Kathleen Allen, who has worked for the Ethics Administration since 1997, spending the last 15 years as administrator, general counsel and generally the face of the agency, plans to retire in December.
Her exit comes at a time when the executive and legislative branches are passing acts to reshape the Board of Ethics and its governing laws in a dramatic fashion. Plus, another round of scrutiny was delivered this week with a legislative oversight hearing.
Simply put, Louisiana’s entire ethics program is in flux.
As other agencies and departments are being transformed in differing ways in this new term, legislation by Sen. Blake Miguez expanded the Ethics Board’s membership from 11 to 15 and gave Gov. Jeff Landry—and future governors—more control over who gets to serve.
Under the Miguez law, the governor doesn’t make new appointments until Jan. 1. However, the provision expanding the board’s membership took effect Aug. 1.
That off-kilter implementation means the number of members needed for a quorum is now eight. So when only seven members were able to make it to last week’s scheduled meeting, it was canceled, according to Allen.
With Allen technically out of her dual position on Jan. 1, the same day Landry can begin making new board appointments, there are questions about how quickly the membership will be able to select both a general counsel and someone to lead the team.
Landry has been in a dispute with the Ethics Board since last year for failing to report flights he took to Hawaii on a donor’s plane. His attorneys reportedly expect the two sides to reach a deal by December.
This week, the House and Governmental Affairs Committee also held an oversight hearing and sunset review for the Board of Ethics. State departments are reauthorized from time to time, and while historically the Legislature has done that as a matter of course, House Speaker Phillip DeVillier has asked HGA Chair Beau Beaullieu to use that process to take a closer look and see if the departments and boards are functioning as intended.
—BELTWAY BEAT: U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise spent the past week partly in his district, campaigning for reelection across Jefferson Parish and beyond. But given his national profile, Scalise also got in some travel time to continue his 29-state tour intended to help Republicans defend their majority in the lower chamber. So far, Scalise and his fundraising apparatus have donated more than $26 million to GOP campaigns. Scalise, for example, traveled to New York and North Carolina this week to help in must-win races there. His events benefitted U.S. Reps. Marc Molinaro, Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler and Brandon Williams, all of New York; as well as North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout. Combined, they generated in excess of $1 million for Scalise fundraising entities, incumbent members, candidates and state parties. By the time Election Day gets here, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, Scalise will have traveled to support more than half of the House Republican Conference.
—They said it: “So, they can either change their algorithm and change the nature of the way it drives content to kids, or they can properly declare that they are not appropriate for children. Right now, the app TikTok declares itself to be appropriate for kids that are 12 and up, and I can absolutely tell you that that’s not what our testing shows.” –Attorney General Liz Murrill, on her lawsuit against TikTok, on BRProud
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
