Martha Layne Collins

Martha Layne (Hall) Collins (born December 7, 1936) is a businesswoman and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. From 1983 to 1987, she was the 56th Governor of Kentucky, having served the previous four years as the 48th Lieutenant Governor. She was Kentucky's first and only female governor to date. At the time of her election, she was the seventh woman to serve as governor of any state, and the third who was not the wife or widow of a past governor.^[1] She was considered as a possible running mate for Walter Mondale in the 1984 presidential election, but Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro instead.

After graduating from the University of Kentucky, Collins worked as a school teacher while her husband finished a degree in dentistry. She became interested in politics and worked on Wendell Ford's gubernatorial campaign in 1971 and Walter "Dee" Huddleston's U.S. Senate campaign in 1972. She was chosen secretary of the state Democratic Party and was elected clerk of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1975. During her tenure as clerk, a constitutional amendment restructured the state's judicial system, and the Court of Appeals became the Kentucky Supreme Court; Collins continued as clerk of the renamed court and worked to educate citizens about the new role of the court. Collins was elected lieutenant governor in 1979, serving under Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. Brown was frequently out of the state, leaving Collins as acting governor for more than 500 days of her term. In 1983, she defeated Republican Jim Bunning to become Kentucky's first female governor. Her administration had two primary focuses: education and economic development. After failing to secure increased funding for education in the 1984 legislative session, she conducted a statewide public awareness and fact-finding campaign to build support for a revised version of the program. In 1985, she called a special legislative session in which the modified program was passed. Her major accomplishment as governor was the use of economic incentives to bring a Toyota manufacturing plant to Georgetown, Kentucky. Legal challenges to the incentive package were eventually dismissed by the Kentucky Supreme Court, and public criticism of the package was blunted as Toyota continued to invest heavily in Kentucky. The state experienced record economic growth under Collins' leadership.

After her term as governor, Collins taught at several universities and served as president of Saint Catharine College near Springfield, Kentucky from 1990 to 1996. The 1993 conviction of Collins' husband, Dr. Bill Collins, in an influence-peddling scandal damaged her hopes for future political endeavors. She had been rumored to be a candidate for the U.S. Senate or a position in the administration of President Bill Clinton prior to her husband's conviction. She presently serves as an executive scholar in residence at Georgetown College.

Early life

Martha Layne Hall was born December 7, 1936, in Bagdad, Kentucky.^[1] She was the only child of Everett and Mary (Taylor) Hall.^[2] When Hall was in the sixth grade, her family moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky, and opened the Hall-Taylor Funeral Home.^[2] Hall was involved in numerous extracurricular activities both in school and at the local Baptist church.^[2] Her parents were active in local politics, working for the campaigns of several Democratic candidates, and Hall frequently joined them, stuffing envelopes and delivering pamphlets door-to-door.^[3]

Hall attended Shelbyville High School where she was a good student and a cheerleader.^[4] She frequently competed in beauty pageants and won the title of Shelby County Tobacco Festival Queen in 1954.^[4] After high school, she matriculated to Lindenwood College, an all-female college in Saint Charles, Missouri.^[5][4] After one year at Lindenwood, she transferred to the University of Kentucky.^[5] She was active in many clubs, including the Chi Omega social sorority, the Baptist Student Union, and the home economics club, and also served as president of her dormitory and vice president of the house presidents council.^[4]

In 1957, Hall met Billy Louis Collins while attending a Baptist camp in Shelby County.^[2] Collins was a student at Georgetown College, and he and Hall dated while finishing their degrees.^[2] Hall earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics in 1959.^[5] Having won the title of Kentucky Derby Festival Queen earlier that year, she briefly considered a career in modeling.^[2] Instead, she and Collins married shortly after her graduation.^[2] While Mr. Collins pursued a degree in dentistry at the University of Louisville, Ms. Collins taught at Seneca High School and Fairdale High School, both in Louisville.^[6] While in Louisville, the couple had two children, Steve and Marla.^[5]

In 1966, the Collinses moved to Versailles, Kentucky, where Ms. Collins taught at Woodford County Junior High School.^[3] The couple became active in several civic organizations, including the Jaycees and Jayceettes and the Young Democratic Couples Club.^[4] Through the latter organization, they worked on behalf of Henry Ward's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1967.^[4]

