Will the Louisiana Ethics Commission try to force the
new chair of a Senate committee on ethics legislation to pay up to $55,112 in
penalties for his own campaign finance violations -- under a tough law the senator
himself helped to pass in 2001? Or will the ethics board close the books on
state Sen. Charles "C.D." Jones, D-Monroe, after he finally paid off
$6,620 in fines the day after his appointment as chair of Senate and Governmental
Affairs?
Jones, an attorney first elected to the Legislature
as a state representative in 1980, did not return calls for comment for this
story. But Senate President Donald Hines, D-Bunkie, defends his Jan.
14 appointment of Jones, who as chair of Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee
will oversee all ethics and campaign finance legislation in the upper chamber.
"He's been on the committee for 12 years and he has served in a very professional
and efficient manner," Hines says.
Asked about Jones' history of infractions with the
ethics board, including nine fines for late filings of campaign finance disclosure
reports and a $7,500 penalty he paid for a conflict-of-interest violation in
1998, Hines says he was "unaware" of the latter complaint, which was reported
by the Associated Press' Adam Nossiter on the day Hines promoted Jones
to the senate chair.
Hines downplays the nine separate fines his colleague
owed the ethics board since 2000 for failure to timely file campaign finance
reports. "He said it was an oversight on his part. ... He has paid the fine
and paid the penalty and, as he tells me, the problem is resolved."
Jones made his final payment of $2,000 (for a report
due before the October 2003 election) on Jan. 15, the day after the AP reported
his Senate appointment. On Jan. 7, Jones paid the board $4,620 following a Gambit
Weekly editorial that mentioned his longstanding fines ("Blanco's Ethical
Opportunity," Dec. 30, 2003). Maris LeBlanc, deputy general counsel for
the ethics board, says late campaign report filings are a violation of the state
Campaign Finance Disclosure Act, which is administratively enforced by the ethics
panel.
Gray Sexton, chief administrator and an attorney
for the ethics board, declined to say whether the board would push for additional
penalties against Jones under Act 1208, a tough law that the Senate (including
Jones) passed by a 35-0 vote in 2001.
Act 1208 bans candidates and their campaigns from spending
campaign contributions while they owe fines imposed by a final order of a court
or the state ethics board. Violators "may be assessed a civil penalty not to
exceed 200 percent of the expenditure or $1,000, whichever is greater."
Last Aug. 21, Jones was re-elected without opposition.
He failed to meet the Sept. 4 deadline for filing his campaign finance disclosure
report. At the time, Jones' fines exceeded $5,000.
In September, LeBlanc told Gambit Weekly that
the panel would need to see Jones' campaign report to determine if he had violated
Act 1208 by spending campaign contributions while owing fines to the board ("Feeling
Fines," Sept. 30, 2003). But Jones did not file the report the board needed
until Dec. 23, 2003 -- 110 days late. The report shows Jones spent $27,556 between
Jan. 31, 2003 and Aug. 25, 2003 to get re-elected without opposition. A 200
percent maximum fine under Act 1208 would make the senator subject to fines
of up to $55,112.
