State legislatures across the nation working to limit governors' powers - Entrepreneur Generations

One of the first things on the agenda this year for Kentucky Republicans was figuring out how to kneecap Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. They dropped legislation in January that placed new limits on the governor’s emergency executive powers, quickly passed the bill, overrode his veto and then fought him in court," Nick Niedzwiadek reports for Politico. "In the months that have followed, lawmakers across the country — from Maine to California, Oregon to Florida — have proposed and, in many cases, passed similar measures to curtail the sweeping powers bestowed on their state executives."

It's happening in red and blue states, even in ones where the legislature and the governor are in the same party. "Lawmakers are only now realizing how much power they cede to the executive — and are attempting to reassert themselves in blunt ways. If 2020 marked the rise of the authoritarian governors, 2021 may be the beginning of their fall," Niedzwiadek reports. "The tug-of-war between legislators and governors has the potential to shape the boundaries of gubernatorial authority for years to come and raises substantive questions of how much leeway the state leaders should have during prolonged crises."

And, in Kentucky's case at least, expanded state legislative authority means Republicans will gain more control over redrawing some House district lines, and will likely seek to solidify their primacy through partisan maps, writes Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which publishes The Rural Blog.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/3gkczVK State legislatures across the nation working to limit governors' powers - Entrepreneur Generations

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