Matt
Bevin has barely been in office as Kentucky governor for a month, yet he’s
already caused a sharp rise in the blood pressure of Bluegrass liberals through
a handful of actions taken either to reverse the acts of his predecessor or to
remedy his inaction.
Even
before Bevin took office, his critics were out in full force. Reading the
online comments on news stories and the anti-Bevin editorials published by the
state’s two largest papers offers some keen insight into the amount of what’s
often called “butt-hurt” suffered by those who opposed him. They cannot believe
that Kentuckians had the audacity to elect a conservative Republican governor
after years of Democrats being at the helm.
About
two weeks ago, Bevin issues a series of executive orders that really ramped up
the criticism, on a statewide and national scale. Unfortunately for the
critics, they’re attacking with less than a full knowledge or understanding of
the facts and issues.
Probably
the most misunderstood order was the rescission of Steve Beshear’s unilateral
order increasing the minimum wage for state employees from $7.25 per hour to
$10.10. Beshear took his action without gaining approval from the General
Assembly, which is required by state law to budget and appropriate funding for
state salaries. Bevin’s order rescinded the minimum wage increase for future
hires, but specifically stated that no employee who had already gotten a raise
from $7.25 to $10.10 would have that pay increase taken away.
As
happens so often when the national blogs and websites get hold of a Kentucky
story, they got critical facts wrong. They also communicated a mistaken
narrative that the minimum wage for all Kentuckians had been increased by
Beshear, and that Bevin had stripped that raise, which is blatantly untrue.
Still others, including an anonymous Kentucky blog written by a foul-mouthed
individual who identifies himself only as “Yellow Dog,” claimed that raises had
actually been taken away from those who had already received them.
One
doesn’t go on a left-leaning site like Daily Kos or Politico or Huffington Post
and expect the commenters to be well-informed conservatives. So, you can
probably guess what the uninformed denizens of those sites had to say. Without
knowing the facts, poster after poster berated Bevin for sticking it to the
poor working people of Kentucky. Apparently, these people can find their way to
their favorite propaganda sites, but don’t know how to use Google to find out
the truth behind the minimum wage rescission.
Bevin’s
order also eliminated the employee advisory council. This was a bone thrown to
the labor unions who helped Paul Patton get elected in 1995. Ernie Fletcher
abolished it when he took office in 2003, but Beshear brought it back in 2007.
Again,
those unfamiliar with Kentucky went crazy, claiming that the new governor had
taken away the voice of state employees. And again, their claims were untrue.
Kentucky employee wages and benefits are set through state law and
administrative regulation, which means they require legislative approval.
Kentucky has no collective bargaining process for state employees. State
workers are free to contact elected officials with their requests, but in the
end, those things are set by law and not through negotiations. Bevin’s order
merely did away with a toothless tiger; an agency with no authority or power.
The
role of the legislature also was a key factor in Bevin’s decision to eliminate
the blanket restoration of voting rights to felons granted by Beshear. While
Bevin in general supports the concept of felons automatically regaining the
right to vote after they serve their sentences, he thinks such a policy should
be passed by the legislature, and if necessary, by Kentucky’s voters via an
amendment to the state constitution.
To
no one’s surprise, the usual cries of “voter suppression” and “racism” came
from the usual sources; again without regard for the facts. Governors have
always had the ability to grant pardons and restore civil rights, but this has
typically been done on an individual basis and is often done in one fell swoop
late in a governor’s term. Bevin and others had questions about Beshear’s
blanket, automatic voting rights restoration process, and the new governor
wants to see that any changes to the way that’s done are done in accordance
with the law.
And
none of that takes into account his order to have the name of the county clerk
removed from marriage licenses. This one really got the left up in arms. They
railed against the change as a victory for bigotry, when in reality this does
not affect the ability of same-sex couples to marry whatsoever. Leaders from
both parties had clamored for a change after some county clerks expressed
reservations about having their names appear on marriage licenses granted to
same-sex couples. They had asked Beshear to either call a special legislative
session or issue an executive order pertaining to the matter, but he refused to
do either. This led to the controversy that swirled around Rowan County Clerk
Kim Davis and turned both Morehead and Grayson into media circuses when Davis
was jailed in Carter County for refusing to comply with a federal judge’s order
that she issue marriage licenses to all applicants.
It’s
just not Bevin’s executive orders that have caused consternation among the
clueless. Last week, the state was forced to make substantial cuts to its Road
Fund budget due to declining gasoline tax revenues. A large percentage of those
cuts were to funds allocated to cities and counties for municipal and rural
roads, and were required by law since local governments’ road funding is
determined by a statutory formula.
This
is a problem that can be placed at the feet of both parties. State leaders have
known for at least two years that gasoline tax revenue would be declining, as
the price of gas has steadily declined. Legislators failed to prop up the tax’s
“floor” two years ago amid fears that it would be construed as a tax increase.
The new, higher “floor” they approved last year was not nearly enough to offset
the decrease in revenue.
Even
though these Road Fund cuts would have taken place even if Jack Conway had won
the governor’s race, or if Beshear was still in office, Bevin’s critics didn’t
miss the chance to accuse him of slashing and burning in his attempt to kill
the government. The typical anti-tea party rhetoric was on full display from
those who didn’t bother to investigate why the cuts were necessary.
Bevin
has made no secret of the fact that he’s inheriting a troubled state budget. Medicaid
funding and fixing the pension shortfall will be two twin obstacles he faces as
he tries to reverse the decades-long course the state’s been on under
leadership of the opposite party. He doesn’t want to cut essential services,
but the state’s obligations will cause him and the General Assembly to have to
take a good, hard look at exactly what is essential and what isn’t.
It
doesn’t help when his critics, especially those who aren’t in Kentucky and
don’t really know what’s going on within the borders of the Bluegrass State, go
off half-cocked with their complaints and criticisms without first educating
themselves.
Bevin
didn’t take money away from the lowest-paid state employees, he didn’t strip
state workers of their negotiating power, and he didn’t make it harder for
same-sex couples to get married. Those are facts, whether Kentucky liberals and
national bloggers want to accept them or not.
