A new law passed by Louisiana legislators allows them to dodge ethics charges more easily. That new law also allows them to accept some types of out-of-country trips from their supporters.
Under House Bill 674, the Louisiana Ethics Board now has a one-year time limit to investigate ethics accusations and to bring charges against anyone accused of violating ethics rules.
"The process now gives the person who is accused of wrongdoing more tools to push back on the accusations and the investigation that the Ethics Board and their staff might be doing," Louisiana Illuminator reporter Julia O'Donoghue said. "People who are facing accusations can use some of these new tools to stall the process of an investigation or charges."
The final version of the bill cleared the Senate by a 34-2 vote with three senators absent and the House by a 92-1 vote with 12 representatives absent.
"Supports of the changes would say it gives more due process," O'Donoghue said.
HB 674 also relaxes rules around political campaign spending and rules governing the type of travel public officials are allowed to take.
The new law allows lawmakers to accept free travel from a donor to certain foreign locations if they're giving a speech there.
"They used to be able to do it within the continental United States and Canada, so now we've added the Caribbean and Mexico," O'Donoghue said. "It now explicitly includes the Caribbean."
The new law took effect when Governor Jeff Landry signed it in June.
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