Senate bill corrects parts of new ethics law

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: May 15, 2008 - Page: 6A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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A state Senate committee Wednesday approved bills aimed at correcting parts of the new ethics law passed during a special session.

Senate President Joel Chaisson II said his Senate Bill 769 cleans up unintended errors in new laws passed in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s February ethics session. The changes would not “weaken what we did in any way,” said Chaisson, D-Destrehan.

State Sen. Danny Martiny said his Senate Bill 718 would stem the tide of people refusing to serve on boards and commissions because changes to the ethics laws require extensive financial disclosure.

State Sen. Lydia Jackson said she was angered that the Jindal administration has been unwilling to participate in correcting the mistakes created from the February special session’s bills.

“The Legislature is being besieged with all these flaws in all these bills,” said Jackson, D-Shreveport. “Legislators have tried to craft some solutions only to have the governor’s office sit idly by.”

“I regret that perception,” said Jimmy Faircloth, Jindal’s chief lawyer. “We will try to work with legislators.”

SB769 attempts to, among other things, better define what type of contracts with government agencies are required to be disclosed by public officials and their next-of-kin.

For instance, under the law as it was written during the special session, the child of a government official could not buy a T-shirt from LSU. The wording of the law precluded any family member of a government official from doing business with a government entity.

Chaisson’s new wording identified categories that would require reporting and those that would not. For instance, SB769 would remove a sale by a retail establishment valued at $2,500 or less.

Chaisson sought senators’ input and provided them with a March 17 letter from the Louisiana Board of Ethics that outlined problems with three of the major bills approved in Jindal’s special session.

“Almost everything in this bill is in response to the letter sent by the Board of Ethics,” said Camille Conaway, an advisor to Jindal.

In SB718, Martiny sought to weaken reporting requirements for most members of boards and commissions to a level lower than what is required by legislators.

“Nobody in the state seems to mind when we put undue burdens on ourselves,” said Martiny, R-Kenner.