Missouri's governor is beginning to chip away at a large amount of legislation still on his desk, signing four bills into law late Tuesday afternoon.
Gov. Eric Greitens, despite having called two special sessions, has signed only 15 bills into law out of the 81 passed in the 2017 regular session. He recently signed a bill passed during the year's first special session discounting electric rates for companies using large amounts of electricity.
He has not vetoed any bills.
The bills the governor has signed have often come with large public events. He signed a bill banning local governments from giving preferential treatment to unions in St. Louis with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in attendance. He signed a ceremonial copy of a bill increasing the capabilities of ride-hailing companies in the parking lot of a Taco Bell. He traveled to Springfield and Poplar Bluff to sign ceremonial copies of a right-to-work bill.
Others, like the four signed late Tuesday afternoon, have been done without much fanfare.
Other bills, however, including legislation that would make it harder to prove workplace discrimination and legislation that would create a fund for senior and disabled citizens, have yet to leave the governor's desk.
The governor's lack of action on bills does not doom them. According to the state Constitution, any bills the governor does not sign or veto will become law after July 14. The governor has also not signed any budget bills, and he has less than two weeks before the next fiscal year begins July 1.
Peverill Squire, a University of Missouri political science professor, said Greitens' pattern of events surrounding bill signings is unusual.
"It's out of the ordinary to have so many events and to have so many guest appearances," he said.
Currently, 68 bills are left to be signed by the governor. Squire said governors rarely allow bills to become law without acting on them - most of the time they either sign or veto.
Throughout his eight years as governor, Jay Nixon only allowed eight bills to go through without taking action, including one that established requirements for the distribution of abortion-inducing drugs.
"This sort of lack of direct engagement with the legislative process and lawmakers is sort of unusual," Squire said.
One of the bills that has not been signed into law is state Sen. Gary Romine's, R-Farmington, measure to increase the burden of proof for workplace discrimination. The governor was asked about whether he would sign the bill at a news conference immediately after the end of session; he did not commit one way or another.
Greitens has received a personal plea from Pat Rowe Kerr, for whom he testified before the election in a discrimination trial, to veto the bill.
Greitens spoke up for Kerr while he was running for governor. Kerr was eventually awarded around $3 million after the judge decided the Missouri Veterans Commission let her go because of her age.
According to the Kansas City Star, Greitens was the first to give Kerr a congratulatory call after the verdict.
Other bills not signed include a measure spearheaded by state Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville, to increase protections for abused and foster children and a measure sponsored by state Rep. Noel Shull, R-Liberty, that would grant the University of Missouri-Kansas City $48 million for a downtown arts campus.
A bill that would transfer ownership of part of the Missouri State Penitentiary site to Jefferson City has also not been signed. In a prior interview with the News Tribune, Mayor Carrie Tergin said restoring the old prison grounds is her top priority as mayor.
The governor has remained silent on his plans for these bills. The governor's spokesman, Parker Briden, did not respond to numerous requests for comment for this article.