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Committee amends bill to require party affiliation for appointees and allow temporary acting officials
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted a committee substitute for Senate Bill 586 that would require appointments filling vacant elected offices to be from the same political party as the previous officeholder at the time of the last election and would require appointees to have that party affiliation for at least one year prior to the vacancy.
Committee counsel told the Senate Judiciary Committee the committee substitute for Senate Bill 586 would prohibit appointment to fill a vacant elected office unless the appointee had been affiliated with the relevant registered political party for at least one year prior to the vacancy and would require appointments to come from the political party with which the previous officeholder was affiliated at the time of the last election.
Counsel said the substitute "is to prohibit the appointment of an individual to fill a vacant elected office if that person has not been a member of his or her registered political party for at least 1 year prior to the occurrence of the vacancy, and to require that appointments be made from the political party with which the individual vacating the office was affiliated at the time of the previous election for that office." Counsel also noted the substitute incorporates language permitting the Governor to appoint temporary acting officials in certain statewide offices.
Senators asked whether a temporary acting official would be required to meet the year's-affiliation requirement. Committee counsel said the temporary-acting-official language was taken from a separate Secretary of State bill and that the committee adopted an amendment to clarify that a Governor's temporary acting appointment "may or may not meet the requirements of this section." After discussion, senators praised the bill's goal of preserving the voters' party choice; one senator said, "This is about making for the voice of the people to be heard at all times, regardless of what party it is."
The committee adopted a clarifying amendment and later voted to report the committee substitute for Senate Bill 586 as amended to the full Senate with the recommendation that it do pass.
