• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 2, 2009 - Page: 11A

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Common Cause Louisiana on Wednesday called upon Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto a bill that would lift a $50 limit on lobbyists wining and dining of legislators and other public officials for some special events.

The move came a day after the Louisiana Board of Ethics urged Jindal to use his governor’s power to stop the bill from becoming law.

The legislation, House Bill 591, “appears to be moving our ethics laws in the wrong direction,” Common Cause chairman Wendell Lindsay Jr. wrote Jindal.

“It’s bad enough to open the door for unlimited expense for entertaining legislators away on conferences, but this bill would open a huge door for abuse by doing the same for all state officials and employees,” Lindsay said.

Meanwhile, he said, the $50 limit would continue to apply for local officials and employees.

State Rep. Noble Ellington, D-Winnsboro, filed the legislation in response to an Ethics Board opinion that concluded that under a new law the $50 limit could only be exceeded for an event “held in conjunction with” a state, regional or national conference.

Ellington and other lawmakers said that would bar activities that are a common part of conference-going but not affiliated specifically with the conference. He sought to allow the $50 cap to be lifted for wining and dining while people were attending conferences.

After encountering opposition, Ellington altered the legislation to allow the wining and dining for specific parties of at least 10 people.

Lindsay called the 10-person event requirement “bogus” because it only requires 10 people to be invited.

“No good purpose is served by allowing unlimited expenditures for legislators, state officials and employees at the social functions,” he said. “Their lobbyists should be subject to the same $50 cap to which local government officials and employees are subject.”