Theatre
March 3, 2008March 5
March 5, 2008
State Rep. Sam Jones briefed the St. Mary Parish Council on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s first special session, calling the first item on the capitol agenda – ethics reform – “onerous.”
Jones, a Democrat from Franklin, was the only lawmaker who voted against House Bill No 1, which requires income disclosure state-wide among politicians and their spouses, as well as similar information from local and state-appointed board members, including sewer districts and water boards.
Jones represents District 50, a territory that spans south from Jeanerette to Berwick, and east to Stephensville. Speaking before the St. Mary Parish Council last Wednesday, he admitted that while he was happy to support most of Jindal’s reform package, he adamantly opposed House Bill No. 1.
“Our problem in this state is the real corruption that goes on – bribe taking and kick-back schemes – that’s what we need to enforce,” Jones said. “I don’t know if it’s going to take 5,000 ethics police to chase everybody down and watch everything we do, but this bill went a bit far, and that’s why I voted against it.”
“Some of my legislative friends told me later they wish they would have voted against it, but they were afraid… but I think when we return for our next general session, we’re going to see a lot of this bill changed again and again,” Jones said.
The Franklin lawmaker said the measure is too extensive, requiring politicians and candidates to disclose assets, liabilities and, in some cases, listing jobs and detailing earnings of themselves and their spouses.
“On what line does one list how much cash is in the freezer?” Jones said, alluding to the pending court case against state Congressman William Jefferson.
“I don’t have a problem reporting my income, but I call this bill an invasion of privacy,” Jones said.
“I think Thomas Jefferson if he were here, would throw up on the invasion of privacy that goes along with this bill! But it is what it is, the law passed, and we’ll see,” he said.
Jones warned the council that members of any parish board or commission authorized to spend more than $1 million annually is required to complete the disclosure forms as well. The disclosure issue could become problematic for already hard-to-fill appointments, he said.
“How many people are going to do that, and then later, want to continue to hold their board seats? Frankly, we’re having a tough time now getting people to work on the boards, and I don’t know what this is going to bring to the process,” he said.
“The 5th Article of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution gives one the right to privacy, so unless you have violated the law or recently broken it, I don’t see why you need to give up that information because you want to serve on a board or commission or you’re trying to do something good for your community,” he said.
House Bill 1 requires all elected officials intending to seek re-election to complete the form 30 days before qualifying begins. Anyone seeking office will also be required to file the disclosure forms.
“Think about that! Think about the chilling effect that is going to have on people wanting to get involved and work in government,” he said.
Jones said violators will face a 14-day warning, a $1,000 minimum fine, a $10,000 maximum fine or six months in jail. “The state legislature has now created a new class of crime, called Failure to Report,” he said.
The Louisiana Superdome Commission, a group that “oversees millions and millions, maybe billions of dollars,” was ironically left out of House Bill No. 1, Jones noted.
When Jones and state Rep. Fred Mills Jr. (D-St. Martinville) tried to have the commission added to the bill, “We were ruled out of order because the Superdome Commis-sion was not in the governor’s call,” the St. Mary lawmaker said.
“Here we were trying to put one of the bigger boards in the state onto the bill – the bigger boards where real corruption happens – and we were ruled out of order,” Jones explained.
“My feeling is if we’re in at the sewer and water board levels, then we need to be in it at the Hannah Montana level, too,” Jones said, referring to tickets given to Jindal’s office and later reportedly passed on to several state lawmakers.
State Rep. Sam Jones discusses the restraints of House Bill No. 1. He cast the only vote against it. * Photo by HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.
