Pol Watchers

Williams writes Beshear about his concerns of veto of state road plan

FRANKFORT — Senate President David Williams sent a letter Friday to Gov. Steve Beshear, questioning Beshear’s veto of a bill last month containing the state highway plan for the next two years.

Williams, R-Burkesville, repeated that he thinks the veto is invalid.  The senator contends that time had expired for a gubernatorial veto.

Williams also said in his letter to Beshear that he is “deeply concerned about the intent expressed in your veto message to spend money for road construction without budgetary approval of the General Assembly.”

A recent Supreme Court ruling, Williams said, “makes it clear that the executive branch cannot spend money without legislative approval.”

Even if the veto was upheld, Williams said, the budget bill “clearly establishes a 2008-2010 biennial road construction plan.”

The governor can only spend highway funds, both state and federal, on projects in the budget bill, he said.

“The General Assembly enacted that provision, you signed the bill, and it is now the law.  It is your constitutional duty to follow the law.  Although certain flexibility is allowed by statute, you cannot make up the law as you go,” Williams said.

He added that he respects the power and authority of the governor’s office.

“I hope you recognize my obligation to protect the legislature's exclusive constitutional authority to appropriate funds and authorize spending on road projects.” Williams said.  “ I respectfully request that you respond in writing with the legal reasoning or authority you claim in order to accomplish the expressed intent to ignore the law regarding spending on road projects.

 
“Hopefully, we can work together to resolve this within the law and without unnecessary legal expense.”

UPDATED AT 6:26 p.m.: Dick Brown, Beshear’s director of communications, said, “The governor is very confident that his veto of House Bill 79 is effective and that he is proceeding constitutionally to implement an effective highway plan for the Commonwealth.”

Beshear said after he issued his veto that he has directed Transportation Secretary Joe Prather to come up with a substitute highway plan that combines  projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars he originally recommended with projects the Senate and House added. His revised highway plan is expected before July 1.

--Jack Brammer

Wilkey won't seek seek re-election for leadership post

State House Democratic Whip Rob Wilkey of Scottsville announced he is retiring from the state legislature, which opens up a spot in the House Democratic leadership team.

Herald-Leader columnist Larry Dale Keeling is reporting that Wilkey notified colleagues this week of his decision in a letter saying he was "embarrassed" by the way the 2008 General Assembly session ended.

Wilkey wrote that the House Democratic leadership team's working relationship fell apart and "there was a conscious effort to embarrass this governor during the session."

"It worked. He could have done a better job of building a relationship with the House, but I also feel he was mislead into believing that we would work with him," Wilkey wrote. "We didn't."

Wilkey didn't identify whom he considered the culprits for trying to "embarrass" new Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear but hinted that Democrats should make changes in the leadership team.

"I hope our members think long and hard about re-election some members of this leadership group," Wilkey wrote. "I will not be running. My decision not to seek re-election has been made for some time, although I haven't announced it ... I will not be back in Frankfort at all next year."

UPDATED AT 7:39 P.M.:  House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, issued a statement about Wilkey's decision.

He said, "Rob Wilkey is one of the best friends I have ever had in my life, and not just in the legislature since we began serving together in 1997.  He is a true gentleman, very smart, hard-working and was an outstanding legislator.

"I am going to miss his personal friendship and counsel, but the people of Kentucky and the Kentucky General Assembly is losing one of its best ... bar none."

- Ryan Alessi

Beshear vetoes highway plan

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear has scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference Monday to explain his veto of House Bill 79, the more than $3 billion state highway  construction plan for the next two years.

The news conference will be held in room 110 of the Capitol.

Legislators will not have the opportunity to override the veto because they approved the bill in the final hours of the last day of the 2008 General Assembly on April 15.

--Jack Brammer

Beshear blocks two Fletcher appointments

Updated at 10:02 p.m.

FRANKFORT -- Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration is blocking two of Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s final appointments before leaving office in December: top aide Stan Cave to the Mine Safety Review Commission and former Education Secretary Virginia Fox to the Council on Postsecondary Education.

