The amendment follows national attention to end-of-term mass clemency actions in Kentucky, most prominently the 2019 last-day pardons issued by then-Gov. Matt Bevin, which drew bipartisan criticism. The bill sponsor explicitly framed the measure as a response to that pattern.
This is a check-on-executive-power amendment, and an unusually bipartisan one. Christians who believe civil magistrates exist to administer justice rather than to wield clemency as a parting political favor will read this favorably. The 36-0 and 36-1 Senate votes signal cross-party agreement that the governor's pardon power needs a guardrail during the politically charged period around a gubernatorial election. The narrower House vote (82-12) reflects some Democratic resistance, likely on separation-of-powers grounds. The amendment does NOT eliminate the pardon power; it imposes a roughly three-month window where it cannot be exercised. Treason cases and reprieves remain unaffected.
"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."
— Proverbs 29:2 (KJV)