FRANKFORT, Ky (LEX 18) Teachers made their voices heard in court Thursday as the battle over Kentucky’s new pension law continues.
Attorney General Andy Beshear took on Governor Matt Bevin’s legal team in an attempt to prove that both the pension law and the way it was passed is illegal.
KY’s Attorney General greeted at the Courthouse by cheers. He prepares to take on Gov. Bevin’s lawyers over the Pension law.
There’s a crowd of around 25 people in red and they’ve made it clear why they’re here: “We’re mad and we’re watching you.” @LEX18News pic.twitter.com/dyuo6uatND
— Karolina Buczek (@Karolina_Buczek) June 7, 2018
Teachers were wearing red as they protested. They cheered as Beshear arrived at the courthouse.
"We’re mad," said Nema Brewer, who was protesting the law. "We’re fuzzed up over it and we’re going to see this thing all the way through."
In the hearing, Beshear said he is trying to prove two things. He said Senate Bill 151 itself is illegal because it violates the inviolable contract. He also said the way it was passed it also illegal. To prove that, he said that the bill never received the 51 votes needed to pass a bill and it was never read three times, which is a requirement.
"The legislature may be able to interpret its own rules but not the Constitution that forms the bedrock of Kentucky law. If the Constitution says you have to read something three times on three separate days, that’s what you have to do," said Beshear.
Bevin’s legal team disagrees with that.
"All these meetings and committee hearings on 151 in the last three days were posted. People were there. The media was there. Representatives of the KEA were there. There’s just no substance to the argument that it was done in the dead of night without nobody knowing it," said Bevin’s attorney, Steve Pitt.
The judge said he hopes to have a ruling on the case soon, but warned that this may have to go to the Supreme Court.