Beshear’s general counsel has said Cave’s appointment wasn’t properly confirmed by the General Assembly.

Like Cave’s, Fox’s appointment was not confirmed by the state House, Dick Brown, Beshear’s director of communications, said Monday night.

He said Fox will be notified soon that her appointment is not valid.  Fox was not immediately available for comment.

Cave, a Lexington lawyer who was Fletcher’s chief of staff, has objected, saying that Kentucky’s constitution should override the statutory provision Beshear’s administration is citing. 

Cave has stepped aside from the commission “under protest” until the issue is resolved. Cave said in a statement that the issue “will ultimately have to be decided by the Kentucky Supreme Court,” but he has not yet decided what action, if any, to take.

Fletcher appointed Cave to the commission in the final hours of his administration on Dec. 10 for a term on the commission that would expire May 23, 2010. The Republican-led Senate unanimously approved the appointment at 12:46 a.m. on April 16, according to the vote roll call sheet.

But Ellen Hesen, general counsel for Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, contends in an April 18 letter to Cave that the Democratic-controlled House did not act on the appointment, as required by a state statute — KRS 11.160(2)(i).

As a result, she said, his seat on the commission has become vacant.

Cave did not return phone calls Monday to his Lexington office and home.

Mixing business with politics

1 IN 5 LAWMAKERS BENEFITS FROM BILLS THEY SPONSORED

By John Cheves
JCHEVES@HERALD-LEADER.COM  

FRANKFORT -- More than one in five state lawmakers sponsor measures that would directly benefit their outside businesses, investments, employers or industries, a Herald-Leader analysis of public records shows.

For example, Democratic Sen. David Boswell, who annually crusades for legalized casino gambling in Kentucky, is also citizen David Boswell, sales manager and registered Frankfort lobbyist for the Owensboro Executive Inn, which wants to open a casino on its premises. Boswell said he would have pushed for casinos regardless of who pays his salary. But he added that a casino would help the hotel, and what's good for his employer is also good for his Senate district.

"When this facility doesn't do well, it sends out a shock wave across the community," Boswell said.

The Kentucky Constitution forbids legislators from voting on measures in which they hold a personal interest. However, that law is interpreted in such a way as to render it essentially meaningless. The Legislative Ethics Commission says it has not reprimanded any lawmakers for conflict of interest in more than a decade.

Senate Republicans scored points this session by accusing House budget Chairman Harry Moberly of a conflict for funding projects at Eastern Kentucky University, where he is executive vice president. But Moberly, D-Richmond, is hardly unique. Kentucky's part-time lawmakers, most of whom work elsewhere when the General Assembly is not in session, routinely push bills, amendments and budget requests related to their jobs.

House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, works for a coal company. His bosses asked the governor for state tax breaks, and Adkins led the fight for them. Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Johnny Ray Turner of Drift -- who pleaded guilty last year in a vote-fraud case -- helps put money into the budget for Eastern Kentucky projects. Then he's paid by politically connected Codell Construction to lobby local officials so they award projects to Codell.

Republican Sen. Damon Thayer, an equine industry consultant and horse breeder in Georgetown, is the man to see about horse-related tax breaks and state incentive funds for horse breeding.

Consumer activists know their proposals for a "lemon law" to protect car buyers face a roadblock in the House Transportation Committee, chaired by a car dealer, Rep. Hubert Collins, D-Wittensville. Environmental groups have all but given up on bills to limit mountaintop removal coal mining, because those bills are assigned to -- and killed by -- the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence. Gooch's family sells equipment to coal companies.

It's dismaying that conflicts of interest are so widespread and widely accepted at the Capitol, said Truman Hurt, who lobbied for environmental causes during the past two sessions for the non-profit Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

"When you serve in Frankfort, your job is supposed to be serving the people fairly," said Hurt, who lives in Perry County. "You shouldn't be worrying about your other job until you go home. If you can't draw that line, you shouldn't be there."

