Commonwealth ex rel. Beshear v. Commonwealth Office of the Governor ex rel. Bevin
Kentucky Supreme Court
498 S.W.3d 355 (2016)
- Written by Jamie Milne, JD
Facts
During the state budgeting process, Kentucky’s state legislature appropriated, or allocated, certain funds to the state’s universities, with the appropriations to be distributed in quarterly allotments during the fiscal year. In 2016, Matt Bevin (defendant) became governor. He ordered a 4.5 percent budget reduction across the executive branch for the fourth quarter. To achieve that reduction, the governor reduced the fourth-quarter allotment to the state’s universities by 2 percent, essentially preventing the universities from accessing appropriated funds. The state’s attorney general, Andy Beshear (plaintiff) sued Bevin and other executive-branch officials (defendants), seeking a declaratory judgment that Bevin lacked the authority to prevent the universities from accessing appropriated funds. Bevin moved to dismiss, arguing that Beshear lacked standing to bring the claim and that the budget reduction was legal. The trial court granted summary judgment in Bevin’s favor, holding that he had the authority to implement the budget reductions. The Kentucky Supreme Court granted review.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Noble, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.