Published: December 06, 2008 08:07 pm      

Beshear mending relationship with legislature

Kentucky’s governor saw rocky first year in office aggravated by bad blood

Steve Beshear’s first year as governor produced its share of frustration.

He inherited a badly out-of-whack budget and he couldn’t pass his top legislative priority, a constitutional amendment to allow expanded gambling. Both were complicated by his sometimes rocky relationship with lawmakers of both parties.

Nothing much has changed on the first two, but he thinks his relationships with lawmakers are improving and that’ll help with the budget and the state’s chronic revenue shortfalls. Judging from a key Republican Senator’s comments, Beshear may be right.

“”I feel very good about what I’ve been hearing from the governor in recent days,” said Sen. Charlie Borders, R-Grayson, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee. Borders will be a key player in dealing with the $456 million budget shortfall, and he said Beshear’s statements about consulting with lawmakers, looking for further spending reductions and only then seeking revenue increases is encouraging.

“I think that’s a very responsible position to take,” Borders said. “Look at what we can cut and then if we can’t live with those cuts, what do we need to do? I think his comments are right on point.”

Beshear, in a series of year-end interviews said he hasn’t yet decided whether to ask lawmakers to approve an increase in the cigarette tax, something he proposed in the last session. Whatever he proposes, he’ll need legislative help and that means working with a General Assembly much more aware of its role and independence than when Beshear last served in Frankfort as Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and member of the House.

“When I came in, I was a new governor and didn’t know many of the people who are currently serving in the legislature,” Beshear said. “So a lot of us didn’t have a close working relationship which is understandable. I think we had kind of a shake-down period where we had to get used to each other. We had to get to know each other. And I think that’s developed.”

He points to the bi-partisan passage of state employee pension reform in a special session last summer as an indication of that developing relationship. But he’s still working out a working relationship with Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville. He said he will “reach out to Sen. Williams” on the budget and they are trying to arrange a time to discuss the how to deal with the shortfall, something Williams’ spokeswoman Lourdes Baez-Schrader confirmed.

“I’m going to be briefing him on the budget situation and getting his advice as well as other legislative leaders,” Beshear said.

Former Speaker of the House Bobby Richardson of Glasgow served in that chamber with Beshear in the mid-1970s and worked with him when Beshear was AG and Lieutenant Governor. He said Beshear is intelligent, with the skills to be a good governor.

”But any governor is going to have a rocky relationship with the legislature these days because we’ve got a split legislature, a Republican dominated Senate and a Democratic dominated House,” said Richardson. “Legislators are a whole lot more partisan than we were then. Until we get rid of the partisanship or get back to domination by one party, it’s going to be that way.”

Beshear has repeatedly called for more bi-partisan cooperation, and Borders agrees.

“Times being what they are, it demands we work together,” Borders said. “We owe it to the administration not to nitpick what he puts before us. Let’s see what we can agree on.”

Not all lawmakers have seen evidence of a changed attitude yet.

“He has improved, but he still has some work to do,” said Rep. Tanya Pullin, D-South Shore, who during last year’s session offered to help Beshear work with other legislators. “But it’s as much up to us to build bridges as it is up to him. And I want to continue those efforts to build bridges for the good of the people of Kentucky.”

Rep. Charlie Siler, R-Williamsburg, said lawmakers will welcome Beshear’s call for cooperation across party lines.

“He may be expressing a willingness to do that lately,” Siler said, “and that would be helpful. Each of us would like to think we can go down to the first floor if we need help.”