JEFFERSON CITY — This week, the governor signed into law Senate Bill 58, a bill sponsored by Senator Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, to eliminate defunct or obsolete state boards, commissions or committees.
“Citizen-driven boards and commissions provide valuable input and volunteer involvement, but their usefulness is greatly diminished when they are allowed to stagnate, whether through vacancies or other inaction,” stated Sen. Dixon. “SB 58 is a step forward, but I will continue to seize every opportunity to promote good government, reduce bureaucracy, and streamline government operations.”
SB 58 is part of a larger, ongoing effort by Sen. Dixon to reform Missouri’s boards and commissions. In 2014, Dixon filed the Executive Branch Accountability Act (SJR 30 and SB 507) to increase accountability and timely appointments to fill vacancies on boards and commissions. He successfully ushered both bills through the Senate. In 2015, he renewed his efforts, filing one bill to cut-off appointees serving expired terms (SB 16) and another bill (SB 347) to amend the Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974 and eliminate governors’ practice of appointing “temporary” directors of state agencies, avoiding Senate confirmation of the nominees.
Recent audit reports by two different State Auditors have cited the problems created by a lack of appointments from the governor, including boards and commissions where vacancies prevent them from conducting business, or where members have served long past their terms of office without being replaced:
A review of the Boards and Commissions website produces over thirty pages listing the number of current vacancies or expired terms—over 1,300 in total. In fact, over half of the positions on the following boards of commissions are expired term or vacant:
- Highways and Transportation Commission;
- Board of Probation and Parole;
- All five of the state’s Child Abuse and Neglect Review Boards;
- Coordinating Board for Higher Education;
- Mental Health Commission;
- Missouri Human Rights Commission; and
- Several Boards of Election Commissioners (Clay, Jackson, Kansas City, Platte).
For more information, please visit www.senate.mo.gov/Dixon.
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