Early political career

By 1971, Collins was serving as president of the Jayceettes, and it was through that organization that she came to the attention of Democratic state senator Walter "Dee" Huddleston.^[4] Huddleston asked Collins to co-chair Wendell Ford's gubernatorial campaign in the 6th District.^[4] After Ford's victory, he named her Democratic National Committeewoman from Kentucky.^[1] She quit her teaching job and went to work full-time at the state Democratic Party headquarters, serving as secretary of the state Democratic party and as a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.^[3][6] The following year, she worked for Huddleston's campaign for the U.S. Senate.^[1]

In 1975, Collins won the Democratic nomination for clerk of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in a five-way primary.^[3] In the general election, she defeated Republican Joseph E. Lambert by a vote of 382,528 to 233,442.^[5] During her term, an amendment to the state constitution renamed the Court of Appeals to the Kentucky Supreme Court; Collins thus became the last person to hold the office of clerk of the Court of Appeals and the first person to hold the office of clerk of the Supreme Court.^[1] As clerk, she compiled and distributed a brochure about the new role of the Supreme Court.^[1] Further, she worked with the state department of education to create a teacher's manual for use in the public schools detailing the changes effected in the court system as a result of the constitutional amendment.^[1] The Woodford County chapter of Business and Professional Women chose Collins as its 1976 Woman of Achievement, and in 1977, Governor Julian Carroll named her Kentucky Executive Director of the Friendship Force.^[1]

In a field that included six major candidates, Collins secured the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 1979, garnering 23 percent of the vote.^[5] She defeated Republican Hal Rogers in the general election by a vote of 543,176 to 316,798.^[5] As lieutenant governor, she traveled the state, attending ceremonies in the absence of Governor John Y. Brown, Jr., who disliked such formal events and often chose not to attend.^[7] By the end of her term, she claimed to have visited all 120 counties in Kentucky.^[7] Governor Brown was frequently out of the state, leaving Collins as acting governor for more than 500 days of her four-year term.^[8]

As lieutenant governor, Collins was responsible for presiding over the state senate. She drew praise from members of both parties, who declared that she presided impartially and with respect for parliamentary procedure.^[3] She was twice called upon to break tie votes in the senate, once on a bill allowing the state's teachers to engage in collective bargaining and another on a bill to allow multi-county banking within the state; in both instances, she voted in the negative, killing the bill.^[3] During her tenure, she also chaired the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors, becoming the first woman to hold that position.^[7] In 1982, she was named to the board of regents of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.^[9]

1983 gubernatorial election

As she neared the expiration of her term as lieutenant governor, Collins announced her candidacy in the 1983 gubernatorial race.^[5] Her opponents for the Democratic nomination included Louisville mayor Harvey Sloane and Grady Stumbo, the former secretary of the state Department of Human Resources.^[3] Collins had the support of many leaders in the Democratic party, but late in the race, Governor Brown endorsed Stumbo, saying that both Sloane and Collins would use the governorship to dispense party patronage, a common practice that Brown shunned during his term.^[5][10] With 223,692 votes, Collins edged out Sloane (219,160 votes) and Stumbo (199,795 votes) to secure the nomination.^[5] Sloane asked for a recanvass of the ballots, but ultimately decided it would not change the outcome and conceded defeat to Collins.^[11]

In the general election, Collins faced Republican state senator Jim Bunning.^[5] The National Organization for Women, the National Women's Campaign Fund, and the Women's Political Caucus all refused to endorse Collins, citing her lukewarm support for the Equal Rights Amendment and her opposition to abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life was in danger.^[12] Bunning was not personable on the campaign trail and had difficulty finding issues that would draw traditionally Democratic voters to him.^[13] His Catholicism was also a political liability.^[13] Collins won the election by a vote of 561,674 to 454,650, becoming the first, and to date only, woman to be elected governor of Kentucky.^[1][5]

Collins' victory made her the highest-ranking female Democrat in the nation; the only two female senators were Republicans, and Collins was the only female governor.^[14] Shortly following her election, she appeared on Good Morning America, where she was asked about her interest in the vice-presidency and gave a non-committal answer.^[14] Four days after her inauguration as governor, she was chosen to deliver the Democratic response to President Ronald Reagan's weekly radio address.^[15] At a news conference following her speech, she was again asked if she would be willing to be considered as the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate in the upcoming election; she replied "No, not at this time."^[15]

