Bevin ignores recent Kentucky history at his own peril

A good editorial from the Herald-Leader:

(Gov. Matt Bevin) should know his executive order giving himself the exclusive power to choose all the ethics commissioners is a really, really bad idea.

...if Bevin wants to deliver an administration that is both ethical and appears to be ethical he can’t get there by grabbing all the power to appoint the arbiters of ethics for himself.

It’s a bad decision, one that ignores Kentucky government’s long, ethically-challenged history.

Bevin overreaches again

From the Herald-Leader:

Other governors figured out how to bring in new boards to give public universities “fresh starts” without raising questions about the legality of their actions.

Not Matt Bevin, who waved his scepter and whisked away the University of Louisville’s board and president, or so it appeared through the fog of intrigue surrounding his Friday morning announcement.

On Friday afternoon, Bevin rewrote the law governing the Kentucky Retirement Systems Board of Trustees, prompting a public retirees group to call on “the legitimate KRS board” to challenge the governor in court.

Bevin elected governor, not absolute ruler

A good editorial from the Herald-Leader:

What’s really troubling about (Gov. Matt Bevin's) convoluted machinations over the panel appointed to nominate people to serve as judges in workers’ compensation cases is an apparent confusion — or lack of concern — about separation of powers among the government’s executive, legislative and judicial branches.

In this case, Bevin rewrote legislation by executive order — taking on legislative duties — then, according to his spokesperson, decided a judge was simply wrong (“would no doubt be reversed on appeal”) in a decision temporarily blocking his changes.

...Bevin’s disregard for the fundamental limits imposed on his power also came into focus in the intimidation tactics his administration used in an attempt to impose control over the Kentucky Retirement Systems Board of Trustees at a May meeting. The attorney general decision this week ruled that the governor’s delegates violated Kentucky Open Meetings law by threatening to arrest one board member and to initiate an investigation of another, if they did not comply with the administration’s wishes.

Rand Paul’s bad chemical reaction

From today's Herald-Leader:

Gee, thanks, Sen. Rand Paul for laying out Kentucky’s welcome mat to chemical companies eager to escape regulation. More pollution and cancer are just what we need.

In a speech Tuesday, Paul declared: “If California inappropriately regulates your chemicals, charge them more and by all means move! We'd love to have your business in Kentucky.”

The occasion was final passage of the first modernization of federal chemical safety laws in 40 years. This quiet triumph of bipartisanship and collaboration between industry and environmentalists left Paul sputtering because chemical makers not only sought but expect to profit from more effective regulation.