State legislatures are limiting governors' powers

One of the first things on the agenda this year for Republicans who control the Kentucky General Assembly was "kneecaping Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear," Nick Niedzwiadek reports for Politico. They passed bills that put new limits on his emergency powers that he is exercising in the pandemic, "overrode his veto and then fought him in court." 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."

In some cases, legislators are asking voters to give them more power at governors' expense. In Kentucky, they "put on the 2022 ballot a constitutional amendment to let the legislature call itself into session for 12 extra days a year and extend its 30- and 60-day sessions past the current deadlines of March 30 and April 15," writes Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which publishes The Rural Blog. "In policy and in politics, the legislature has grabbed the wheel."