More than three decades ago, Joe Ortwerth sought an independent commission that could clean up politics in Missouri. In 1991, then a Republican state representative from St. Charles County, Ortwerth teamed up with state Sen. Doug Harpool, a Democrat from Greene County, to try to create the Missouri Ethics Commission.
They were successful, sort of.
The body they sought, however, looks nothing like the commission that lawmakers agreed to create. Ortwerth and Harpool sought a commission with its own investigators and prosecutors, who could investigate campaign finance shenanigans and prosecute scofflaws without having to depend on local prosecutors or the attorney general.
What they got instead is mostly a paper tiger.
鈥淭he Ethics Commission has become primarily involved in collecting campaign finance reports rather than rooting out political corruption,鈥 Ortwerth told me several years ago. It does more than that. The commission does issue some pretty big fines after in-depth investigations spurred by ethics complaints. It does refer some candidates for prosecution. Its staff, under both Democrats and Republicans, has operated with independence and competence.
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But as of a few weeks ago, the commission doesn鈥檛 have any bite at all. That鈥檚 because for the sixth time in the past decade, the Missouri Ethics Commission doesn鈥檛 have enough members to actually meet and achieve a quorum. Without at least four members to vote on a campaign finance complaint, the commission can鈥檛 do its job.
The latest instance of not having enough members was revealed by the commission鈥檚 executive director, Liz Ziegler, regarding a campaign finance complaint made against a candidate for mayor in Columbia.
鈥淓ffective March 16, 2022, there are two members of the Commission with four vacancies awaiting appointment and confirmation,鈥 Ziegler wrote on April 5. 鈥淚n this instance there were not four Commissioners able to consider this complaint. Therefore, the Commission could take no action on this complaint at this time.鈥
This is the second time under Gov. Mike Parson that the commission has been unable to do its business. The problem tends to occur in March, after previous commissioners鈥 terms have expired. Because the expiration happens during the legislative session, new appointees have to be confirmed by the Senate before they can begin serving.
The ethics commission is a bit more difficult to fill than some other gubernatorial commission because the nominees to the governor first have to come from political party committees. The commission is made up of three Democrats and three Republicans.
But when it can鈥檛 work 鈥 as is the situation right now 鈥 it makes it much more difficult to set an environment in Missouri politics that compliance with campaign finance laws is taken seriously. That鈥檚 how it鈥檚 always been, Ortwerth told me when we last talked about this issue. At that time, the Legislature was again talking about increasing ethics regulation but in the end, did not do so.
Back when Ortwerth and Harpool were trying to create the commission, 鈥淭he majority of our colleagues just wished we would shut up,鈥 he told me.
Parson鈥檚 office says it has a plan to appoint two new commissioners 鈥 enough to reach a quorum鈥 within the next two weeks. Of course, getting them confirmed in a dysfunctional Senate that wouldn鈥檛 even confirm the governor鈥檚 health director for committing the sin of caring a bit too much about public health will be difficult. There鈥檚 no guarantee that the commission will be able to hear and act on complaints anytime soon.
This comes at a precarious time, as municipal and school board elections just ended, and candidates who filed for the 2022 election are opening 鈥 or not opening 鈥 their campaign committees.
Ziegler and her staff are still hard at work on cases that have been referred or approved to settlement, but, for now, no ethics commission hearings to take action on complaints can take place. It鈥檚 a symbol of what has too often become a pattern in Missouri government, from a Medicaid system that can鈥檛 get the computers to work, or a Senate that can鈥檛 pass congressional maps.
Weak as the statute that created it is, the Missouri Ethics Commission performs an important role holding public officials, or those seeking office, accountable for the rules that allow taxpayers to see as much as possible who is trying to curry favor with them.
But it can鈥檛 do its work without a minimum of four members. It鈥檚 quorum call time at the Missouri Ethics Commission. Will Parson and the Senate answer the call?