The cost of Governor Bevin’s ongoing investigation of former Governor Steve Beshear’s administration has doubled to $1 million, with Kentucky taxpayers footing the bill.
Bevin initially approved a two-year, $500,000 contract for an Indianapolis law firm in 2016 to search for corruption in the Beshear administration.
The Herald-Leader reports the Bevin administration has now approved a two-year, $500,000 extension of the contract.
Bevin is a Republican who has been extremely critical of Beshear, his Democratic predecessor. Bevin is also political foes with Beshear’s son, Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear, who recently announced he is running for governor.
A spokeswoman for the Kentucky Finance Cabinet says the contract renewal with the law firm is for investigative and legal services.
The law firm is also handling a lawsuit for the Finance Cabinet involving a $3 million extension of a no-bid contract awarded on the last day of Governor Beshear’s administration in 2015.
That contract involved efforts to detect fraud in billings for Medicaid and other state programs.
