Dear Editor,
A long-standing practice deserves public attention. Sitting legislators continue to accept appointments to executive boards and commissions. The arrangement raises serious concerns about accountability and conflicts of interest.
Legislators are elected to write laws, approve budgets, and question how agencies spend public money. Executive boards and commissions run those agencies and carry out government programs. When lawmakers hold positions in both, oversight weakens. Lawmakers end up reviewing agencies they help manage.
Government employees and community members have pointed out what often happens next. Budget hearings lose intensity. Agencies face fewer tough questions. Funding moves forward with limited challenge. The problem is not always illegal, but it creates a system where independent oversight becomes difficult.
Silence from leadership has allowed this practice to continue. Clear guidance has never been publicly delivered by those responsible for setting ethical standards. The lack of direction has normalized a structure that invites conflicts and public distrust.
The solution is straightforward. Governors can stop appointing sitting legislators to executive boards and commissions.
Legislators can refuse those appointments while in office. The Legislature can adopt internal rules banning members from holding executive board positions during their terms.
Public trust depends on clear lines between branches of government. When those lines disappear, accountability disappears with them. Leaders know this. The public knows this. The only question left is whether anyone in power is willing to fix it.
Respectfully,
Richard Wei
