Constitutional lawyer: Bevin's court victory has more than college dollars at stake

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Summer break isn't the only reason Shepherdsville's Katherine Larimore and Jessie Renfrow are glad their days at Jefferson Community & Technical College are done.

"Still have a long ways to go," said Larimore, trained as a veterinary assistant.

"We had half of our classes at the Bullitt County campus online, which made it a lot harder," Renfrow told WAVE 3 News on Thursday. "Because you didn't have that in-class experience."

In the fall semester JCTC expects 12,000 students, down from its all-time high of 15,000, but about 1,500 more than the spring semester. However it's cutting 34 teaching positions, about 14 percent of the faculty, after the General Assembly and Gov. Matt Bevin agreed to a two-year budget that cuts the school's state allocations 4.5 percent both years.

Wednesday, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled Bevin can cut higher education allocations two-percent for what's left of this budget year.

"It creates a system that I don't believe is Constitutional," said Attorney General Andy Beshear, who'd challenged the cuts and plans to appeal the ruling to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Beshear maintains that Kentucky budgets carry the force of law, and that statutes allow governors to cut approved spending only after a panel of economists and revenue forecasters confirms that the money isn't, or won't, be there to cover it.

Bevin argued that the law merely prevents governors from spending more, not less.

Wingate's ruling called Bevin's reasoning "plain and logical," chastising Beshear and the three Louisville-area lawmakers who brought suit as "not fiscally responsible" for insisting that "all funds be spent."

"That would give the Governor virtually unfettered power to fund, or defund, anything he wants at his whim," Beshear told WAVE 3 News. "He could defund the state police. He could defund public schools."

"Which is the real issue," said attorney Sheryl Snyder, who's argued a number of cases involving Constitutional challenges. "How large is the precedent set by this decision?"

Wingate appears to have couched his opinion narrowly, according to Snyder.

"It reads as if he might have ruled differently had the cuts been shown to hurt the (universities and community-technical) schools a lot," Snyder said. "But the schools may have undercut themselves."

Wingate's 24-page ruling cites public statements from university administrators "admitting they can live with the downward revisions without overall impact to their mission."

"That is something the Supreme Court of Kentucky will be asking itself - why is this action being taken in the case," Snyder said. "I think it (Bevin's action) was a chess move in the overall budget negotiations, as opposed to an overall exercise of power."

House Democrats had fought Bevin's plan, which had called for nine percent cuts the next two fiscal years, and 4.5 percent for the remainder of this budget year. Bevin's buy-in to the Republican Senate's offer to "meet in the middle" gave him leverage over college leadership while squeezing House leadership, Snyder said.

"The Judge has ruled, and Bevin has acknowledged, he can't move money from one program to another," Snyder said.

The funds in question, about $18.2 million, will sit in escrow until a higher court determines whether the ruling stands. If it does, the money would be returned to the General Fund.

"It sets up a real separation-of-powers question," Snyder said. "Would the precedent set tempt a future Governor to abuse the power? It's why I believe the (Kentucky) Supreme Court will overturn the ruling and will agree with the Attorney General."

Beshear expects the case to be fast-tracked, bypassing Kentucky's Court of Appeals, to be heard before the next budget year begins July 1.

The University of Louisville expects to lose about $6.3 million in state funding each of the next two budget years, interim communications director John Karman told WAVE 3 News.

"We've been preparing contingencies," he said. "We'll release the details in time for the Board of Trustees to consider them in June."

The cuts are expected to weigh more heavily on students attending community & technical colleges, which depend on tuition for three-quarters of their operating dollars.

Renfrow has no such concerns about completing her studies at the University of Kentucky, where she's pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering,

"I got a 33 on my ACT (American College Test)," she grinned. "Presidential Scholarship. Full-ride."

Copyright 2016 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.