By Andy Brack
The Brack Report

There are 13 pages of vacant, expired or soon-to-be expiring positions on state boards and commissions, according to a list of 103 organizations the Secretary of State’s office tracks.

The list, last updated May 8, shows 423 state-appointed positions that are considered “expired.” Generally, that means an appointee is continuing to serve in the position, but he or she has not been reappointed or stepped down. The list also shows seven vacancies and 28 slots that will expire by the end of the year.

After May 8 and before the Senate adjourned in June, senators confirmed 28 recommendations to bring the number of expired terms to just less than 400. Additionally, four recommendations were not acted on by the Senate, according to the Senate clerk’s office.

It’s not uncommon for some positions to be in limbo. State law says it’s OK for appointees to continue to serve in expired terms. But a lot of people are serving in posts to which they have not been reappointed. Most of these positions aren’t on the high-profile boards, which tend to be political plums for which campaign supporters clamor. Instead, they’re lower-profile positions that often are much harder to fill.

So far, our all-time favorite example is the Cosmetology Advisory Committee State Board, which has five expired positions including one that goes back to April 1989.

But there are several other more prominent highlights:

• S.C. Arts Commission: Seven of nine board slots are expired, including two that have been expired for two years.

• Commission on Human Affairs: Nine of 15 slots are expired, two of which have been expired for three years.

• State Commission on Higher Education: Before an Aug. 24 announcement of five new appointments, eight members served in expired positions.

• State Ethics Commission: Two expired positions, including the chairman.

• State Housing Finance and Development Authority: Six expired positions, including the chairman.

• State Ports Authority: Three expired positions.

Several state agency officials say having board members serve despite expired terms doesn’t pose major problems because they’ve got experience. But one admitted it may have a psychological effect: “Some of the board members who have been allowed to stay feel a little in limbo and it has had some effect on their role on the board.”

As one political wag noted, “You have to question why you should even have terms.”

Positions on state boards and commissions, everything from highly touted postings on university boards to out-of-the-spotlight boards like the Prisoner of War Commission or the Board of Architectural Examiners, generally are appointed by the governor. About half of those require Senate confirmation. State lawmakers, either as the General Assembly or by legislative delegation, also make some appointments.

Still, the governor’s office gets the ball rolling on most appointments. With an election ahead in November, it’s not unexpected for terms to remain expired. But with a bunch of them expired for more than a year, you’ve got to wonder if the expirations are symptomatic: a indication of a lack of priority, benign neglect or something else.

So we asked the governor’s office for some details and a status report about appointments to a dozen selected boards with some expired terms. It seemed to make sense to ask for info on a few key boards to get a flavor of what has happened recently; there must have been some unreported appointments since May. But instead of information about numbers of recommendations or appointments, we got spin.

Said spokesman Joel Sawyer: “There are literally thousands of state and local board and commission appointments the governor is responsible for filling, and that volume is magnified by the turnover we see through term expirations and other natural attrition for these largely volunteer positions. We fill hundreds of those spots each year, and there are any number of board appointments that we’re actively working on at any given moment.”

Is something ominous going on? Probably not. But 400 or so expired terms certainly makes you wonder what’s happening with state government.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the S.C. Statehouse Report (www.statehousereport.com), a forecast of business developments in the S.C. Legislature and state government. E-mail him at brack@statehousereport.com.

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