The clock is ticking on the remainder of 2022, and New York's new lobbying and ethics regulator is yet to be at full strength. 

The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Goverment, the successor organization to the oft-criticized and now-defunct Joint Commission on Public Ethics, was officially formed earlier this year. But four seats on the panel, charged with overseeing lobbying rules and ethics in government, remain unfilled. 

Good-government organizations this week are urging the final appointments be made to the commission so it can begin its work in earnest before the start of 2023. 

"The commission is required to hold an annual public hearing by the end of the year, and a full slate of commissioners should be there to show the commitment of statewide elected leaders to better ethics oversight and to the new ethics commission they appoint," the groups, led by Reinvent Albany, said on Monday. 

The new watchdog enforcement commission is appointed by the governor, attorney general, comptroller and the top legislative leaders in the state Assembly and Senate. Nominees to the commission are vetted by New York law school deans before they can be granted approval. 

The appointment process is subject to a lawsuit after Republican Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt's appointment of Gary Lavine was rejected. Lavine was an outspoken member of the old Joint Commission on Public Ethics and had been critical of some of the commission's work. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James are yet to announce their final nominations to the commission.