Special session kicks off Sunday

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Friday announced wide-ranging plans for ethics reform, seeking to toughen financial disclosure and campaign finance rules in a bid to clean up Louisiana’s reputation for graft.

Jindal said he expects all his proposals will become law during this month’s special legislative session.

“I want to bat a thousand,” he said. “I want each one of these to get done.”

The new Republican governor plans to back bills in seven categories: lobbying; public officials’ financial disclosure; conflicts of interest; enforcement of ethics law; easing public access to state information; anti-fraud measures; and changes to campaign finance law.

One government watchdog said the volume of the governor’s proposals – 60 separate changes to ethics law – makes it the most ambitious ethics package he’s seen.

“I’m not going to say it’s not all doable, but it’s a lot of stuff,” said Barry Erwin, head of the nonpartisan Council for a Better Louisiana. “I think he’s thrown down the gauntlet and said, ‘We’re going to have a session on ethics reform and we’re going to talk about all of this stuff.’ It’s a full plate.”

A key House Democrat in the Legislature said he was not as optimistic as the governor that every part of the ethics agenda will become law.

“Although well intentioned, I think some of it probably could use a little tweaking,” said Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, chair of the committee that handles ethics bills.

Jindal’s outline for the session avoids one topic that affects the governor directly: whether fines for violations of campaign finance rules should be paid for by the campaign or the candidate himself.

The state Board of Ethics is investigating whether the Jindal campaign failed to report more than $118,000 in aid he received from the state Republican Party during his gubernatorial campaign. Jindal’s spokeswoman said money to pay the fine will come from the campaign, not Jindal personally.

Jindal did not answer when reporters asked why legislation involving such fine payments would not be allowed in the special session. He said lawmakers will have a chance later – during a regular session to begin in March – to file bills dealing with other matters.

“If legislators feel like there’s something that this call does not allow them to debate or include, we’ve got a regular session coming up in a few weeks,” he said.

Jindal announced his plans at a news conference where he was accompanied by local mayors and tax assessors who support the ethics reform agenda. No lawmakers attended.

Legislators will be allowed to file bills that fall within the limits of the plan Jindal released Friday – the document known as the governor’s “call.” They cannot file bills on other topics.

Jindal’s call included proposals to:

• Force local elected officials and lawmakers to disclose their sources of income.

• Close the loophole in current law that allows lawmakers to receive free tickets from lobbyists to sporting events and concerts. The Legislature has repeatedly killed earlier such attempts.

• Force so-called “527” political groups to disclose all their contributors, contributions and expenditures.

• Ban legislators and spouses from winning any state contract, except retail contracts of less than $2,500.

• Revoke at least part of the state retirement benefits from public servants convicted of a crime relating to their office.

• Bar lobbyists from spending more than $50 on food and drink for a lawmaker or any other public servant.

Legislators are touring the state with Jindal this week, explaining the legislation to the public. Jindal said he expects one complaint: that more paperwork and tougher requirements about financial disclosure would dissuade people from running for elected office, or from becoming a civil servant.

“One of the arguments we’re going to hear is, ‘This is too complicated,’ or ‘This is an invasion of my privacy.’ And to that I say nonsense. To that I say it’s a privilege to serve in elected office. It’s a privilege to serve in appointed office,” he said.

The special session begins Sunday.