Following her election, Collins donated the surplus $242,000 from her campaign coffers to the state Democratic party. When Collins' husband was named state treasurer for the party – at an annual salary of $59,900 – the state press charged that the move was a plot to funnel Collins' campaign funds into her personal account. (The previous Democratic state treasurer had received no salary during his tenure.) Following the media criticism, Dr. Collins resigned his post as treasurer; all of the involved individuals insisted that Governor Collins had not been briefed on the details of her husband's appointment. The media's criticism of Collins continued as many of the appointments to her executive cabinet went to inexperienced candidates who had held key positions in her past campaigns. When newly-appointed Insurance Commissioner Gilbert McCarty approved a 17% rate increase requested by Blue Cross Blue Shield – a request that his predecessor had denied a few days earlier – Collins quickly countermanded the approval pending a public hearing on the matter.^[16]

Governor

In her first address to the legislature, Collins asked for an additional $324 million from the Kentucky General Assembly, most of it allocated for education.^[5] The additional revenue was to be derived from Collins' proposed tax package, which included increasing the income tax on individuals making more than $15,000 annually, extending the sales tax to cover services such as auto repair and dry cleaning, and increasing the corporate licensing tax from 70 cents per $1,000 of a company's combined stock value and long-term debt to $1.75 per $1,000.^[17] After opposition to her proposal developed among legislators during the 1984 biennial legislative session, Collins revised the tax package, retaining the corporate licensing tax increase, but replacing the sales tax and income tax modifications with a flat five percent income tax and phasing out the deductions for depreciation that corporations could claim on their state taxes.^[18] With the state still recovering from an economic recession and an election year upcoming, legislators refused to raise taxes, and Collins eventually withdrew her request and submitted a continuation budget instead.^[5] Some education reforms were passed, including mandatory kindergarten, remedial programs for schoolchildren in lower grades, mandatory testing and internship for teachers, and the implementation of academic receivership for underperforming schools.^[19] Among the other accomplishments of the 1984 legislative session were passage of a tougher drunk driving law and a measure allowing state banking companies to purchase other banks within the state.^[5]

Following the 1984 legislative session, Collins was named chairperson of the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.^[1] This prevented Collins from serving as chair of the state delegation to the convention.^[20] That designation was given to Collins' son, Steve.^[20] Prior to the convention, Walter Mondale, the presumptive presidential nominee, interviewed Collins as a possible vice-presidential candidate before choosing Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate instead.^[19] A writer for The Miami Herald later opined, based on interviews with Mondale advisors, that Collins was never given serious consideration by Mondale and that she was included in his list of potential running mates primarily to blunt potential charges of "tokenism" in considering other women and minorities.^[21]

Education reform

In January 1985, Collins renewed her push for additional education funding and reforms by appointing herself secretary of the state Education and Humanities Cabinet.^[22] She replaced Ray Nystrand, whose leave of absence from his previous position at the University of Louisville School of Education had expired.^[22] Following the announcement, Collins and several key legislators held a series of meetings in every Kentucky county, advocating for education reform and seeking information about what types of reforms the state's citizens desired.^[23] At the meetings, Collins was careful to separate the issues of educational reform and potential tax increases because she believed the issue of taxes had prevented her reform package from being enacted in the previous year's legislative session.^[23]

In June 1985, Collins announced a new education reform plan that included a five percent across-the-board pay raise for teachers, a reduction in class sizes, funding for construction projects, aides for every kindergarten teacher in the state, and a "power equalization" program to make funding for poorer school districts more equal to that of their more affluent counterparts.^[24] After favorable reaction to the plan from legislators, she called a special legislative session to convene July 8 to consider the plan.^[25] Also included on the special session agenda were the issues of raising revenue for the state's road fund, approving the construction of a new medium-security prison, and increasing money for child protective services.^[25] After two weeks of deliberation, the General Assembly approved Collins' education plan, tripling the corporate licensing tax to $2.10 per $1,000 in order to pay for the reforms.^[26] The Assembly also approved construction of the new prison and allocated an additional $8.3 million to child protective services, but rejected a proposed five-cents-per-gallon increase in the state gasoline tax to finance road repairs.^[27]

Collins followed up her success in the 1985 special session with a push for more higher education funding in the 1986 legislative session. Lawmakers obliged by approving an additional $100 million for higher education in the biennial budget.^[28] They also approved implementation of a pilot preschool program and the purchase of new reading textbooks, but failed to act on Collins' request for an additional $3.9 million to improve the state's vocational education system.^[28] Legislators approved a constitutional amendment – supported by Collins – to make the state superintendent an appointive, rather than elective, office.^[28] The amendment was defeated by the state's voters in November 1986, despite a Collins-led campaign in favor of it.^[29]

