Jonathan Miller resigned as secretary of the Finance and Administration cabinet. He’s being replaced by Lori Hudson Flanery.

Miller has parlayed his career in state government into a job as senior advisor to Wellford Energy, a business that develops and finances clean energy projects. He’ll also be joining the Lexington office of the Frost Brown Todd (Jerry Abramson) law firm.

“As secretary of Finance, Jonathan has been an exceptional leader and a vital member of my cabinet,” said Gov. Beshear. “He has been a relentless advocate in advancing transparency, efficiency and energy conservation in state government through so many initiatives. I appreciate his unending service and commitment to our Commonwealth and to this administration, and am thankful for his service on the Kentucky Public Pension Working Group, the Kentucky Asset/Liability Commission (ALCo), his leadership in the creation of Open Door, Kentucky’s nationally recognized e-transparency site, and his enthusiastic service as a board member helping launch our state’s success in the 2010 World Equestrian Games.”

Now we know how Jonathan’s gonna have time to run a website about “recovering politicians” beginning in April.

Flanery has been the deputy secretary of the Finance Cabinet since December 2007 and will take Miller’s job on April 1. She also serves as the interim Chief Information Officer for the state, vice-chair of the Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority, is a member of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund committee and the Recovery Kentucky Task Force.

“Lori has been a talented and reliable part of our team during the past three years as deputy secretary, and is truly a rising star in my administration,” said Gov. Beshear. “I am confident that she will continue with such tenacity as secretary of the Finance Cabinet.”

This will be interesting.

UPDATE: Below is an excerpt of an email blast Miller just sent out…

Today, I’ve announced that as of March 31, I will be leaving Kentucky state government, for which I have served with both pride and humility for more than 11 years. Throw in a few campaigns, as well a tour of Capitol Hill and the Clinton/Gore Administration, and I’ve spent nearly my entire adult life within the political system.

It’s been an amazing ride. I’ve learned everything I needed to know about this country during my last two decades in the political arena. But I’ve learned most of all that to be the change I wanted to be in office, I’d have to stop campaigning for one.

While I will always believe in the nobility of public service — as well as the critical role of government in the nation’s betterment — I’ve come to conclude that some of our most intractable problems require the inspiration and leadership of the private sector. At least in the short term, I believe that our hyper-partisan, deeply-polarized political system is incapable of developing on its own the solutions necessary to deal with issues such as climate change, energy independence, and universal broadband expansion.

That’s why, on April 1, I will start doing my small part to make a difference from a different platform. And as is typical with my easily-distracted mindset, my post-politics career will emerge in several different guises.

-SNIP-

Finally, and perhaps most relevant to my friends, I am going to re-ignite my writing career, which has been in remission for nearly five years, since the publication of The Compassionate Community.

I am very excited to announce that on April Fools’ Day, I will launch “The Recovering Politician”: a Web site dedicated to civil discourse on the issues of the day — from politics, to sports, to pop culture, to faith, to whatever happens to be on my iPad at any particular moment. I’m especially pleased to report that I’ve already recruited 18 other “recovering politicians” as regular contributors to the site, each of them offering their own opinions on a wide range of issues, from the unique perspective of former officials with experience in the arena, but who are now freed from the biases and political pressures of incumbency.

His site, you may remember, is something we first leaked several weeks ago. It’s finally life:

CLICK TO VISIT

I’ve had a chance to read a few of the essays written by “recovering politicians” and they seem interesting.

I recommend you don’t sign up for his email list, as you know how politicians are with things like that.