Media Contact: Nicole Burton
502-564-2611
Nicole.Burton@ky.gov
FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 18, 2018) – Gov. Matt Bevin today filed a petition in Franklin Circuit Court against Attorney General Andy Beshear seeking a declaratory judgment on behalf of the Commonwealth to confirm that it was constitutional for Speaker Pro Tempore David Osborne to sign every bill passed during the 2018 legislative session.
The complaint follows an outrageous legal claim made by Beshear in a public filing alleging that the new pension reform law (Senate Bill 151) is unconstitutional because it was signed by the Speaker Pro Tempore, who Beshear argued is not the presiding officer of the House of Representatives according to Section 56 of the Kentucky Constitution.
“Andy Beshear has become the first Attorney General in Kentucky history to claim that every law passed by a session of the state legislature is invalid,” said Steve Pitt, general counsel for Gov. Bevin. “By placing politics above the law, the ‘chief law officer’ of the Commonwealth has called into question every act of the 2018 General Assembly.”
If Beshear’s argument were to prevail, then more than 200 bills and resolutions passed this session and signed by Speaker Pro Tempore Osborne would be invalidated. This would block the legislative, judicial, and executive branch budgets, as well as measures making vital reforms to Kentucky’s foster care and adoption systems (House Bill 1), providing medical care and substance abuse treatment to pregnant inmates (Senate Bill 133), and increasing line-of-duty death benefits for first responders (House Bill 185).
Because of the far-reaching implications of Beshear’s outlandish allegations, Gov. Bevin is taking action on behalf of the Commonwealth to confirm the constitutionality of the signing of every bill passed during the 2018 General Assembly.
To download a copy of today’s filing, please click here.