Gov. Matt Bevin had legal authority to make mid-year budget cuts to Kentucky’s public universities and colleges this spring, a judge has ruled.
Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate issued his opinion Wednesday afternoon, several weeks after Attorney General Andy Beshear and several lawmakers sued Bevin for ordering 2 percent mid-year cuts to the state’s public universities. Beshear argued that the governor could not make cuts in an already-enacted state budget without any shortfall in state revenue.
Beshear said he will file an immediate appeal and seek to have the case transferred directly to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
"While we respect Judge Wingate, his opinion is inconsistent with numerous decisions by the Supreme Court of Kentucky and confers dangerous levels of power on the governor," Beshear said in a statement.
Read more at The Lexington Herald-Leader: http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article78444317.html