Commonweath oF Kentucky OrFice OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Anpy BesHear Capron Bunons, Surre 118 ATTORNEY GENERAL 700 Carron AVENUE Frankrort, Kentucky 40601 (602) 696.5300 Hon. Matthew G. Bevin Fax: (602) 564-2894 Governor Commonwealth of Kentucky 700 Capital Avenue, Suite 100 Frankfort, KY 40601 Dear Governor Bevin: As you are aware, my Office has filed suit against you based on your unconstitutional and unlawful use of KRS 12.028 (the “Reorganization Statue”) on two previous occasions, ‘These lawsuits are entitled Commomwealth of Kentucky ex rel. Andy Beshear, Attorney General, et al. y, Matthew G, Bevin, Governor, et al. and Thomas K. Elliott and Mary Helen Peter, et al. v. Matthew G. Bevin, etal. In both actions, we argue that you are improperly using the Reorganization Statute to suspend (or ignore) specific laws passed by the General Assembly that structure and govern independent or autonomous state boards. You then use executive orders to simply re-write the law as you see fit, Both of these cases are still pending. Despite these active lawsuits, on June 2, 2017, you issued Executive Order 2017-334, That Executive Order continues to abuse the Reorganization Statute. The illegal actions in the Executive Order include that you: 1. Dissolved and thereby removed all members of four separate boards. These autonomous boards include: * the School Curriculum, Assessment, and Accountability Council, * the Education Professional Standards Board, * the Reading Diagnostic and Intervention Grant Steering Committee, and «the State Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education. You then created new boards where you will appoint all new members. ‘These “new boards have the same or similar names and virtually the same duties as their predecessor boards. Your actions violate the mandatory terms the General Assembly enacted and provide no cause or due process for the members you have summarily removed. 2. Ignored and rewrote legislation just passed by the General Assembly, In Senate Bill 1, the General Assembly created a new Standards and Assessments Process Review Committee. It specifically structured the numbers of, and requirements for, members. Despite the fact the Committee has not yet even met, you have used the Reorganization Statute to rewrite the legislation, changing the membership. Such action has allowed you ‘Ass EQual Orrorruniry ExpLaver MIFIDHon, Matthew G. Bevin June 7, 2017 PAGE 2 to circumvent the requirement that you veto Senate Bill 1 if you did not agree with its contents, 3. Added “requirements” for board service prohibited by the General Assembly. Your Executive Order added requirements for service of some members of the Kentucky Board of Education. Explicit statutes passed by the General Assembly prohibit such requirements. 4. Changed the mandated structure of the boards. You altered the structure of the Board of Education by adding four members to the number you can appoint. You also abolished the School Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability Council and changed the structure to substantially alter the membership. 5. Changed the legally mandated selection process. On the Council on Postsecondary ;ducation, you have removed the Postsecondary Education Nominating Committee from the process for making gubernatorial appointments to the CPE and also have given yourself the power to choose the faculty and student representatives, 6. Unilaterally increased gubernatorial influence and control. On the Standards and Assessment Process Review Committee, you have given yourself three additional appointees and have given yourself the power to designate the Chair and Vice Chair for the first year, You also removed the requirement that your selections come from recommendations by designated organizations. 7. Order may jeopardize federal status for at least one entity. The State Advisory Panel on Exceptional Children is governed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and is federally mandated to have a majority of members with disabilities or to be parents of children with disabilities. Your newly established panel of fifteen members only requires a total of three people who meet the federally required special rule. For these and many other reasons, your Executive Order is unlawful, and your use of the Reorganization Statute is unconstitutional. I am therefore providing you seven days from the date of this letter to withdraw the Executive Order. Failure to do so may require legal action by this Office, Such action will seek a definitive ruling that the Reorganization Statute does not allow a governor to ignore and rewrite the law. Sincerely, ‘Andy Besh Attomey General