Brereton C. Jones

Lieutenant governor

In late 1985, Jones announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in the 1987 election, conceding that he sought the office because he would like to serve as governor in the future.^[8] He convincingly won in the Democratic primary against Paul E. Patton, who later became governor, and David L. Armstrong, the sitting Attorney General and later Mayor of Louisville. Wallace G. Wilkinson, winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary, praised Jones and said that, if elected, he would make Jones the head of a blue-ribbon economic development council.^[11] Wilkinson and Jones went on to win the general election; Jones defeated Republican nominee Lawrence R. Webster by a convincing vote of 517,811 to 186,321.^[7]

Soon after the election results were announced, Jones was quoted in a newspaper as saying that he had talked with Wilkinson about opening channels with the media, whom Wilkinson often refused to speak with.^[11] Jones also said that he did not agree with all of Wilkinson's political positions and would not be his "yes man".^[11] These comments angered Wilkinson, who backtracked on his promise to give Jones an active role in the administration.^[11] Relations between Jones and Wilkinson further deteriorated as both men tried to recoup the money spent during their campaigns.^[12]

During the 1988 legislative session, Governor Wilkinson proposed an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution that would allow state officials, including the sitting incumbents, to succeed themselves in office once. As presiding officer in the Senate, Jones insisted that any such measure also include a runoff provision if a candidate did not receive a majority of votes in the party primary. Wilkinson opposed this provision, and the measure died in the state senate. Wilkinson's proposed education program also failed in the session, and Jones suggested that the governor should build a consensus among legislators before including the program on the agenda of a special legislative session, which Wilkinson had proposed for January 1989. After the 1988 session, Wilkinson called Jones a backstabber and accused him of sabotaging the succession amendment. The two did not meet for six months following the session.^[12]

As lieutenant governor, Jones advocated for the preservation of family farms and for school reform.^[7] He won praise for his efforts to include a "Made in Kentucky" label on produce grown in the state. Further, he claimed the state could save $500,000 a year by merging the offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and state treasurer. Jones maintained that the arrangement would give the lieutenant governor something specific to do between legislative sessions and would provide a broader record upon which voters could judge the officeholder should they seek higher office.^[13] Jones' proposal, which would have required a constitutional amendment, was never adopted. Jones also claimed to have saved his office $200,000 by choosing not to live in the lieutenant governor's mansion, by reducing the number of Kentucky State Police troopers used for security at the mansion, and by giving up seven cars assigned to the office – two for him and wife Libby, and five used by the state troopers.^[14]

Governor

In 1991, Jones was the front-runner for the governorship for the entire gubernatorial campaign. The rivalry between Jones and Wilkinson had become so strong that Wilkinson's wife Martha was among Jones' challengers in the Democratic primary; she ended her candidacy 18 days before the primary. Advocating campaign finance reform, Jones garnered 184,703 votes in the primary, enough to best a field including Scotty Baesler (149,352 votes), Dr. Floyd Poore (132,060 votes), and Gatewood Galbraith (25,834).^[15]

In the general election, Jones faced Republican Larry Hopkins, a seven-term congressman representing Kentucky's 6th congressional district.^[15] Hopkins was considered the Republicans' best hope of capturing the governorship since Louie B. Nunn in 1967.^[15] Instead, Hopkins' negative campaign ads, mistakes about his record, and involvement in a House scandal involving bounced checks all hurt his chances.^[16] Jones won the election by a vote of 540,468 to 294,542, the largest margin of victory in a Kentucky gubernatorial race.^[16]

A supporter of "good government", Jones' first policy action as governor was to issue an executive order restricting the post-government employment of his appointees.^[17] He also secured passage of one of the nation's toughest ethics laws, limiting the activities of lobbyists and instituting campaign finance reform to diminish the advantage of wealthy candidates for office.^[16] The so-called "trustees bill", passed in 1992, provided for an independent review of all appointees to university boards of trustees.^[18] Jones later removed former governor Wilkinson from the board of the University of Kentucky using the bill's provisions.^[18] Despite these reforms, Jones drew criticism from ethics watchdogs because no law required him to disclose the identities of his business partners and associates with Airdrie Stud and because the farm benefited from a 1992 law that set up off-track betting parlors and allowed some of their proceeds to go to successful breeders.^[17]

