By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – On August 20th, Governor Beshear ordered the layoffs of enough non-merit state employees to save the commonwealth $5 million dollars.
The governor provided no specific number, but said the layoffs would be done proportionally, with each cabinet or agency having the final say.
On August 23rd, Kentucky Public Radio asked the Personnel Cabinet for a complete, up-to-date list of all affected employees.
The cabinet had three days to respond to the Open Records request, but no response came until Monday, August 30th, at which time, our request was denied.
The general counsel's denial letter says the cabinet "is not in possession of any such report matching the parameters" of our request, and as such, "the record sought does not exist."
So, we have refined our inquiry and filed a second Open Records request, essentially seeking the same information.