Between 1985 and 1990, enrollment in Kentucky's colleges and universities climbed 30 percent.^[30] The increased corporate tax intended to cover the cost of the increased education budget was inadequate, however.^[5] In 1987, a plan to increase revenue through changes in the state income tax was abandoned when Wallace Wilkinson, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, announced his opposition to it.^[5]

Toyota Assembly Plant

In March 1985, Collins embarked on the first of several trade missions to Japan.^[31] She returned to Japan in October 1985 and also visited China – a first for any Kentucky governor – to discuss opening Chinese markets for Kentucky goods and establishing a "sister state" relationship with China's Jiangxi province.^[31]

Collins' efforts in Japan yielded her most significant accomplishment as governor – convincing Toyota to locate an $800 million manufacturing plant in Georgetown.^[32] The agreement was contingent upon legislative approval of $125 million in incentives promised to Toyota by Collins and state Commerce Secretary Carroll Knicely.^[32] The incentives included $35 million to buy and improve a 1600-acre plot to be given to Toyota for the plant, $33 million for initial training of employees, $10 million for a skills development center for employees, and $47 million in highway improvements near the site.^[32] The incentive package was approved in the 1986 legislative session.^[28] State Attorney General David L. Armstrong expressed concerns that the incentives might conflict with the state constitution by giving gifts from the state treasury to a private business, but concluded that the General Assembly had made "a good-faith effort to be in compliance with the constitution".^[33]

Given Armstrong's concerns, the administration employed general counsel J. Patrick Abell to file a friendly test case to determine the constitutionality of the incentive package.^[34] While the suit was pending, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the administration had failed to include the interest on the bonds used to finance the incentives in its estimation of the cost of the incentive package; this, plus the cost overruns reported by the Herald-Leader, had already pushed the total cost of the incentive package to about $354 million by late September 1986.^[35] In October, Toyota agreed to cover the cost overruns associated with preparing the site for construction.^[36]

Opponents of the incentive package for Toyota joined the state's friendly suit.^[37] In October 1986, Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Ray Corns ruled that the package did not violate the state constitution.^[37] Both sides asked the Kentucky Supreme Court to make a final decision on the package's legality.^[37] On June 11, 1987, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled 4—3 that the incentives served a public purpose and were therefore constitutional.^[37] Criticism of the incentives was blunted when Toyota set up several assembly plants across the state; near the end of Collins' term, the state Commerce Cabinet reported that 25 automotive-related manufacturing plants had been constructed in 17 Kentucky counties since the Toyota announcement.^[5][38]

Other matters of Collins' term

In 1987, Collins promised $10 million in state aid to Ford to incent the company to expand its truck assembly plant in Louisville.^[39] The state experienced record job growth under Collins' economic development plan, which included both national and international components.^[5] The state's unemployment rate fell from 9.7 percent in October 1983 to 7.2 percent in October 1987, and the administration claimed to have created a net increase of 73,000 new jobs in the state during Collins' tenure.^[38]

On October 7, 1987, Collins called a second special session to address a deficit in payments to the state worker's compensation Special Fund.^[40] The Special Fund was designated for payments to workers with occupational diseases and workers whose work-related injuries could not be traced to any single employer.^[41] Although a plan proposed by state senator Ed O'Daniel was expected to provide the framework for legislation considered in the session, Collins' call specified only the problems to be addressed and did not present a specific solution.^[40] Greg Stumbo, the Democratic floor leader in the House, had threatened to sue Collins if her call did not provide the ability to amend any plan that was submitted to address the deficit.^[40] O'Daniel's plan raised additional revenue for the Special Fund through increased assessments on worker's compensation premiums for 30 years.^[41] The plan increased the assessments for coal companies more than other businesses because the majority of the claims paid from the Special Fund were for black lung, a breathing disease common among coal miners; consequently, it was opposed by legislators from heavily coal-dependent counties.^[41] Nevertheless, after nine days of negotiations, a bill substantially similar to O'Daniel's original plan was approved by the legislature and signed by Collins.^[41]

