Ethics board members tell panel of staff needs

(AP) – The Louisiana Board of Ethics has too little money to properly fulfill its enforcement responsibilities, a member of the board told Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal’s ethics advisory committee.

The number of employees at the ethics agency is “woefully small for the responsibility it has,” ethics board member Michael Johnson of Pineville said Tuesday.

He said a staff of 20 people must keep watch over conflict of interest, nepotism, campaign finance, lobbyist and other disclosure laws while also educating public officials on the laws governing their conduct. The agency’s budget is about $2 million.

“You guys are clearly overwhelmed. It’s clear as we wrestle through this we need to give you the appropriate resources to fulfill your mandate,” said Sean Reilly, who chairs the ethics transition panel for Jindal, who takes office Jan. 14.

Reilly asked whether it would make sense to move oversight of campaign finance laws to the Secretary of State’s Office – the state elections’ office. Johnson said while the move would give the ethics agency more time to deal with conflict-of-interest laws, campaign finance often is the area where those conflicts come to light.

“The staff does have a lot of work. We do what we can,” said ethics lawyer Michael Dupree, who quickly reviewed the agency’s responsibilities with the panel.

Dupree and Johnson led off a transition team session that included ethics commission administrators from Ohio and Georgia and experts on ethics laws in Louisiana.