Gov. Steve Beshear lost another motion in court today when a Franklin Circuit judge refused to grant his request to skip discovery in a Tea Party case challenging the legality of Kentucky's ObamaCare Medicaid expansion.
Judge Phillip Shepherd set the next order of business as ruling on constitutionality of KRS 205.520(3), the statute Beshear cited as justification for attempting to accept a dramatic increase in the size of the state's Medicaid program.
"The law grants extraordinary power to the Governor to accept federal money for 'medical assistance' and that violates the plain language of Section 2 of the Kentucky Constitution," said David Adams, plaintiff in the case.
Section 2 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky says "Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority."
KRS 205.520(3) says: Further, it is the policy of the Commonwealth to take advantage of all federal funds that may be available for medical assistance. To qualify for federal funds the secretary for health and family services may by regulation comply with any requirement that may be imposed or opportunity that may be presented by federal law. Nothing in KRS 205.510 to 205.630 is intended to limit the secretary's power in this respect.