Collins served as chair of the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway Authority and held that position when the waterway opened to the public in 1985.^[42] On May 10, 1985, she was named to the University of Kentucky Alumni Association's Hall of Distinguished Alumni.^[1] She also chaired the Southern Growth Policies Board, Southern States Energy Board, and was co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission.^[42]

Later life

Term limited by the Kentucky Constitution, Collins accepted a position as "executive in residence" at the University of Louisville, giving guest lectures to students in the university's business classes.^[43] She also started an international trade consulting firm in Lexington.^[5][43] When Western Kentucky University president Kern Alexander resigned to accept a position at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1988, Collins was among four finalists to succeed him.^[44] Some faculty members publicly expressed concerns about Collins' lack of experience in academe, and she withdrew her name from consideration shortly before the new president was announced.^[44]

After fulfilling her one-year commitment to the University of Louisville, Collins was named a fellow of the Harvard Institute of Politics' John F. Kennedy School of Government, teaching non-credit classes on leadership styles once a week.^[45] Concurrent with her position at Harvard, Collins was named to the board of regents for Midway College in 1989; the following year, she was removed from the board of regents of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.^[9][46] Her removal was automatically triggered after she missed three consecutive board meetings between 1986 and 1989.^[9] In 1990, Collins accepted the presidency of Saint Catharine College in Springfield, Kentucky.^[47] She was the first president of the small, Catholic college who was not a Dominican nun.^[47] College officials stated that Collins was recruited for the presidency in order to raise the college's profile.^[47]

In 1993, Collins' husband, Bill, was charged in an influence-peddling scandal. The prosecution claimed that while Collins was governor, Dr. Collins exploited a perception that he could influence the awarding of state contracts and took nearly $2 million from people who did business with the state.^[48] He was convicted on October 14, 1993, after a seven week trial; he was given a sentence of five years and three months in federal prison, the minimum penalty for his offense under federal sentencing guidelines.^[49] He was also fined $20,000 for a conspiracy charge that involved kickbacks disguised as political contributions.^[50] Governor Collins was called to testify in the trial, but was not charged.^[51] The scandal tarnished her image, however, and may have cost her an appointment in the administration of President Bill Clinton.^[51] Collins was also rumored to be considering running for the U.S. Senate, a bid which never materialized following her husband's conviction.^[51]

In 1996, Collins resigned as president of Saint Catharine College to direct the International Business and Management Center at the University of Kentucky.^[52] Later that year, she served as co-chair of the Credentials Committee at the Democratic National Convention.^[53] When her contract with the University of Kentucky expired in 1998, Collins took a part-time position as "executive scholar in residence" at Georgetown College, which allowed her more time to pursue other interests.^[54] In 1999, she was named Honorary Consul General of Japan in Kentucky, a position which involved promoting and protecting the rights of Japanese nationals in Kentucky, encouraging Japanese investment in the state, and encouraging cultural understanding between Kentucky and Japan.^[55] In 2001, Governor Paul E. Patton named her co-chair of the Kentucky Task Force on the Economic Status of Women.^[51] In January 2005, she became the chairwoman and CEO of the Kentucky World Trade Center.^[56] She has served on the boards of directors for several companies, including Eastman Kodak.^[56]

Awards and honors

Women Leading Kentucky, a non-profit group designed to promote education, mentorship, and networking among Kentucky professional women, created the Martha Layne Collins Leadership Award in 1999 to recognize "a Kentucky woman of achievement who inspires and motivates other women through her personal, community and professional lives"; Collins was the first recipient of the award.^[57] In 2003, Kentucky's Bluegrass Parkway was renamed the Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Parkway in her honor; Collins also received the World Trade Day Book of Honor Award for the state of Kentucky from the World Trade Centers Association that year.^[56][58] In 2009, she was inducted into the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for her contributions "to strengthening economic and cultural exchanges between Japan and the United States of America".^[59] Martha Layne Collins High School in Shelby County was named in her honor and opened in 2010.^[60]

Ancestors

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• Madsen, Susan R. (2009). Developing leadership: learning from the experiences of women governors. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. ISBN 0761843086. 
• Marshall, Brenda DeVore; Molly A. Mayhead (2000). Navigating boundaries: the rhetoric of women governors. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. ISBN 0275967786. 
• Smith, Frances (1991). The little girl who grew up to be governor: stories from the life of Martha Layne Collins. Lexington, Kentucky: Denham Publishing Company. ISBN 0963013505.