Last week, the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) sounded the alarm over a bad bill – a "snake" in legislative parlance – which could have undermined a cornerstone of the state Ethics Code. PAR’s snake alert is a good reminder that the public and the media should review all ethics bills currently in the legislative pipeline. Time is short: lawmakers must adjourn no later than 6 p.m. Monday, June 18.

  One bill up for consideration is dangerous. Others are mere housekeeping measures; still others come in response to investigative reports, including those of Gambit Weekly, on political "deadbeats" who ran for office last year while owing the Louisiana Ethics Commission as much as $50,000 in penalties and late fees for previous campaign finance law violations. All of these bills demand attention and public scrutiny. When it comes to political ethics in Louisiana, there are no small matters.

  We support the following measures:

  • House Bill 557 by Rep. Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans would prohibit anyone from becoming a candidate who has outstanding, unpaid campaign finance penalties or overdue campaign finance reports. This legislation applies only to debts under the state Campaign Finance Disclosure Act and does not establish unfair financial thresholds for public office.

  • HB 487, also by Landrieu, bars candidates who have exhausted all legal appeals from spending campaign funds until they have paid all fines and penalties for campaign finance violations.

  • HB 443 by metro-area Reps. Steve Scalise, Charles Lancaster and "Peppi" Bruneau would prohibit a candidate from taking office or qualifying for election prior to satisfying all campaign finance debts to the courts and the ethics board – once all legal appeals have been exhausted. This bill should help crack down on political deadbeats.

  • HB 1399 by Reps. Lancaster of Metairie and Billy Montgomery of Bossier City would authorize the ethics board to file claims against violators’ state tax refunds.

  • HB 378 by Reps. Lancaster and Bruneau would require persons with certain outstanding campaign finance fines, fees and penalties to pay those debts before qualifying for a primary election. The new law would apply only to cases where appeals have been exhausted.

  • Senate Bill 471 by Sen. Mike Smith of Winnfield would apply civil penalties to anyone who exceeds campaign contribution limits. Present law provides penalties only for offending candidates, campaign treasurers, or PAC chairs.

  • HB 371 by Rep. Kyle Green, as amended, would prohibit the use of campaign funds to pay any fine, fee or penalty for violations of the state Campaign Finance Disclosure Act. The original bill would have prevented politicians from paying off each other’s campaign finance fines and fees. We support the amended measure, as it makes violators personally responsible for paying ethics fines.

  • SB 574 by Sen. Chris Ullo of Marrero would require the governor and the Legislature to make all appointments to the ethics board within 60 days of the receipt of nominations by the presidents of Louisiana colleges and universities. This sounds like a housekeeping bill, but it’s more. Ethics board staff requested the legislation because the 11-member panel needs a quorum of eight members to kick off an investigation. Unfilled vacancies and routine absences can create an unnecessary backlog of cases.

  We oppose the following proposal:

  • SB 360 by Senate President John Hainkel of New Orleans would exempt "immediate family members of public servants" from a state Ethics Code ban on volunteer work and the donation of property to the public servant’s agency. The potential for abuse under this proposal is just too great.

  The bill that almost got away – SB 138, by Sen. Noble Ellington of Winnsboro – allegedly would have provided a narrow exception to the Ethics Code, which prohibits any elected official from doing business with any person or firm that has financial ties with the official’s agency. This ban is a 35-year cornerstone of the state Ethics Code. SB 138 would have allowed an elected official to continue to be paid by such a person or firm if their contract had been in effect "for at least one year prior to his taking office." This was a terrible idea and was eventually withdrawn.

  Who is to say when a business relationship begins and ends? Not this specious, ineffective proposal. Proponents argued that Elllington’s bill would encourage business people in small towns to seek office without surrendering their livelihoods. Hooey.

  There is no shortage of political ambition in Louisiana. Moreover, there were no geographic boundaries or earnings caps in this legislation. As PAR president Jim Brandt noted, the bill held too much potential for corruption.

  "While the proposal would require disclosure of an official’s business arrangements, disclosure alone might not prevent gifts from being given in the guise of employment compensation," Brandt said while the bill was still under consideration. "This is no small matter, as upwards of 25 percent of the issues before the Board of Ethics deal with this one provision."

  Thankfully, Ellington withdrew the bill late last week after protests from reform groups and the media. Gone for now, this "snake" should serve as a reminder of the importance of keeping an eye on our state’s ethics legislation.

  In light of the many political scandals that have plagued Louisiana, lawmakers should constantly seek to raise the standards for – and keep the spotlight on – all elected officials. .