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Proceedings and Debates of the 1967 Constitutional Convention
Volume 104, Volume 1, Debates 1375   View pdf image (33K)
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[Nov. 29] DEBATES 1375

making boards and commissions. Therefore,
this section merely provides that the terms
of office of such board members shall be
so set that the governor upon taking office
will be able to appoint at least one-half of
the board members. This guarantees that
the board will be responsive to the gov-
ernor's policy suggestions but permits con-
tinuity.

The governing boards of institutions of
higher education and of the state public
schools system, and the heads or chief ad-
ministrative officers serving under such
boards are exempted from the provisions of
this section.

Section 4.23 complements sections 4.21
and 4.22. It restates the power of the Gen-
eral Assembly to determine the method of
appointment and removal of the personnel
in the executive branch whose method of
appointment and removal is not dictated by
sections 4.21 and 4.22.

Section 4.24 establishes the procedure
through which the governor is to make ap-
pointments to those offices which he has the
power to fill only through the advice and
consent of the Senate.

It should be noted that it applies not only
to those appointments which section 4.21
require to be subject to advice and consent,
but also to those appointments which the
General Assembly has by law made subject
to senatorial confirmation under section
4.23. It should also be noted that the gov-
ernor under Section 4.13 has the power to
call the Senate into special session if he
wants immediate consideration of an ap-
pointment.

I think I will read this section in toto
because it is a very interesting device and
allows for a great deal of flexibility at the
same time preserving the Senate's right to
get its advice and consent:

"In case of a vacancy occurring in any
office which the governor has power to
fill only with the advice and consent of
the Senate, he shall appoint some suit-
able person to said office. If such ap-
pointment is made within the first sixty
days of a regular session of the General
Assembly, the governor shall submit the
nomination of the person thus appointed,
or of some other person in his place, to
the Senate. If such appointment is made
at any other time, the governor shall
submit the nomination to the Senate at
the beginning of the next regular session
of the General Assembly.

"The commission of any such appointee
shall continue in force until the end , of

the next regular session of the General
Assembly, or until the expiration of the
term of office which the nominee was ap-
pointed to fill, or until his nomination is
rejected by the Senate, whichever shall
first occur.

"No person, after being rejected by the
Senate, shall be again nominated for the
same office at the same session, unless
at the request of the Senate; or, be ap-
pointed to the same office during the re-
cess of the General Assembly."

So this section authorizes what we call
interim appointments and also authorizes
recess appointments. It also provides, and
I continue reading, "the commission of any
such appointee shall continue in force until
the end of the next regular session of the
General Assembly, or until the expiration
of the term of the office which the nominee
was appointed to fill, or until his nomina-
tion is rejected by the Senate, whichever
shall first occur/' and so on, as I have al-
ready read. x

This section gives the governor a much
greater measure of flexibility than does the
existing Constitution. Under the existing
Constitution all nominations have to be to
the Senate within the first 30 days of the
General Assembly.

This section authorizes interim appoint-
ments. Instead of the existing requirement
that the governor submit his nominations
to the Senate within the first 30 days of
the regular session, the committee recom-
mendation simply provides that if an in-
terim appointment is made within the first
60 days of the session, it shall be submitted
to that session of the Senate and if the
Senate rejects the appointment, the com-
mission of the appointee conies to an end
at that moment.

If it is made at any other time, that is
after 60 days, it must be submitted to the
Senate at the beginning of the next regular
session, but in the meantime the appointee
holds an interim position in the office to
which he was given an interim appoint-
ment. \

Section 4.25 empowers the ^governor^ to
acquire information from any department^
office or agency in the executive branch of N
the state government. v^

The Committee feels that the governor
must be able to obtain such information if
he is to live up to his obligation to see
that the laws of the State are faithfully
executed.

Section 4.26 is similar to Article II, sec-
tion 20 of the present Constitution, but

 

 

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Proceedings and Debates of the 1967 Constitutional Convention
Volume 104, Volume 1, Debates 1375   View pdf image (33K)
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