Governor Steve Beshear has been receiving threatening letters ordering him to resign according to his security detachment from the Kentucky State Police.

Governor Beshear kept a campaign promise to Kentucky’s gay and lesbian community by issuing an executive order adding equal opportunity employment to all employees and prospective employees.

Under the 2008 executive order, no one can be hired or fired based on race, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, ancestry, age, disability, or veteran status in Kentucky government positions. (previous story)

However, Kentucky still has no statewide law prohibiting private employers from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Kentucky House and Senate remain at odds over the budget, which still has no funding set-aside for the Kentucky AIDS Drugs Assistance Program (KADAP), leaving thousands of Kentuckians without government resources.  (previous story)

Governor’s in more than 30 states around the nation have received letters from an anti-government group ordering them to resign.

Governor Beshear’s security has been increased, as well as security around the Executive Mansion and the Capitol.

Governor Beshear’s office declined to comment. Kentucky is one of the few states without a separate security force to protect the First Family.  In Kentucky, the First Family, Lt. Governor, Representatives, Senators, and the Capitol Complex is protected by a detachment from the Kentucky State Police.

CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY IN QUESTION

All of this appears to have come after a heated healthcare protest at the Kentucky Capitol on Thursday.

The healthcare protest was focused in part against Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who has refused to join a lawsuit filed by 13 other states to stop Congress from enacting healthcare across the United States.

It remains to be seen if Congress has the authority to enact such legislation, which Kentucky’s Congressional Delegation has also questioned. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has stuck down legislation passed by Congress, and restricted the authority of the U.S. Congress for violating the sovereignty of the states, or interfering in purely state matters.

“The healthcare reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state’s sovereignty,” Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a prepared statement. “On behalf of the State of Florida and of the Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alabama if the President signs this bill into law, we will file a lawsuit to protect the rights and the interests of American citizens.”