By Bill Straub
NKyTribune correspondent
The new Speaker of the House of Representatives has a Northern Kentucky connection.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA, was a lawyer before entering Congress in 2017 and in that capacity represented Answers in Genesis, the Bible-based organization founded by Ken Ham that has built a replica of Noah’s Ark in Grant County, in a lawsuit against the Commonwealth.
The legal action was filed in February 2015 after then-Gov. Steve Beshear withdrew a commitment by the Kentucky Tourism Cabinet to include the organization’s Ark Encounter theme park in a state incentive program to provide a future sales tax rebate which could have proved worth as much as $18 million.
Beshear claimed Ark Encounter was a religious, rather than a tourist, site, therefore claiming that providing the tax break would violate both the state and federal constitutions.
Answers in Genesis claimed religious discrimination.
Johnson, who at the time was chief counsel of the non-profit law firm, Freedom Guard, served as co-counsel with Nate Kellum, chief counsel of the Center for Religious Expression. Johnson provided his services for free.
In January 2016, U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky sided with Answers in Genesis and ordered the state to process Ark Encounters application for the tax rebate incentives.
The victorious Johnson responded at the time, saying “the Constitution does not permit a state to show hostility towards religion. The First Amendment does not allow Christian organizations to be treated like second-class citizens merely because of what they believe.”
Johnson retains a spot on the Answers in Genesis website.
It states in part:
“Prior to his election to Congress, Mike served in the Louisiana Legislature, and for nearly 20 years, he successfully litigated high profile constitutional law cases in district and appellate courts nationwide. He is recognized nationally as a leading defender of the right to life, religious liberty, free speech, the Second Amendment and free market principles.”