Attorney general threatens suit over budget cuts

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – The Latest on Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s mid-year budget cuts for higher education (all times local):

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4 p.m.

Kentucky’s attorney general is calling Gov. Matt Bevin’s mid-year budget cuts to higher education illegal and has demanded the governor rescind the order.

Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear announced at a news conference on Friday afternoon that he will give the Republican governor seven days to reverse the order before filing litigation.

Bevin ordered cuts of 4.5 percent for all public colleges and universities on Thursday. His move came as House and Senate leaders failed to reach an agreement on a two-year spending plan.

Beshear said state law allows mid-year budget cuts to universities only if there is a declared revenue shortfall, which there is not.

He released a statement Friday that said “the governor’s unilateral action in cutting the appropriated funding of colleges, universities and community colleges was outside of his authority.”

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2:30 p.m.

House Democrats say Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s mid-year budget cuts to colleges and universities are illegal.

Bevin ordered cuts of 4.5 percent for all public colleges and universities on Thursday. His move came as House and Senate leaders failed to reach an agreement on a two-year spending plan. The House and Senate did not include the 4.5 percent cuts in their respective versions of the budget.

Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo said it is unlikely the legislature would sue the governor. But he said a university could or even Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear.

Bevin said the cuts are necessary because the state’s public pension system is on the brink of insolvency. He said once Kentucky’s finances are in order, Kentucky will be able to spend more on higher education.