The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Matt Bevin’s exceeded his statutory authority earlier this year when he cut state universities’ budgets by 2 percent after the General Assembly had already appropriated the funding.
Kentucky’s high court disagreed.
“By reducing the final quarterly allotment, the governor has essentially frustrated the overall appropriation by the General Assembly,” the opinion says. “Money that the General Assembly made available to the universities through its appropriations was made unavailable by the governor’s actions.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear. He argued that the governor violated the state constitution’s separation of powers by usurping legislative power over the budget.
Bevin issued an order in April that funding to state universities and community colleges be cut by 4.5 percent. Those cuts subsequently were reduced to 2 percent.