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Thursday, May 15, 2008

NEWS

Politics for May 11, 2008

Higher law tuition likely to raise stink
  • By CAPITOL NEWS BUREAU
  • Published: May 11, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

A bill to boost tuition for students at LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center breezed through the House Education Committee on Thursday.

But Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans and vice-chairman of the panel, predicted the issue would trigger heated controversy on the House floor.

“Enjoy this moment today,” Badon told LSU Law Center Chancellor Jack Weiss and others.

Committee tries to define ‘lobbyist’
Just what constitutes “a lobbyist” was a subject for the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee last week.

No one could really agree on where to draw the line.

The committee chairman,  state Sen. Bob Kostelka, R-Monroe, suggested that ethics general counsel Richard Sherburne had done some lobbying of his own on bills.

Sherburne disagreed, where-upon Kostelka noted Sherburne’s comments about a new standard of evidence that the Ethics Board must meet in providing cases.

Kostelka added a “clear and convincing evidence” standard which Sherburne said would make it harder to prove violations of ethics laws.

“You have been trying to influence legislation. But that’s another thing,” Kostelka said.

Sherburne’s comments on the effects of the legislation came after it had become law.

Dardenne: Voter drives not office’s
Secretary of State Jay Dardenne is cautioning citizens in Louisiana that his office is not behind the recent voter registration drives that several third-party groups are implementing — processes by which hundreds of thousands of residents are receiving voter registration applications in the mail or are being approached on the street to register.

In most cases, the targeted residents are currently registered to vote, according to a news release from Dardenne’s office.

“If you’re registered to vote, you don’t need to register again. My office does not mail out unsolicited voter registration applications,” Dardenne said in the release.


Comments (1)
James Sanders
Sunday, May 11, 2008
9:35 AM

I thought Kostelka was a good government type but now we have clear and convincing evidence that he's just another political hack trying to dilute ethics regulations. Let's hear it for the sleaze brigade-and let's give them a much larger salary since they're doing such a wonderful job for the state and their constituents!
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