Throughout the recent snow storms and bitterly cold temperatures, the General Assembly has been hard at work in Jefferson City. This week, the Legislature made significant progress on several important issues facing our state.

One of the first bills to pass through the Senate this session relates to gubernatorial appointments. The governor has a constitutional duty to make appointments to certain state offices, boards, and commissions. The governor’s appointees then are subject to Senate confirmation. This two-part confirmation process is part of our state government’s system of checks and balances.

This system should guarantee that the appointment and confirmation process runs smoothly. The governor, however, has repeatedly failed to bring his appointees before the Senate for confirmation, in some cases for well over a year. Even when the governor does bring appointees before the Senate, he frequently fails to bring enough nominees forward to allow critical boards and commissions to function properly. To help resolve these issues, the legislation passed by the Senate this week aims to increase accountability and clarity in the gubernatorial appointment process.

Many Missourians don’t realize that a large portion of our state’s laws are never voted on by their elected representatives. Laws that range from how large an advertising billboard can be to the sanitation standards restaurants must follow are often written by unelected bureaucrats directly appointed by the governor. Currently, many governor-appointed positions on state boards and commissions remain vacant. Some groups don’t even have enough members to meet and conduct business as required by law. Even the state auditor, in a recent audit, criticized the many vacancies on state boards (link to audit).

Senate Bill 507 and Senate Joint Resolution 30 (both passed by the Senate on Thursday) would strengthen accountability in the gubernatorial appointment process.  Senate Bill 507 outlines a process to fill a vacancy in the office of the lieutenant governor and to fill vacant House and Senate seats. After several recent House and Senate resignations, the governor has allowed tens of thousands of Missourians to go months and even over a year without representation in the Legislature by failing to call for special elections to fill these seats. SB 507 seeks to fix this problem.

The bill also lays out a clear path to ensure timely appointments to vacancies on boards and commissions, and to close a loophole whereby “temporary” appointees are allowed to serve without Senate confirmation. If a vacancy should occur in the position of a department leader, the bill would allow the governor to appoint the deputy head to serve as an acting director for no more than 120 days.

Senate Joint Resolution 30 specifies a 90-day time limit for the governor to fill administrative boards and department director vacancies. If the governor fails to perform his or her constitutional duty and make an appointment, the lieutenant governor would then make the appointment.

By passing this legislation, we are making the governor more accountable for his appointments and restoring the constitution’s carefully designed system of checks and balances among the branches of government.

The measures will now go to the House of Representatives for consideration. If the legislation passes the House, these changes will go to a vote of the people for final approval.

I always appreciate hearing from you. If you have any questions about the topics discussed above, or about any other district or legislative issues, please do not hesitate to contact my office.