OPINION: Governor, legislative leaders need to collaborate

Gov. Andy Beshear and (clockwise) House Speaker David Osborne, Senate President Robert Stivers, House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, Senate Minority Ldr. Morgan McGarvey
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By Bruce Maples
Kentucky Forward

I wrote the following as an open letter, then decided to send it to the addressees before posting it. I did this last week. I am now posting it publicly.

Gov. Beshear:

Let me begin by saying that I am thankful you are our governor, especially during this pandemic. I can’t imagine having to deal with it in your first year as governor, and I can’t imagine the weight of responsibility on your shoulders. You’ve got good people around you, but it’s your leadership that is getting us through this.

However, it’s your leadership I want to talk about. Specifically, your relationship with the legislature. (For whom I also have a message, sent to them separately.)

From what I can tell from the outside, the accusation is accurate: you have led through this pandemic without much, or even any, consultation or collaboration with the legislature or its leaders. And I’m not just talking about the Republicans; I’m fairly sure you haven’t talked with the Democratic leaders very much either.

Why take that approach? Why make the decisions only in the executive branch, without bringing the legislature into the process? Obviously, ultimate decisions have to rest with you and your staff – but an outside-in perspective can often result in better decisions. And it will (usually) result in better buy-in, as well.

And if, after you have tried to work with them, the legislative leaders continue to use the pandemic as a political stalking horse, then at least you will have taken away their primary talking point. Right now, they mention your lack of collaboration every chance they get, and you have ceded that ground to them.

I said this was about leadership. Good leaders know how to make tough decisions – but they also know how to listen. They are confident enough in themselves to hear, and even invite, opposing viewpoints. A good leader tries to build consensus whenever possible, but even when it is not, works to ensure that others feel their voices were heard.

More than once, I’ve used the word “collaboration.” The word comes, obviously, from “co-labor.” It is time for you to start co-laboring with the legislature — both parties — and build a pandemic response that is truly bi-partisan. Ultimately, that will be a larger legacy of leadership even than what you have shown so far.

Legislative leaders of both parties:

First of all, thank you for your service. While I may not (and probably don’t) agree with all your legislative initiatives and agendas, I am still grateful that everyday citizens are willing to take time out of their lives to help our democracy function. Thank you.

I’m writing today, though, about a very specific problem: your relationship with the governor. Specifically, your relationship with the governor during the pandemic.

You have said that the governor has been unwilling to collaborate with you, and I believe you have a point. (Which I have written him about.) However, that point is being lost in the political optics.

At this point, your complaints just look like political potshots. People assume that you are simply looking for advantage that you can use when January comes.

And as for the governor “going it alone,” that is exactly what you, President Stivers and Speaker Osborne, are doing as well. You speak to the media alone, without consultation or collaboration (there’s that word again) with your Democratic counterparts. Sure, you have super-majorities, and don’t have to listen to the Democrats – but just as I told the governor, true leaders try to bring people in rather than show their power by shutting them out.

If you want to show true leadership, and not just political gamesmanship, then there is one simple but significant step you can take: start focusing on responding to the pandemic rather than scoring points. Record a video with all four of you (not just two) wearing masks and telling all Kentuckians to do the same. The message would be very simple: “We may disagree with Gov. Beshear on some things, but we stand with him on urging you to take this virus seriously and to do all you can to drive down the numbers. We want our economy fully open again, and the only way we can do that is to keep the virus from spreading.”

Even better would be for you to record the video and not only post it on your own social media channels, but give it to the governor’s team to play during an afternoon briefing.

And even better than that would be for all four of you, the governor, Dr. Stack, and Virginia to do a joint messaging session emphasizing the importance of protecting one another.

Let me be clear – such actions would not redound to the governor’s public-opinion account. Instead, it would make you look like leaders, and not just politicians. And we need true leaders in the legislature, just as we need them elsewhere.

Just as with the governor, in the end it is your choice. Will you look for political points to score, or will you be the leaders our state needs? For all our sakes — for all our lives — please choose to be leaders.