Judge blocks bill that would limit Beshear’s ethics board appointment power
Louisville Circuit Judge McKay Chauvin has blocked a bill that would have taken away Gov. Andy Beshear’s power to appoint all the members of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission (EBEC) as well as completely eliminate the current membership of that board.
Beshear challenged the bill, House Bill 334, in court shortly after the 2022 legislative session ended in Spring against the other constitutional officers, the Legislative Research Commission, and the commission itself. David Karem, a former longtime state Democratic legislator and vice chair of the commission, joined Beshear in the suit.
Currently, the EBEC is comprised of five commission members all appointed by the governor. House Bill 334, the law that Beshear and Karem are challenging, would boot the entire current membership and replace it with seven members, five of whom would be picked by the other five constitutional officers - Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor and Commissioner of Agriculture.
Beshear is a Democrat while the other five constitutional officers are all Republican.
The law, like most other non-appropriations bills that weren’t passed with an emergency clause, would have taken effect this Thursday.
Chauvin, in his opinion and order, said that the bill “so severely divests, diminishes and diverts” the governor’s constitutional executive duty with regards to the EBEC.
Crystal Staley, a spokesperson for Beshear’s office, applauded the ruling.
“This is an important ruling that shows the rules stay the same for everyone and that Gov. Beshear has the same authority as every governor before him,” Staley wrote. “This was an attempt by the General Assembly to politicize and even weaponize the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.”
Joe Bilby – general counsel for Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles who is also running against Franklin Circuit Judge Philip Shepherd for the highly important judicial post – argued in a memorandum that “it is not necessary for the Governor to have direct control over every officer who wields an executive power” via the EBEC.
Though the argument for the bill did not carry the day with Chauvin, Auditor Mike Harmon signaled in a statement that he and other constitutional officers will appeal the ruling.
“I’m disappointed and disagree with today’s Jefferson Circuit Court decision in the Executive Branch Ethics Commission case,” Harmon said. “House Bill 334 is a good government bill, and I look forward to joining with my fellow constitutional officers on the appeal of today’s decision.”