Richard Milhous Bevin. I’m sorry, I mean Richard Milhous Nixon. In 1972 President Nixon decided that one way to deal with liberal environmental programs he opposed was to simply not spend the money Congress appropriated for those programs. He was the Chief Executive of all Federal agencies after all. This was called “impoundment.”
There was one little problem. The Constitution gives Congress the power to make laws, establish agencies to carry those laws into effect, and appropriate money for those agencies. The Constitution does not give the President specific powers related to appropriations, but it does task the President with ensuring that the laws created by Congress are “faithfully executed.”
Nixon’s attempt at “impoundment” created a bit of a Constitutional crisis. Congress passed a law specifically forbidding the President from impounding funds that had already been appropriated. Nixon challenged the law and lost handily in the Supreme Court in the case of Train v. City of New York. The unanimous Court said that the Legislature has the power of the purse and once money has been appropriated the Executive Department, meaning the President and the specific federal agency, has a duty to do what Congress told them to do.
It’s high school civics: separation of powers. The legislative branch creates laws and appropriates money. The executive branch executes those laws.
This was a Federal case, but the same rules apply in the states.
Under the Kentucky Constitution the legislature enacts laws and appropriates money to carry out those laws and to run government. The Governor then must follow those laws and spend the appropriated money.
In Kentucky the Governor has significant input into budgetary matters. He presents the Legislature with a draft budget. He can advocate for his budgetary priorities personally and through his allies in the Legislature. And once a budget has been passed the Governor has a line item veto, which allows him to strip out items from the budget. This gives the Governor enormous power over the budget, which is why the Legislature generally follows his lead.
Once the budget has been signed by the Governor he then must follow it. Oh, there is one exception in Kentucky. The Governor can modify the budget if there is a “fiscal emergency” which typically means a shortfall in tax revenues. Kentucky, like most states, has a Constitutional provision forbidding deficit spending. So if revenue is less than anticipated the Governor is required to make cuts. But those cuts must follow a formula set by the Legislature. Barring such a “fiscal emergency” the Governor is bound by the appropriation set by the Legislature.
This creates a bit of a quandary for a new governor. For the first six months of a new administration they are spending money appropriated by the previous Legislature. This means that Bevin is bound by the 2014 budget until the new budget goes into effect in June of this year. This includes funding for higher education. This may be imperfect, but it’s the system we have.
Governor Bevin may not believe that he has to follow the same rules as everyone else, but he does. It’s ironic because Bevin has called himself a “Constitutional conservative.” This implies that he understands, reveres, and will assiduously comply with the Constitution.
Unfortunately for Governor Bevin the Kentucky Constitution is clear. If the Legislature has appropriated money the governor has to spend it. Refusing to do so is, shall we say, rather Nixonian.