Three members of Missouri's six-member Ethics Commission - including Bill Deeken, of Jefferson City, a former state representative and former Cole County Clerk - end their four-year terms Thursday.
Gov. Eric Greitens has not submitted nominations for their successors, making the commission powerless to take any actions as of the end of this week.
That's because state law states: "At least four members are necessary to constitute a quorum, and at least four affirmative votes shall be required for any action or recommendation of the commission."
Although Missouri's Constitution twice says the governor's appointees to boards and commissions "shall serve until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified," the law establishing the Ethics Commission and its members said: "Terms of successor members of the commission shall expire on March fifteenth of the fourth year of their term.
"No member of the commission shall serve on the commission after the expiration of the member's term.
"No person shall be appointed to more than one full four-year term on the commission."
Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard told reporters last week that, without any appointments from Greitens, the state Senate "can't act. I'd like to keep that commission relevant, with a campaign year and everything else going on."
The commission's staff can still handle campaign finance and lobbyist reports, because Executive Director James Klahr's six-year term doesn't end until fall 2019.
The law governing the commission operations says the director "shall be responsible for the administrative operations of the commission and perform such other duties as may be delegated or assigned to the director by law or by rule of the commission."
Also, the law authorizes the director to "employ staff and retain such contract services as the director deems necessary, within the limits authorized by appropriations by the general assembly."
However, only the commission can:
Receive and review complaints regarding alleged violation of state campaign laws.
Conduct initial reviews and investigations regarding complaints.
Refer complaints to appropriate prosecuting authorities and appropriate disciplinary authorities, along with recommendations for sanctions.
Initiate judicial proceedings.
Review and audit - for timeliness, accuracy and completeness of content - any reports and statements required by the campaign finance disclosure laws, financial interest disclosure laws, or lobbyist registration and reporting laws.
Provide information and assistance to lobbyists, elected and appointed officials, and employees of the state and political subdivisions in carrying out the provisions of state campaign laws.
Render advisory opinions.
Promulgate campaign and campaign finance rules.
Richard acknowledged state law treats the Ethics Commission members differently from other state appointees, and said he'd be open to an effort to change the law, so the situation happening later this week could be avoided.
"But," he noted, "it's kind of late in the session to do that" - unless someone offered the change as an amendment to another bill.
And the Ethics Commission isn't the only state board that won't be able to hold a meeting with formal votes.
The eight-member State Board of Education has only had three members since Jan. 3, when Greitens withdrew his nomination of five members appointed last year, then re-appointed the same five.
The move allowed the Senate more time to consider those five people - who include Marvin "Sonny" Jungmeyer, of Russellville, a former member of the Cole R-1/Russellville School Board.
Under state law, the governor's appointments made while the Legislature isn't in session must be approved by the Senate within 30 days of the start of a legislative session, which was Feb. 2.
However, appointments made during a session must be considered before the session ends May 18.
Richard said last week that the Senate's Gubernatorial Appointments Committee will likely hear one of those nominees after the Legislature's spring break ends March 26.
The appointments are controversial because the governor named nine people to fill the four State Board of Education seats where the members were serving past the end of their previous terms, with an apparent goal of firing Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven.
Since the governor doesn't hire or fire the commissioner, opponents argued, he stacked the board so it would do so, resulting in the board voting 5-3 on Dec. 1 to remove Vandeven.
Greitens never said why he wanted Vandeven removed, although he said in a news release after her termination that Missouri had fallen from 18th to 28th in fourth-grade reading, and 23rd to 32nd in eighth-grade math scores from 2009-15.
Vandeven wasn't commissioner during most of that time.
The governor also said $64 million was added to the state budget for the 2017-18 school year, but "the bureaucrats took your money. Teachers didn't get a raise." However, he didn't note teacher and administrators' salaries are decided by local school boards, not the State Board.
Under Missouri law, those rejected by the state Senate can never be appointed to that office again, and several senators have threatened to filibuster their nominations and to vote against Greitens' appointees.
Richard said last week his plan is to bring the five appointees to full Senate debate, and "see where this goes and give the governor a chance to pull them out if they don't make it."