Kentucky’s highest-paid public employee, University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, is under a lifetime contract.
New legislation proposed by Rep. Patrick Flannery, R-Ashland, would ban any such lifetime contracts to be signed in the future.
Flannery filed House Bill 336 on Thursday, which would not nullify any existing contract like Calipari’s, but would disallow public colleges and universities from entering into such a contract – which would apply to more than just athletic programs – in the future.
When asked why he filed the bill, Flannery said “obviously there’s a basketball coach in this state that has a lifetime contract,” but made clear that the legislation was not specifically targeted at Calipari, whose contract would remain unchanged.