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Beshear wants agreement before calling any special session

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear is leaving open the possibility of calling state lawmakers back to Frankfort soon to overhaul the state’s retirement programs.

But Beshear said Friday that “the only way” he would call a special session is if legislative leaders “get their act together and sit down with us and we come up with an agreed-upon piece of legislation that we all would stand up ahead of time and say we will support this and we will pass this.”

He added, “I’m not going to waste the taxpayers’ money calling a special session just so we can come up and argue about it again.”

If an agreement can be reached in advance, said Beshear, “I’m willing to call them back in for a minimal amount of time.  I believe that is five days to pass a bill.”

Only the governor can call a special session and set its agenda.  A special session would cost taxpayers about $60,000 a day.

Kentucky’s 2008 General Assembly ended Tuesday without changing the state’s pension systems, which face a deficit of more than $26 billion.

Leaders in the state House and Senate reached a tentative agreement on the issue Tuesday.  The Senate approved the agreement but the House did not vote on it.  House leaders said they did not have enough time to review the agreement.

Beshear said he plans to talk to legislative leaders within the next few days about the pension issue.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, replied, "We already reached an agreement.  Everybody knows we reached an agreement."

On Thursday, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Kentucky League of Cities and the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence urged Beshear to call a special session within 30 days on the issue.

The groups said state and local governments are facing a crisis in escalating pension costs.  They also said the pension issue should be the only item on a call for a special session.

Senate President Williams also has called for a special session.  House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said one might be needed to consider changes in the retirement systems and other issues like ethics reforms and road projects.

--Jack Brammer

Are bills finalized after midnight legit?

Questions remain about the legality of bills that legislative leaders officially signed after midnight.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning became a sort-of turn-back-the-clock event that hearkened back to the 1970s and 1980s, when legislators would, well, turn back the clock in order to finish their work.

KET cameras and reporters watched as at least five bills – two in the Senate, three in the House – received the necessary signatures from House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, in their respective chambers long after 12 a.m. The chambers did not officially end the session, called sine die, until about 1 a.m. Wednesday, April 16.

But the state’s constitution says the General Assembly session cannot “extend beyond April 15.”

The legislative record, however, will show that no bills were finalized, or enrolled, after midnight, said Robert Sherman, director of the Legislative Research Commission.

“To the best of my knowledge, neither the Senate and House journals show that any business occurred after midnight,” he said.

But how does that jibe with vote-count sheets that show the House taking up measures as late as 12:12 a.m.?

“There are evidently conflicting clocks,” Sherman said dryly.

Former state Supreme Court Justice James Keller said the bills enrolled after midnight could have a constitutional problem. But someone affected by the bill would have to file a lawsuit to challenge it, he said.

“If they have evidence that clearly shows that these bills were enrolled on April 16, they may be held to be enacted in violation of the constitution and therefore invalid,” he said.

Otherwise, the legal precedent is that bills passed by the General Assembly are presumed to be valid until proven otherwise.

At 12:53 a.m., Williams, the Senate president, signed off on two bills to be sent to the governor – an energy bill, House Bill 2, and Senate Bill 188, which deals with foster care review boards. He said if anyone wants to challenge the legality of the bills being signed on Wednesday, “go to it.”

Attorney General Jack Conway declined to comment on whether he considered the post-midnight bills to be legal.

"That could be a matter brought to our office for an opinion if someone wants to challenge that legislation. I'm not inviting that, but I'm going to reserve judgment on that," Conway said.

He joked that Richards, who hails from Bowling Green, "operates on Central daylight time."

- Ryan Alessi

Legislative leaders trade jabs over failed bills

FRANKFORT -- House Speaker Jody Richards said the Senate flooded the House with so many important bills, including a measure to overhaul the state's retirement systems Tuesday night, that there was no time to address them before this year's law-making session ended.

"From now on we will have a cutoff time" to consider bills before the final hours of a session, said Richards, D-Bowling Green.

He also said the House will pass the time-consuming budget bill several days earlier in the session to give the Senate more time to work on it.

