Lawmakers rebuff Beshear, seek more power for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission
The dispute between Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration and the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission about who names the commissioner and sets the job’s salary is spilling over into the state legislature.
The state House is preparing to vote on a bill that would give the commission sole authority to appoint a commissioner and set that person’s salary.
With many Republicans in the House and Senate against the Democratic governor, the bill is on track to become law.
The House Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Committee Thursday approved House Bill 394 on a 15-3 vote, with one member passing, and sent it to the full House for its consideration.
The dispute between the Beshear Administration and the Fish and Wildlife Commission highlighted the need for the bill, said one of its sponsors, Rep. Matthew Koch, R-Paris.
The commission has argued that it has sole authority in hiring Rich Storm as its commissioner and setting his salary. Beshear disagrees.
In January last year, the board unanimously voted to give Storm, who became commissioner in January 2019 during the administration of former Gov. Matt Bevin, a new two-year contract at $140,000 a year.
The Beshear administration offered Storm only a one-year contract, noting that the legislature in 2020 enacted only a one-year state budget. When Storm did not accept it, the administration stopped his salary July 15.
The fish and wildlife board voted 7-0 last Aug. 12 to pursue a lawsuit. It said the administration had approved more than 900 contracts that extend beyond one year and that money to pay Storm’s salary would not come from the state’s General Fund but from fees and federal funds.
Beshear called the board’s action “silly” and mentioned news stories back to 2014 that documented ethical problems and financial irregularities at the fish and wildlife commission.
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate dismissed the commission’s lawsuit last October but the commission, with support from Attorney General Daniel Cameron, has appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
“We’re just trying to do what we think is right with the bill,” said Koch. “Putting the commissioner in charge of the commissioner would take the politics out of it.”
He said the salary the commission sets for the commissioner would have to be reviewed by the legislature’s Government Contract Review Committee. “That would keep it from being exorbitant,” the legislator said.
Dr. Karl Clinard, a retired orthodontist in Somerset who is chairman of the commission, appeared at the committee hearing Thursday to support the bill but did not testify.
One of the three votes against the bill was Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington. She said she was surprised that “avid sportsmen” in her district called her and urged her not to support the bill. She said complete autonomy should not be given to the commission.
Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, voted for the bill after he told members he had worked 30 years with the fish and wildllife department. He voiced concerns that in the last 16 years the department has had several major problems.
He said HB 394 was not perfect legislation but could provide the opportunity for the department to start anew.
State Auditor Mike Harmon, a Republican, said in a December 2018 audit that numerous laws had been violated at the department and “a cultural change” was needed.
The governor criticized the board for appointing Storm instead of going out of the department to hire its chief. Storm had been chairman of the commission and interviewed job applicants for the top position.
The mission of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is to conserve, protect and enhance fish and wildlife resources and provide opportunities for fishing, hunting, trapping, boating, shooting sports, wildlife viewing and related activities.
