Andy Beshear
Governor of Kentucky since 2019
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March 19 2025 | Governor Andy Beshear publicly criticized potential federal government restructuring efforts, arguing against mass government employee dismissals and emphasizing the need to improve government performance rather than 'destroy' it. |
2024 | Andy Beshear signed an executive order to ban conversion therapy for minors after repeated efforts in the state legislature to block such legislation. |
2024 | Andy Beshear opposed school choice programs, stating that the 2024 Kentucky Amendment 2 would result in 'less money in public schools.' |
2024 | Beshear created a political action committee aimed at raising funds for candidates who oppose the trend of anger politics and division in the upcoming United States elections. |
November 12 2024 | Andy Beshear wrote an article titled 'I'm the Governor of Kentucky. Here's How Democrats Can Win Again' published in the New York Times. |
November 7 2023 | Beshear won reelection to a second term in the Kentucky gubernatorial election, defeating Republican nominee Daniel Cameron with a margin of 52.53% to 47.46%. |
March 2023 | Beshear vetoed a bill that aimed to create new regulations and restrictions for transgender youth, including a ban on gender-affirming care; however, his veto was overridden by the Republican-dominated legislature. |
July 2022 | Beshear coordinated search and rescue efforts during severe flooding in Kentucky's Appalachia region that caused over 25 deaths, as President Biden declared a federal disaster. |
2021 | In 2021, Kentucky Senator Chris McDaniel publicly opposed Beshear's proposal to use the state's rainy day fund or a general fund surplus to help finance a $2.5-billion project for a companion bridge to the Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River. |
December 2021 | Beshear led the emergency response to a tornado outbreak in western Kentucky, which resulted in over 70 deaths and was the deadliest tornado in the state's history. |
August 2021 | Amid an upsurge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant, Beshear mandated face masks be worn in public schools. |
August 23 2021 | Beshear rescinded his executive order requiring masks in Kentucky schools after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled against his challenge of new laws limiting his emergency powers. |
June 11 2021 | Beshear lifted most of Kentucky's COVID-19 restrictions one day after the Kentucky Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the emergency powers issue. |
March 2021 | Beshear vetoed a bill in March 2021 that made it a crime to cause $500 or more damage to rental property; however, the Kentucky House and Senate overrode his veto. |
March 2021 | Beshear vetoed all or part of 27 bills passed by the Kentucky legislature; however, the legislature subsequently overrode his vetoes. |
March 2021 | In March 2021, Beshear signed a law allowing judges to decide whether to transfer minors aged 14 and older to adult court for firearm-related crimes, changing the previous requirement that mandated such transfers. |
2020 | Andy Beshear signed an executive order completely restoring the voting rights and the right to hold public office to 180,315 Kentuckians who had been convicted of nonviolent felonies, making him the governor who restored rights to more felons than any other in American history. |
November 2020 | Beshear imposed new COVID-19 restrictions, including the closure of indoor service for restaurants and bars, limiting in-person learning at schools, and restricting social gatherings. |
November 2020 | Beshear imposed new restrictions to further slow the spread of COVID-19, including closing indoor service for restaurants and bars and limiting occupancy at gyms. |
November 2020 | The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Beshear's emergency executive orders. |
November 18 2020 | Beshear ordered all public and private schools in Kentucky to halt in-person learning starting November 23, 2020, amid rising COVID-19 cases, marking a significant shift from recommendations to orders. |
October 5 2020 | Andy Beshear announced the relaunch and expansion of kynect, the state health insurance marketplace, which originally began in 2013 during the term of his father, Steve Beshear, and was dismantled by former governor Matt Bevin in 2017. |
August 2020 | Beshear signed an executive order releasing inmates from overcrowded prisons and jails to slow the spread of COVID-19. |
June 2020 | Beshear promised to provide free health care to all African-American residents of Kentucky to address healthcare inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. |
April 2020 | Beshear ordered Kentucky state troopers to record the license plate numbers of churchgoers attending in-person Easter Sunday services, defying the state's COVID-19 stay-at-home order. |
March 25 2020 | Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging businesses to require customers to wear face coverings and banning mass gatherings, including protests. |
March 25 2020 | Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging business owners to require customers to wear face coverings indoors and banning mass gatherings. |
2019 | Andy Beshear signed an executive order restoring the voting rights and the right to hold public office for 180,315 Kentuckians convicted of nonviolent felonies, making him the governor who has restored rights to more felons than any other in American history. |
2019 | Andy Beshear pledged to include a $2,000 pay raise for all Kentucky teachers in his budgets, estimating it would cost $84 million, though this proposal was rejected by the Republican House Majority Floor Leader. |
2019 | Andy Beshear expressed his intention to create more clean energy jobs in 2019, aiming to provide employment for individuals affected by job losses in the coal industry and to further develop clean coal technology in Kentucky. |
December 2019 | Andy Beshear informed President Donald Trump's administration about his intention for Kentucky to continue accepting refugees under the U.S. immigration program, despite Trump's offer to allow states to opt out. |
December 12 2019 | Beshear signed an executive order restoring voting rights to 180,315 Kentuckians with nonviolent felony convictions, addressing disproportionate impacts on African Americans. |
December 10 2019 | Andy Beshear was inaugurated as governor of Kentucky, calling on Republicans to work in a bipartisan manner to address the state's issues. |
November 25 2019 | Co-authored an article 'How Democrats can win, everywhere' published in The Washington Post with John Bel Edwards |
August 2019 | Andy Beshear promised to construct the Interstate 69 Ohio River Crossing between Henderson, Kentucky, and Evansville, Indiana, by 2023, stating, 'we will build that I-69 bridge in my first term as governor.' The project is estimated to cost $914 million, excluding financing and interest costs, and is expected to provide economic benefits to Western Kentucky. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Andy Beshear, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.