He accused the Republican-led Senate of "a contrived, calculated move to push things down to us."

He said he did not know why Senate leaders missed four scheduled meetings with House Democratic leaders on Monday to talk about the pension issue and other bills.

But Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said the Democratic-controlled House "needed a backbone."

He also said Richards told him that he had "lost control" of the House in the final, frenetic hours of the session, during which legislative leaders actually stopped the clock before the midnight deadline to finish their work. The state constitution requires lawmakers to finish their work on April 15.

Richards denied making the remark and said he did not lose control in his chamber.

Another reason for the failure of the pension bill, Richards said, was opposition from the Kentucky Education Association and the Jefferson County Teachers Association.

Asked if he would advise Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear to call a special legislative session to consider a pension bill, Richards said he would have to think about that.  He added there may be additional issues worthy of a special session, mentioning ethics reforms and road projects.

Richards also said Beshear told House Democrats in a caucus Tuesday night that he needs to work better with legislators.

"We probably need to work on our relationship with him," Richards said.

Beshear said he did not tell the House how to handle the pension bill.

As for his political future, Richards said he will run again next January for another two years as House speaker and he expects no opposition.

The five current House Democratic leaders have not discussed talking about running as a slate, he said.

--Jack Brammer

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Lawmakers strike midnight

By Ryan Alessi
ralessi@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — In what has become tradition on the last day of the General Assembly, legislators resorted to closed-door sessions to scrape up agreements on major bills in hopes of approving them by midnight — a deadline lawmakers ignored.

In a move reminiscent of 1970s-era Frankfort politics, House Democratic leaders stopped the clock and worked for more than a half-hour into Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, a potential deal over a state employee pension restructuring bill collapsed under the weight of distrust between the House and Senate.

The retirement system bill was the second key initiative of Gov. Steve Beshear’s to fall victim to political gridlock on a hurried final day. By the afternoon, an attempt to compromise on a plan to revamp government ethics fell off lawmakers’ radar, never to return.

The House and Senate did sign off on a few key policy and project bills in the final hours, including measures allowing alternative teaching certification, encouraging energy efficiency and approving $75 million worth of extra water and sewer projects.

But House Democratic leaders invited barbed remarks after they moved to stop the clock at 11:54 p.m. to cram in other votes, including an attempt to approve an extra $200 million in federal road construction money.

Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, criticized the clock-freezing as “illegal” and the hurried vote as “outrageous.”

“This is a travesty, ladies and gentlemen. There’s $200 million in projects. And nobody ever explained it,” he said in urging his colleagues to oppose the road bill.

The House voted not to take up the measure at 12:12 a.m. Rep. Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, said he was prepared to support the road bill but with reservations because he said House Democrats backed out of their pledge to pass a state pension reform bill. 

“Everyone shook hands and agreed to pass it and we walked out of that meeting with an agreement to pass it,” Hoover said.

“No agreement was made, no hands were shaken,” House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, shot back from the podium.

The House and Senate finally adjourned about 1 a.m.

Agreement reached on pensions and projects

UPDATE 12:25 A.M.: The pension bill is dead.

MORE TO COME

Legislative leaders say they've reached a compromise on sweeping change to the state's retirement system, as well as road and water line projects.

The pension bill looks "a lot like our bill" that passed out of the House in March, said House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green.

"We have agreed in principle but we haven't seen the bill," he said shortly after 8 p.m. when he emerged from a Senate conference room.

It doesn't include a plan offered by the Senate that would divert some money into a deferred compensation or annuity plan, like a 401(k), for state workers.

The deal also put off a decision about which retirement system — the state, county or school systems’ — should take care of classified county employees, such as school janitors and bus drivers.

Details on spending for road projects, as well as the funding source for $75 million more in water and sewer line construction, weren't available yet.

Meanwhile, another high-profile measure backed by Gov. Steve Beshear -- a plan to reform government ethics -- might not make it by midnight, Richards said.

It's "probably dead" for this session, he said.

- Jack Brammer and Sarah Vos