A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Gov. Bevin vetoes five bills, including three election-related ones, and uses line-item veto on others


By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today

Gov. Matt Bevin vetoed five bills on Thursday and used his line-item veto power on a sixth.
 
Since the General Assembly adjourned April 15, none of the vetoes can be overridden by lawmakers.


The vetoes dealt with investments made by local government, three election-related bills and administrative regulations.


Here is look at each of the bills the governor vetoed:


- House Bill 75 deals with investments made by local governments.  

“House Bill 75 creates restrictions that unnecessarily limit investment opportunities to local governing bodies,” Bevin said. “The investment guidelines need to be rewritten in conjunction with actual investment professionals.”

Gov. Bevin (File photo)


Part of the bill would mandate high schools give students in grades 10-12 the opportunity to take the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery tests.  Bevin said he had no problem with that section “and will gladly sign it into law if reenacted by the General Assembly without being attached to a bill that is bad for Kentucky.”


-HB 97 would change the filing deadline for some candidates for election.  

Bevin said it “creates a different standard for candidates for local elected office than for other elected offices.  Having multiple filing deadlines within days of each other is confusing and serves no useful purpose.  The existing process serves us well and has done so for years.”


-HB 273 said any qualified voter who voluntarily removes his or her name from the voter registration list and subsequently wishes to register to vote in the next primary shall not be considered a newly registered voter for purposes of party eligibility.

Bevin said the bill “seeks to make Kentucky’s closed primary session even more closed, preventing some voters from having a voice in primary elections.” 


Voters who wish to change their political parties when they recognize their current party no longer reflects their values should not face undue burdens and narrow timetables imposed by the state to exercise their right to vote, he said.


-Bevin also vetoed another election-related bill, HB 274, which cuts in half the time for citizens to request an absentee ballot. The governor said he does not support additional burdens that may impede a citizen’s ability to exercise their right to vote.


-HB 130 dealt with administrative regulations, requiring the staff of the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee to submit annual reports, make emergency administrative regulations expire within 210 days and provide for a way to extend the deadline. Bevin called the bill “a solution for a problem that does not exist.  Kentucky’s current regulatory process works well and this legislation would unnecessarily extend the timeline for implementation.”


He warned extending the process for 30 days could jeopardize federal funds and that it flies in the face of his Red Tape Reduction initiative.  Bevin also said it threatens to slow down Kentucky’s recent surge in economic development.


-HB 201 deals with Transportation Cabinet projects and the governor used his line-item veto power that is allowed for budget and appropriations bills.  He took out five parts, explaining, “The Transportation Cabinet produces a document that combines the sections for ease of funding projects over the six-year plan.  The language bifurcates the projects, making it difficult to fully envision how the projects come together in the plan.”


He also removed a line dealing with riverports that read “improvements shall be limited to dredging and maintenance of access.” Bevin said the language is overly restrictive and may limit funding to other critical needs.


Five more line-items were vetoed, which Bevin said will result in maximum discretion and flexibility for the Cabinet “without precluding the possibility of funding any and all things called for.”


The governor also removed 18 other lines from the bill dealing with a delayed projects status report. He said the Cabinet already published information in a monthly road status and that the additional procedures are “over-burdensome and redundant.”


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