LEXINGTON, Ky. — Republican Gov. Matt Bevin filed five executive orders late Tuesday to start reshaping state government along conservative ideological lines, including one that removes county clerks’ names from marriage licenses, granting the request of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who opposes same-sex marriage. Others reversed earlier executive orders by former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear to restore voting rights to felons and for a higher minimum wage for state workers and employees of state vendors.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Republican Gov. Matt Bevin filed five executive orders late Tuesday to start reshaping state government along conservative ideological lines, including one that removes county clerks’ names from marriage licenses, granting the request of Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who opposes same-sex marriage. Others reversed earlier executive orders by former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear to restore voting rights to felons and for a higher minimum wage for state workers and employees of state vendors.
On marriage licenses, Bevin cited the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act as he removed the names of counties and county clerks, and allowed clerks to designate a third party to sign them. Davis asked Beshear to do this last summer while she refused to issue marriage licenses in Rowan County. Davis said her Christian beliefs made it impossible for her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in June, leading to several lawsuits against her and five days in jail for contempt of court.
The existing marriage license “creates a substantial burden on the freedom of religion of some county clerks and employees of their offices because the current form bears the name of the issuing county clerk, and some county clerks and their employees sincerely believe that the presence of their name on the form implies their personal endorsement of, and participation in, same-sex marriage, which conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Bevin wrote in his executive order.
The new license, which Bevin ordered the state Department for Libraries and Archives to create, lists at the top of the form only the Commonwealth of Kentucky, not the county or the county clerk. There is a line at the bottom where an “issuing official” may sign, but one of Davis’ lawyers Tuesday said that could be — as Davis has arranged it in Rowan County — a willing deputy clerk who signs only as a notary public.
“It’s a great Christmas present for Kim Davis and for others like her,” said attorney Mat Staver.
The lawsuits involving Davis, the state and several same-sex couples from Rowan County, pending in federal district and appeals courts, now might be moot, Staver said. Bevin’s order essentially ratifies the licensing system Davis has improvised since her release from jail last summer, he said.
“I believe this may bring the cases to an end in a way that brings victory to Kim Davis and other like-minded clerks,” Staver said.
However, critics Tuesday said state law establishes the contents of Kentucky marriage licenses, including an authorization statement and a signature by the county clerk, and a governor cannot change state law through an executive order. If the General Assembly wants to rewrite the law when it meets this winter, it can, but the language on marriage licenses otherwise cannot be altered, they said.
“I don’t see how the governor on his own can eliminate the clerks’ names from these forms. I would imagine a lawsuit will be filed,” said Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins.
In his other executive orders, Bevin:
—Suspended Beshear’s Nov. 24 executive order that automatically restored the right to vote to most nonviolent felons who have served out their sentences — a pool that potentially included many tens of thousands of Kentuckians.
Bevin’s order will not retroactively affect felons who, since Nov. 24, have received a certificate from the state Department of Corrections confirming their restoration of rights. It was not known Tuesday night how many such certificates have been issued.
—Reversed Beshear’s June 8 executive order that raised the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for hundreds of the lowest-paid workers in state government’s executive branch and the employees of vendors who signed contracts with the executive branch.
An estimated 800 state workers who already have received pay raises as a result of Beshear’s order may keep them, but all new state hires will start at the previously established pay scale, Bevin said. The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
“The minimum wage stifles job creation and disproportionately impacts lower skilled workers seeking entry-level jobs,” Bevin wrote in his executive order. “Wage rates ideally would be established by the demands of the labor market instead of being set by the government.”
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy called Bevin’s order “a step backward for many hard-working Kentuckians who have seen their wages remain flat despite a growing economy.”
—Placed a freeze on hiring for all vacant positions in state government, due to “severe financial challenges” facing Kentucky, including many billions of dollars owed to the state pension systems.
—Abolished the Governor’s Employee Advisory Council, which then-Gov. Paul Patton established in 2001 and Beshear reinstituted in 2008 by executive order.
“The purpose of the council is to ask state employees to advise and make recommendations to the governor relating to employee/employer relations; to give front-line state employees a stronger voice in Frankfort; and to create a two-way communication mechanism between front-line state merit employees and the governor’s office,” according to the state Personnel Cabinet website, which links to several public employee unions.