A proposal from state Republicans to reshape oversight of city officials in Louisville has passed its first hurdle.
House Bill 607 passed out of the House Local Government Committee Tuesday morning. Among other changes, the bill would dismiss Louisville’s current Ethics Commission and replace all of its members. The power to appoint new commissioners would be split among the mayor and Metro Council. The bill would also require half of the commission’s members to be Republicans and the other half Democrats.
The bill is sponsored by seven Republicans, each representing parts of Jefferson County.
Republican state Rep. Chris Lewis, the primary bill sponsor, said HB 607 would also move control over Louisville’s Office of Internal Audit from the mayor to Metro Council. Lewis said the change makes sense because Metro Council is responsible for oversight of city agencies.
“It simply defies common sense for the person in charge of auditing those agencies to be hired and work at the direction of the chief executive, whose very agencies they are charged to audit and investigate,” he said.
HB 607 would also specify that Metro Council has the authority to review any regulations passed by the Louisville Metro Board of Health or the Solid Waste Management District Board, also known as the 109 Board. The council could override any board decision within 45 days of issuance.
Lewis said the changes are intended to “establish proper institutional processes” and should not be seen as a slight to Louisville’s mayor, Democrat Craig Greenberg.
While he said state Republicans have “consulted with” a bipartisan group of Metro Council members, Greenberg and the Jefferson County Attorney's Office, not everyone is on board with all of the changes being proposed.
The bill sponsors did not consult with the current chair of the Ethics Commission, who said some of the provisions in HB 607 threaten its ability to conduct independent oversight. At least one Metro Council Democrat has also criticized the changes as solidifying partisanship.
Read the rest at LPM News.
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