FRANKFORT — Legislators say they have a duty to review and reject regulations from the executive branch to rein in a runaway bureaucracy.

        Gov. Paul Patton thinks the General Assembly is overstepping its bounds and has sued to ask the courts to clarify where legislation ends and regulation begins.

        “The principle of separation of powers is a vital part of the fabric of our government and each branch has a responsibility to resist any encroachment upon its authority,” Mr. Patton said in announcing the lawsuit last week.

        Members of the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee, who gathered Tuesday, said they were protecting their own constitutional prerogatives.

        “I'd like to see more oversight,” said House Republican Whip Woody Allen, R-Morgantown. “I think these state agencies are running wild. Someone's got to get control.”

        When the General Assembly passes a law, it is usually left to executive branch agencies to flesh out the details of how it will be implemented. This is done through the writing of administrative regulations, which also have the force of law.

        Historically, legislators often object that the executive branch goes beyond what the legislators intended. The most recent debate goes back to the 1984 decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court that the legislature's authority generally ends when sessions adjourn.

        The legislature has slowly tried to expand regulation oversight. Now, if a regulation is rejected by the seven-member review subcommittee and the standing committee of jurisdiction, the regulation expires at the end of the next legislative session unless placed into law.

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