FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky's state treasurer spent Thursday morning testifying to state legislators that Gov. Andy Beshear's executive orders, restricting religious gatherings earlier on in the COVID-19 pandemic, was unconstitutional.
Allison Ball said Beshear abused his power when enforcing executive orders against large gatherings, specifically pointing to state troopers used at Maryville Baptist Church in Bullitt County and at other churches throughout the state where people gathered for services.
Troopers placed flyers on car windshield’s warning parishioners that they could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor.
They also recorded license plate numbers.
"They (state troopers) have been put in the untenable position of having to either obey the governor or follow the constitution," Ball testified.
Ball said Beshear's administration violated the First Amendment by directly targeting religious activity despite "the Kentucky Department for Public Health [finding] only 1.1% of positive COVID-19 contractions came from places of worship."
She directed her department to investigate how much state money was used to pay for what she called unconstitutional enforcement.
Ball presented an 87-page report to the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary that included an email by Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack in which he said there is "no cure for ignorance or obstinacy,” referring to the churches in violation.
What wasn't in the report, however, were the actual figures on how much public money the governor allegedly wasted, as pointed out by Minority Whip Angie Hatton.
"There wasn't a number, there wasn't a spreadsheet, it wasn't a treasurer's report," Hatton said.
Ball claimed getting those numbers would be almost impossible, but called on legislators to put more limits in the statute on a governor's use of emergency powers.
Beshear and Hatton, though, called the report political.
"This is again something right before an election," Beshear said Monday.
Ball, however, said she is the "watchdog of taxpayer dollars," saying she would investigate no matter the political party of a governor.
"I would absolutely [investigate]," Ball said. "I would be horrified to have a Republican doing this because this is one of those areas that we should not have, this shouldn't be contentious."
Hatton said it read less like a treasurer's report and more like someone who wanted to run for further office.
The governor's office also released a statement questioning the timing of the report.
"With less than two weeks until Election Day, Allison Ball is playing politics while Gov. Beshear is fighting to save lives. Kentuckians know the order relating to religious gatherings was withdrawn in May and the U.S. Supreme Court has since ruled that such actions were legal. As a deacon in his church, the Governor believes the treasurer is wrong to use faith to create fear and stoke division between Kentuckians. As Governor, he has regularly featured religious leaders in his press conferences and often speaks about his strong faith. Early in the pandemic, at a time when hospitals in New York and New Jersey were overrun, and the country lacked sufficient PPE and testing, Gov. Beshear took the same steps as other governors by prohibiting mass gatherings to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect the lives of Kentuckians. He urges the treasurer to set aside partisan politics and prioritize Kentuckians and their health during this pandemic, which has killed more than 1,300 people in the commonwealth and is currently surging with record cases."
Read the full preliminary report from the State Treasurers office below:
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.