The Louisiana Legislature could soon overhaul campaign finance laws for public officials, setting up new rules for political committees, raising the limit for which contributions have to be reported, and setting stricter rules for when campaign finance violations can be investigated.
Supporters say the legislation will “modernize” Louisiana’s Campaign Finance Disclosure Act so that it more closely aligns with federal rules. They also say the changes will more strongly protect the free speech rights of people who spend money to express political views.
“Campaign finance law should be clear to prevent the wasting of constitutionally protected free speech dollars,” said Stephen Gelé, an attorney who has been involved in writing the bill. “Complaints of violation of campaign finance law should be handled judiciously and fairly, protecting the right of due process guaranteed by the United States and Louisiana Constitutions as well as protecting taxpayer dollars.”
Gelé also represents Gov. Jeff Landry in an ongoing ethics dispute.
House Bill 693, sponsored by Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, advanced out of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday without objection. To pass the Legislature, the measure still needs a vote by the full Senate, as well as a final stamp of approval from the House.
During a public hearing last month, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a good-government watchdog group, raised concerns about the impact of the legislation on campaign finance laws.
“There’s not a single thing here that I can find that makes it more transparent to the public,” said Steven Procopio, president of PAR. “It seems like it’s all about trying to make things easier for the elected officials.”
On Wednesday, after a set of new amendments was introduced in the Senate committee, Procopio said the legislation still does not bring more public transparency to campaign finance disclosure.
However, he told lawmakers that the latest set of changes related to investigations of campaign violations avoided legislation that he would have considered “existentially bad.”
Political spending and free speech
Since 1980, the stated purpose of Louisiana’s Campaign Finance Disclosure Act has been to allow for the public disclosure of political fundraising and spending, in recognition of the fact that representative government depends on a knowledgeable electorate that has confidence in its public elected officials.
But under HB 693, the law would also acknowledge that “the financing of campaigns facilitates constitutionally protected political speech.”
Adding the recognition that campaign spending is protected speech is needed so that any legal interpretations of campaign finance laws don’t violate the Louisiana and U.S. Constitutions, Gelé said.
The bill would also require that the state’s campaign finance rules be interpreted “narrowly and strictly” in the interest of respecting free speech and due process rights.
And any ambiguity in campaign finance issues should be “interpreted in favor of a person accused of violating” the laws, the bill says.
New rules for political committees
The proposed law would define four separate types of political committees, each with their own rules and disclosure requirements:
- Political committees would be set up to spend money to support or oppose candidates, propositions, political parties or recalls.
- Principal campaign committees would be set up as the sole campaign committee of a candidate.
- Independent expenditure-only committees would be set up for political advocacy work that is not coordinated with a candidate.
- Leadership committees would be set up by elected officials — separate from their campaign committees — to support their holding of public office and to contribute to other officials’ committees.
A new concept called a “joint fundraising agreement” would also authorize committees and other organizations to collaborate on political fundraising.
Contribution limits for political committees were increased under a 2024 law and would not increase further under this year’s legislation.
The limits are $12,000 for major offices, $6,000 for district offices and $2,000 for smaller local offices.
Political committees that have more than 250 members, however, can make contributions in the amounts of $24,000, $12,000 and $4,000.
There is no limit on contributions to independent expenditure-only committees.
New rules for spending
For all candidates and committees, current law contains a broad prohibition against contributions being “used, loaned, or pledged by any person for any personal use unrelated to a political campaign, the holding of a public office or party position.”
The proposal defines new, more detailed parameters for the things candidates and committees can and cannot spend campaign money on.
All candidates and committees would be allowed to spend money on lobbying, issue advocacy, donations to tax-exempt organizations, committee operating expenses, contributions to gubernatorial transitions and independent-expenditure committees. They could also back efforts to support or oppose propositions, recalls or gubernatorial transitions.
In all cases, the measure would prohibit the use of contributions for the “personal use” of a candidate, elected official or immediate family member.
“Personal use” would be defined as spending money on something that would exist “irrespective of the candidate’s campaign or the holding of office” and isn’t connected to a campaign or holding of political office.
The bill sets out a list of items that would be presumed to be for personal use:
- Household food items or supplies
- Funeral expenses, unless they are for a campaign worker
- Clothing that isn’t used for campaign, fundraising or office-holding events
- Tuition payments
- Social, recreational and private club fees that aren’t for a fundraising event or campaign or office-holding activities
On Wednesday, the Senate committee agreed to strengthen the language prohibiting campaign funds for personal use.
Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, a member of the committee, said it was important to guard against the use of campaign funds “for subsidizing your lifestyle.”
“I don’t think we want to encourage that,” he said.
The bill also sets out a list of items that would not be considered personal use:
- Candidate and immediate family member attendance at political events including Washington Mardi Gras and conferences for political parties, professional groups or social advocacy groups.
- Security measures for a candidate, elected official, family members or campaign workers, including security systems and personnel
- Taxes on interest earned by campaign funds
- Campaign loan interest
- Costs to replace damaged, lost or stolen campaign items
For each of the four committee types, the legislation spells out additional spending rules.
New reporting requirements
Under the legislation, monetary thresholds that trigger a variety of campaign finance reporting requirements would increase.
For example, political committees would have to report contributions and expenditures when they reach $1,000, up from $500.
Similarly, committees that anticipate receiving or spending $1,000 a year would need to file a statement of organization, up from $500.
Reporting requirements for some out-of-state entities contributing to Louisiana elections would be triggered at $50,000 of spending, up from $20,000.
Anyone who isn’t a candidate or a committee would need to file disclosure reports for political spending for anything over $1,000, up from $500 currently. But unlike current law, disclosures would only be needed in specific cases of “express advocacy.”
Changes to Board of Ethics investigations
The Louisiana Board of Ethics administers and enforces the state’s Campaign Finance Disclosure Act, and it’s responsible for investigating any possible violations of campaign finance disclosure rules.
In instances where the ethics board undertakes a campaign finance investigation, it would also need to meet a higher bar to issue any subpoenas, and more detailed procedures would govern the subpoenas process.
After an investigation, the ethics board would need to have “probable cause” to justify bringing formal charges against someone for campaign finance violations.
If the board found that a campaign finance violation did occur, before filing any formal charges against the person being investigated, the board would have to create a report of the investigation, provide that report to the person being investigated, and give that person a chance to respond.
These changes related to board investigations are similar to those in another bill that sets stricter rules for how the Board of Ethics investigates potential conflicts of interest, nepotism, and other ethics law violations.
The legislation, House Bill 674 sponsored by Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, passed the Legislature on Wednesday.
