On March 11, 2013, Conway, together with 12 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act, a bill that sought to ban for-profit colleges from using federal funds for marketing and recruiting techniques. Senators Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chaired the chamber's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sponsored the bill. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) stated that the proposed law aimed to “ensure that scarce federal education dollars will be used to serve and educate students rather than to finance advertising campaigns, recruitment operations, and aggressive marketing.”

In the letter, the attorneys general wrote, “Federal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for aggressive recruiting and deceptive sales tactics of colleges that have placed profits ahead of ensuring student success.” At the time, there were an estimated 3,000 for-profit schools nationwide, though neither the letter nor the bill cited the name of any specific institutions.

On March 12, 2013, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but no subsequent action was taken and the bill died in committee. On April 23, 2013, a related bill—HR 340—was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, but it also died in committee.

The June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the liberal political organization, ACORN, gave Conway an A- letter grade. The report was published to shine the spotlight on state attorneys general "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," according to the group. The grade distributed to the individual attorneys general "generally broke down along party lines," with the exception of Louisiana's Buddy Caldwell.

Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky Daniel Mongiardo filed an official complaint against Conway with the state's Executive Branch Ethics Commission in May 2010 after Conway, who negotiates utility rate increases as part of duties as attorney general, accepted campaign contributions from utility companies. According to Mongiardo, taking campaign money from the same businesses he regulates was an unethical conflict of interest on Conway's part.

Conway's office responded that because he was not a sitting member of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and, therefore, did not have an actual vote over any potential utility rate increase, the complaint was baseless. Mongiardo countered that, as the state's top law enforcer, Conway serves a "very specific regulatory oversight role and power over utility companies applying for and requesting a utility rate increase."

The complaint came three weeks prior to the two men facing off in the Democratic primary race for the United States Senate, a contest Conway ultimately won.

According to his official website, Conway spearheaded several cyber-security initiatives as attorney general, including one to create a cybercrimes unit to battle child pornography and solicitation of minors on the Internet. As attorney general, Conway "sought execution warrants against death-row inmates who have exhausted their appeals; opposed gay marriage; backed mandatory sentences for drug dealers; and cracked down on Internet crime." The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) claimed that "while he does have liberal views on some issues such as abortion rights and health-care reform, his outlook is conservative or moderate on others, including the death penalty and gay marriage."

Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act

On March 11, 2013, Conway, together with 12 other state attorneys general, sent a letter to Congress in support of the Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers Act, a bill that sought to ban for-profit colleges from using federal funds for marketing and recruiting techniques. Senators Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chaired the chamber's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sponsored the bill. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) stated that the proposed law aimed to “ensure that scarce federal education dollars will be used to serve and educate students rather than to finance advertising campaigns, recruitment operations, and aggressive marketing.”

In the letter, the attorneys general wrote, “Federal taxpayers should not be asked to foot the bill for aggressive recruiting and deceptive sales tactics of colleges that have placed profits ahead of ensuring student success.” At the time, there were an estimated 3,000 for-profit schools nationwide, though neither the letter nor the bill cited the name of any specific institutions.

On March 12, 2013, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, but no subsequent action was taken and the bill died in committee. On April 23, 2013, a related bill—HR 340—was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, but it also died in committee.

ACORN

The June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the liberal political organization, ACORN, gave Conway an A- letter grade. The report was published to shine the spotlight on state attorneys general "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," according to the group. The grade distributed to the individual attorneys general "generally broke down along party lines," with the exception of Louisiana's Buddy Caldwell.

Ethics complaint

Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky Daniel Mongiardo filed an official complaint against Conway with the state's Executive Branch Ethics Commission in May 2010 after Conway, who negotiates utility rate increases as part of duties as attorney general, accepted campaign contributions from utility companies. According to Mongiardo, taking campaign money from the same businesses he regulates was an unethical conflict of interest on Conway's part.

Conway's office responded that because he was not a sitting member of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and, therefore, did not have an actual vote over any potential utility rate increase, the complaint was baseless. Mongiardo countered that, as the state's top law enforcer, Conway serves a "very specific regulatory oversight role and power over utility companies applying for and requesting a utility rate increase."

The complaint came three weeks prior to the two men facing off in the Democratic primary race for the United States Senate, a contest Conway ultimately won.