Experts alarmed as Louisiana gov gives himself control of state ethics board he’s in dispute with

18 June 2024

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has been in a dispute with the Louisiana Board of Ethics, which has accused him of failing to disclose flights he took to Hawaii on a donor's private plane back when he was state attorney general.

But despite the dispute, Landry has, according to the Louisiana Illuminator, signed a new law giving him control over the Board.

"Landry and the Board are still in negotiations about what an appropriate punishment for his violation should be, with the next status conference in his case scheduled for July 5," the Louisiana Illuminator's Julie O'Donoghue reports. "A few weeks after that meeting however, a new ethics board statute, sponsored by (State) Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, will take effect August 1. Under the new law, Landry and future governors will be able to appoint the majority of the members of the Board directly, with far less input from outside sources."

According to O'Donoghue, "transparency advocates" believe it is a conflict of interest for Landry to have the power to make appointments to a board that has been investigating him.

Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, told the Illuminator, "I think it undermines the ability to enforce ethics in this state."

O'Donoghue notes that Landry has been "reprimanded twice" for "not disclosing his private plane trips in 2021 and the inappropriate use of campaign funds to pay for his car loan over several years."

"The (Louisiana) Ethics Board is just one of several state entities Landry sought greater control over through changes in state law this year," O'Donoghue reports. "He was also behind a new provision that allows him to pick the chairs of more than 100 state boards and commissions immediately."

Read the full Louisiana Illuminator article at this link.

From Your Site Articles