PAR Issues New Ethics Report

A government watchdog group says Louisiana ethics law needs to be more restrictive when it comes to candidates' personal use of campaign finance funds.  That's one of fourteen recommendations in a new report by the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. PAR's 39-page report includes a brief history of ethics enforcement since Governor Jindal pushed an ethics law revamp through the legislature in 2008. It calls for numerous clarifications of the role now played by the State Board of Ethics -- which investigates ethics complaints and brings charges -- and the teams of administrative judges now tasked with ruling on whether violations have occurred. The report notes that there are still no rules in place providing detailed guidance for that process, approved four years ago.