Board of Ethics adopts new campaign‑finance complaint rule, presents IT best‑practices report

The Louisiana Board of Ethics adopted a rule on March 19 that implements the campaign‑finance complaint response period created by last year’s legislation and presented a best‑practices report on campaign‑finance IT systems and proposed legislative fixes.

David Bordelon, the board’s new ethics administrator, told the Joint Committee on Governmental Affairs that the rule closely tracks the statute’s language and is designed to speed complaint resolution while preserving respondents’ procedural safeguards. Under the procedure described in the rule, staff will send a copy of a complaint to a respondent within five business days; the respondent will then have 15 days to provide a written response or corrective action. The board will receive the matter on its next available docket after that response period and may dismiss, request further investigation, or open a formal investigation.

Administrators said the rule also allows staff to use email with read receipts to notify respondents and complainants in appropriate cases, replacing routine certified‑mail notice when the parties provide an email address. The change is expressly framed as an efficiency measure to reduce cost while preserving the respondent’s ability to contest allegations.

Board motion and adoption

Committee minutes record a motion that the proposed rule changes "are in conformity with the intent and scope of the enabling legislation" and that adoption of the rule is "advisable and of relative merit." The motion faced no objections from the House members, and Senator Kleinpeter moved that the Senate approve; the transcript records no objections and the committee chair declared the rule adopted.

IT staffing, filings and the best‑practices report

Geralyn Breeze, the board’s IT manager, summarized a best‑practices survey the board completed under Act 664 (2024) that compared Louisiana’s campaign‑finance and disclosure systems with other states. Breeze said the survey’s cost estimates assume additional IT positions will be approved, and she told the committee that the board’s systems are maintained by three IT employees. "We have a grand total of 3 employees who do all of that for the state," Breeze said. Administrators told the committee the office processes roughly 200,000 filed reports annually.

Proposed legislation and rule review

Bordelon said the board submitted a set of proposed statutory changes that arose during 2024 and that the board has discussed certain items with the governor’s office to ensure procedural safeguards and compliance. The board also reported on a statutorily required review of agency rules under Act 192 of the 2024 session and identified obsolete language and clarifications it may propose.

Timing and expected outcomes

Bordelon and staff said the new complaint procedure should reduce the number of full investigations by allowing respondents to correct filings or otherwise address complainant concerns during the initial response window. They estimated that most complaints handled under the rule could be resolved within 30–45 days of the initial staff notice, with longer or more complex matters taking up to 60 days depending on available hearing dates.

Ending

The committee accepted the board’s rule report and received the IT best‑practices report; members asked staff to pursue funding and staffing requests the board will present to appropriations committees.