suit Blasts Governor for Higher Ed Cuts

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BRADENTON, Fla. — Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear filed suit on Monday contending that budget cuts at nine public colleges and universities ordered by Republican Gov. Matt Bevin were illegal.

The 202-page complaint filed in Franklin County Circuit Court seeks a permanent injunction against Bevin, Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary William Landrum, State Budget Director John Chilton, and State Treasurer Allison Ball.

Beshear, a Democrat and son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, had warned that he would take legal action if Bevin failed rescind unilateral cuts of a 4.5% imposed on March 31.

The cuts are part of Bevin's overall plan to spend cash on the state's massive pension liabilities.

Not only did Bevin refuse to rescind the higher education cuts, but on Monday he thanked university presidents for signing a letter agreeing to the reduced appropriations.

The suit called Bevin's action unconstitutional as "it violated the separation of powers."

"If this directive were left to stand, Governor Bevin could and would repeat the behavior, decreasing or withholding duly appropriated funds to any state agency at any time," the complaint said. "Vetoes would no longer be necessary, and the General Assembly could not effectively override a veto."

Jessica Ditto, Bevin's communications director, released a statement saying that the governor "strongly" disagreed with the suit, and would respond as necessary in court.

The statement also claimed that the suit was an attempt by Beshear to deflect attention away from "alleged corruption and personnel problems" in the attorney general's office, as well as the office of the former governor.

Bevin, earlier Monday, called on lawmakers to continue budget talks amid an impasse that developed over the weekend.

The closed-door negotiations on the 2017-2018 biennial budget stalled Sunday with lawmakers disagreeing largely over further higher education cuts, according to WDRB.

The General Assembly has one day left in the 60-day session to meet.

On Monday, legislative leaders agreed to make April 15 their last session day in order to continue working on the budget.

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