Ethics reform is a promise that Governor Bobby Jindal made to everyone in the state during his election campaign.
It’s also a promise he intends to keep.
Since his gubernatorial victory, Jindal’s been busy structuring a plan with the support of democratic lawmakers like Rep. Gary Smith, of Norco. Changes will be made that will impact elected officials, and those changes will be the first step towards improving the national impression that Louisianians practice dirty politics.
“We’re working closely with Governor Jindal and we’ll get to have input on some areas of government that should be reformed,” Smith said. “We’ve made some suggestions and commented on areas that should be considered.”
Jindal’s ethics reform plans include requiring lawmakers and other elected officials to disclose their sources of income, but Smith says there are other requirements and ethics issues that are still up for discussion.
“I know that another area of concern is the third party that forms during a campaign and conducts activities for one candidate or another without properly reporting its activities,” Smith said.
He recalls an incident where an individual from Texas formed a nonprofit organization and setup polling operations during a campaign and did not follow Louisiana’s ethics laws .
“Democratic lawmakers have led discussions of ethics reform over the years, and as leaders, we are excited about being involved in shaping those plans,” he said. “We’re glad the governor is on board.”
Jindal says that ethics reform is the critical first step towards moving our state forward. The nation’s perception of Louisiana must be replaced with the new reality that what you know is more important than who you know when doing business in Louisiana. Surveys have shown that business leaders say the best thing that can be done to jumpstart our state’s economy is to provide a clean, honest and open state government.
Other areas the Democrats want to see included in the special session are the free tickets offered to lawmakers, mandatory online filing of certain campaign finance reports, increased penalties for ethics code violations and stricter campaign finance reporting requirements for third-party organizations, like nonprofit groups formed to conduct polls. They would also like to see income disclosure requirements for lawmakers, statewide elected officials and cabinet secretaries, bans on lawmakers doing work for state agencies, stricter lobbyist disclosure requirements and expansion of whistleblower protections.
The special session began last week and will adjourn no later than March 1.
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