Whether Gov. Tate Reeves’ procrastination on appointments to Mississippi’s education boards was intentional or not, the nine recent appointees should not be allowed to take their spots until the Senate concurs with their selection.
If there was an emergency, it was an emergency completely of Reeves’ own making, since he failed while the Legislature was in session to put forward names to fill vacancies that he knew well in advance were coming up.
According to Mississippi Today, a 1977 attorney general’s opinion as well as a 2015 report from the Legislature’s watchdog committee both reached the same conclusion: Anticipated vacancies cannot be filled while the Legislature is not in session. To do so bypasses the constitutional requirement that the Senate consent to the appointments.
Reeves would not be the first governor to try to temporarily bypass that requirement. Democrat Ronnie Musgrove pulled the same trick with College Board appointments and got away with it, according to Mississippi Today.
Regardless of the party in power, the practice needs to be challenged. Otherwise, it undermines the system of checks and balances that is designed to keep any branch of government from becoming too dominant.
