A Kentucky judge has ruled Governor Matt Bevin can cut the budgets of public colleges and universities without the approval of the state legislature.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate says two state laws allow Bevin to reduce allotments for public colleges and universities.
Wingate ruled while the governor's powers are usually confined to the state constitution, the legislature can give the governor additional powers by passing laws. He said Bevin's cuts of nearly $18 million to colleges and universities this year are not improper. He said Bevin was not adjusting the colleges' appropriation; he was just ordering them not to spend all of it.
Beshear said he'll appeal the ruling. He says it gives the governor dangerous levels of power.
Bevin proposed the cuts in January. The state legislature did not approve the cuts, however Bevin ordered them anyway. Attorney General Andy Beshear then sued the governor. Wingate ordered Bevin to leave the $18 million alone until the case had been resolved.
In a letter reducing the appropriation to higher education, Bevin cited a state law he says gives him the authority to make the cuts. The law forbids “allotments in excess of the amount appropriated to that budget unit in a branch budget bill” but says nothing about reduced appropriations.
This story has been updated.
