Judge temporarily halts bill limiting Beshear's emergency powers amid pandemic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Wednesday temporarily halted a bill limiting Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's emergency power to enact restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saying it "could likely wreak havoc with public health," Judge Phillip J. Shepherd enjoined House Bill 1 for 30 days, according to court documents. HB1 was one of three bills the governor targeted in a lawsuit filed Tuesday seeking to keep the proposed legislation from going into effect.

"I don’t use emergency powers because I want to. I use them because it is my duty to preserve the lives of Kentuckians," Beshear said in a statement responding to Shepherd's ruling.

HB1 allows schools, businesses, nonprofits and churches to remain open during the pandemic if they adhere to "all applicable guidance" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the executive branch, "whichever is least restrictive." Legislators on Tuesday voted to override Beshear's veto of the bill, meaning it would become law once certified by the Office of the Secretary of State.

In granting Beshear's request for an injunction on HB1, Shepherd said the bill "could create chaos and undermine any effective enforcement of public health standards to prevent the spread of this deadly disease during this pandemic," according to court documents.

"Under the provisions of House Bill 1, it is likely that hundreds, or even thousands, of individual operating plans could be adopted, with no meaningful oversight or review and with great variations as to the rules that would apply throughout the state," Shepherd wrote. "The Governor’s power — indeed, duty — to effectively enforce any uniform public health standards would be severely undermined, if not destroyed."

Shepherd did not grant Beshear's request for injunction on the other two bills targeted in his lawsuit, Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2. In addition to injunctions, the governor's lawsuit is seeking to have all three bills declared unconstitutional.

One of the Republican leaders listed as a defendant in Beshear's lawsuit, House Speaker David Osborne, told WDRB News on Tuesday that the bills are not intended to undo the governor's safety measures. Instead, he said they are to provide legislators with more oversight and schools, businesses, nonprofits and churches with more flexibility.

"It very clearly states that they have to comply with safe protocol — CDC regulations," said Osborne, R-Prospect. "It's not turning it into the Wild West."

Shepherd, however, cited the CDC in making his argument for temporarily halting HB1.

"As noted by the CDC, there is a difference between 'guidance' and 'standards,' and between abstract advice and enforceable regulation," he wrote. "Under House Bill 1, it appears likely that there will be no enforceable standards governing the operation of businesses, schools, colleges, local government or non-profit agencies.

"The Court finds that the Verified Complaint demonstrates that there will be immediate and irreparable injury to the Governor’s right and constitutional duty to adopt emergency measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus and address the real, imminent and extreme public health crisis facing the public."

Senate President Robert Stivers in a statement said Shepherd made "the appropriate ruling" in denying injunctive relief for Senate Bills 1 and 2.

"We want to look further into the restraining order and injunctive relief on House Bill 1 to better understand Judge Shepherd’s rationale," said Stivers, R-Manchester, who is also a defendant in the governor's lawsuit.

"However, it is apparent from the court’s ruling that the majority of the actions of the General Assembly were within the law," the senator added.

At a court hearing conducted by Zoom, Shepherd urged both sides in the lawsuit to engage in "good-faith negotiations" to try to resolve disputes so there isn’t a "cloud of uncertainty" about what rules will apply in combating the pandemic.

During his briefing on the pandemic Wednesday, Beshear pulled out a stack of papers he said were the 174 CDC guidance documents businesses would have to go through to see which guidelines they would have to comply with under HB1.

"We gotta have clear, consistent rules, and that's what the (Kentucky) Supreme Court said just a couple of months ago," he said. "Whether or not people want to pull authority from me, let's be smart in how we address the virus and not say to our businesses, 'It's on you now. Here's all the paperwork.'"

The Kentucky Supreme Court in November unanimously ruled that Beshear's executive orders were legal and "necessary" during a pandemic that has now claimed the lives of more than 3,800 Kentuckians.

Read Shepherd's ruling in full below:

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