Anyone who's holding out hope that the Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly will stand unified in opposition to the state's new Democrat governor, Andy Beshear, saw a couple of more reasons to question that hope this week as the Matt Bevin administration gave way to the incoming governor.
There's plenty of justification to question the legislature's commitment to conservative values. The "new majority" hasn't exactly behaved in a conservative manner over the last couple of years. And during the past week, legislators have shown that they aren't shy about jumping on a fellow Republican and sidling up to his critics.
The first instance happened Monday, when the legislature's contract review committee voted not to approve the Bevin administration's decision to award the state's Medicaid managed care contract to five companies, including the non-renewal of contracts for Passport Health and Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
That committee's decision was not binding, however, and the Bevin administration overrode the recommendation and proceeded with its original decision.
The press categorized it as a last-minute rebuke of the outgoing Republican governor by his own party. And it's possible that the new administration will attempt to reverse the decision. But on its surface, the administration's decision wasn't a bad call. Anthem has administered the health insurance for state employees and teachers for years, and has shown itself to be unable to control costs. Coverage gets worse every year, with employees having to pay more out of pocket through rising costs and deductibles. And problems with Passport's coverage are well-documented if you've paid attention. It's not hard to find complaints about their service.
And then there's the matter of the pardons, and one Republican legislator's knee-jerk reaction to them.
Kentucky's Constitution gives the governor the power to pardon criminals or commute their sentences. Practically every governor makes use of that power, often during their final weeks in office. Rarely has much been made of this practice, but that wasn't the case this time around. After Bevin's pardons became public, they became the subject of intense criticism -- likely fueled by inflammatory hostile press coverage, compounded by the grandstanding statements of prosecutors whose involvement in the cases ended with the guilty verdicts and would have no knowledge of the rehabilitation, repentance and redemption of the defendants during their incarceration.
After staying silent when Steve Beshear pardoned dozens on his way out the door four years ago, Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel somehow found it necessary to become outraged when a governor from his own party did what his Democrat predecessor did four years ago.
McDaniel has filed a bill that would propose an amendment to the state constitution that would bring a halt to a governor's ability to issue pardons a month prior to the gubernatorial election, and in the period between that election and the inauguration.
This is probably the point where it should be mentioned that McDaniel was the running mate of Jamie Comer, who famously lost the 2015 GOP primary to Bevin by 83 votes. Makes one wonder if there aren't more than a few sour grapes behind his proposed amendment. Although Bevin's no longer in office, McDaniels' proposal is clearly a slap at him.
The problem with far too many Republicans is that they seem almost eager to clash with their fellow Republicans. Kentucky is full of GOP members who can't resist a chance to jump into the political bed with Democrats. During a time when, more than ever, the Republicans need to stay unified, they seem intent on engaging in infighting.
It doesn't bode well with a new governor in office who's already showing resistance to conservative policies. If the Republican majority is more interested in fighting other Republicans than the governor from the opposing party, it's definitely going to be a long, hard four years.
