LAWMAKERS SEEK ANSWERS AFTER BESHEAR ADMINISTRATION DECLINES TO TESTIFY
Lawmakers question handling of Kentucky Venues contract after State Fair Board leadership changes
FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 9, 2026) — Members of the Government Contract Review Committee on Wednesday pressed the Beshear administration for answers about the employment contract of former Kentucky Venues President and CEO David Beck after officials from the Finance and Administration Cabinet and the Kentucky State Fair Board declined the committee's request to testify.
Lawmakers added the item to the agenda after receiving conflicting information about Beck's departure and the administration's handling of his contract. They invited representatives from both agencies to explain the situation, but none appeared before the committee.
Sen. Steve Meredith, R-Leitchfield, questioned the administration's decision not to participate.
"We're completely at a loss as to what's going on," he said. "We need some answers. We deserve some answers, and we're not getting any.
Meredith said the controversy has drawn widespread public attention and involves one of Kentucky's largest public institutions just weeks before the Kentucky State Fair opens. He also noted that the governor reconstituted the State Fair Board at a time when the Kentucky Supreme Court decision Beshear cited is not final and could still be subject to a motion to reconsider.
Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, said his primary concern centered on the administration's refusal to appear before a committee created by statute to provide legislative oversight.
"We're a statutorily established oversight committee," Hart said. "I've served under two governors, and I've never seen an administration refuse to come before this committee to explain a contract."
Hart moved to defer the agenda item until the committee's next meeting, saying the purpose was to give the administration another opportunity to answer lawmakers' questions.
"They could have come before us today and explained," Hart said. "Instead, they ignored us. This committee was established by statute. They don't have the right to simply ignore the legislature because they don't want to come talk to us."
Hart added that the committee would not have needed to revisit the matter in August had administration officials accepted Wednesday's invitation to testify.
The committee voted to defer the item until its August 11 meeting.
BACKGROUND
Wednesday's discussion followed last week's leadership changes at Kentucky Venues after Gov. Andy Beshear reconstituted the Kentucky State Fair Board following the Kentucky Supreme Court's decision in Beshear v. Coleman.
Initial reports indicated the newly constituted board removed Beck during a special meeting. Beck later told WDRB News that the governor summoned him to Frankfort before the meeting, told him he could either resign or be removed, and informed him his employment contract was no longer valid. Those public statements raised additional questions about the sequence of events surrounding his departure and prompted lawmakers to seek testimony from the administration.
Beck became president and CEO of Kentucky Venues in April 2018 after the State Fair Board selected him through a nationwide search and unanimously approved his hiring. That was more than three years before the General Assembly enacted House Bill 518 in 2021, the law at the center of the recent Kentucky Supreme Court case involving the composition and appointment authority of the State Fair Board. Beshear cited that ruling when he reconstituted the board.
Lawmakers have also questioned how the court's decision relates to Beck's employment, which predates House Bill 518 and originated under a different State Fair Board. They further questioned whether Beck's separation complied with KRS 247.130, the statute governing the employment of the State Fair Board's president and CEO, including provisions related to removal from the position.
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