The state faced a $400 million revenue shortfall when Jones took office.^[18] Shortly after his election, Jones created the Quality and Efficiency Commission to study ways to streamline state government.^[18] Among the enacted recommendations were refinancing state bonds at lower interest rates, cutting the state workforce by 2,000 employees (mostly through attrition), and spurring local economic growth through tax incentives.^[18] By the end of Jones' term, the state enjoyed a $300 million budget surplus.^[15]

During the first year of his administration, Jones and five others were traveling in a state helicopter from Frankfort to Fort Knox on August 7, 1992, when a tail rotor blade snapped, causing the helicopter to crash near Graefenburg in Shelby County.^[19][20] The pilot was able to guide the helicopter into a treetop to soften the impact.^[20] No one was killed, but Jones suffered a severe back strain and a bruised kidney.^[19][20] The National Transportation Safety Board later determined that the pilot and co-pilot had not properly attached an engine cowling that knocked off the tail rotor blade.^[20] Both pilots maintained that they did nothing wrong, and Jones credited them for the survival of the passengers aboard the helicopter.^[20]

Although fellow Democrats controlled two-thirds of the Kentucky General Assembly, Jones never developed a good working relationship with the legislature.^[16][17] This was due in part to remarks Jones made in the wake of the Operation Boptrot investigation that led to the conviction of 15 sitting or former state legislators. Jones called the investigation "a cleansing process"; legislators reacted negatively, claiming Jones was trying to take "the high ground" above them. Following Jones' remarks, state senate president John "Eck" Rose became Jones' bitter political foe.^[21] Nevertheless, Jones was able to enact many of his legislative priorities during his term.^[16]

Jones' top priority as governor was the passage of health care reform. He appointed two health care reform study commissions, and in May 1993, he called the legislature into a special session to consider a universal health care bill.^[18] The only measure to come out of this session was a temporary tax on health care providers.^[22] Legislators also agreed to work toward a bill that could be passed in the next regular legislative session.^[18] On March 2, 1994, the Kentucky House of Representatives passed a health care reform bill that did not include universal coverage.^[22] Angered, Jones began campaigning against the bill, but the Kentucky Senate passed its version on March 22.^[22]

Both chambers worked to reconcile differences between their respective versions of the bill, and on April 1, 1994, the last regular day of the legislative session, the Senate passed a compromise bill, but the House killed it on a procedural motion.^[22] On April 15, the last day of the session, which legislators had set aside to override any gubernatorial vetoes, the health care bill was reintroduced and passed both houses of the General Assembly.^[22] Jones then reversed course and signed it.^[21] Among the reforms included in the bill were a mechanism making the policies of all companies uniform and the creation of a Health Policy Board to regulate rate increases.^[21] It ensured that insurance companies could not deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition and allowed workers to retain their insurance after changing jobs.^[21]

Jones also advocated for an amendment to the state constitution that had major implications for the governor's office.^[16] Under the terms of the amendment, the lieutenant governor no longer became acting governor when the sitting governor left the state.^[16] It also allowed candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run as a ticket instead of being elected on separate ballots.^[16] The centerpiece of the amendment, however, was the removal of the restriction on governors from succeeding themselves in office.^[16] The state constitution had previously barred the incumbent from seeking a second consecutive term; under the new amendment, the sitting governor would be allowed to succeed himself once.^[16] Succession amendments had been proposed and defeated during the administrations of John Y. Brown Jr. and Wallace Wilkinson, but Jones was able to see it passed because, unlike Brown and Wilkinson, he was willing to exempt the present incumbents, including himself, from the succession provision.^[17] Separate legislation passed during Jones' term required a runoff election if no gubernatorial candidate won a majority in his or her party primary.^[16] (Each of Jones' three immediate predecessors would have faced a runoff had this law been in effect during their primaries.)^[16]

Among Jones' other accomplishments were the passage of a mandatory seat belt law, an increase in funding for the state park system, and the phasing out of the state inheritance tax.^[16] He also established the state's largest-ever reserve trust fund using income from the state's sales, income, corporate, coal, severance, and property taxes.^[16] He exceeded his goal of having a 7.4 percent minority representation in the state workforce, and appointed three times more African-Americans than the previous administration had recruited. He also appointed more women to government positions than his predecessor, including Sara Combs, the first woman to serve on the Kentucky Supreme Court.^[18]