LA governor asks ethics board to waive his own $100 fine

Gov. Jeff Landry has asked the Louisiana Board of Ethics to waive a $100 fine for filing his 2023 annual campaign finance report late by one day in February.

The request comes a few months after the governor, who has been at odds with the ethics board for years, signed a law that gives him more control over picking ethics board members.

Landry’s spokeswoman in the governor’s office, Kate Kelly, said his campaign submitted the report in question on time, but it failed to transmit. When the ethics staff sent a notice the following day saying it had not been filed, the campaign submitted it again.

State law requires the ethics board to automatically fine candidates for major political offices $100 per day when they turn in campaign reports late. Landry is disputing that he missed the initial deadline.

“I hope one day the Illuminator can report on stories that actually matter to the people of Louisiana,” Kelly responded in a text message to questions about the fine.

Earlier this year, Landry signed a new law to reduce a similar late fee for local government candidates and legislators when they miss campaign finance report deadlines. The law change wouldn’t affect the penalties Landry faces as governor but lessens overall collections for this type of violation.

The $100 fine is also just the latest in a string of conflicts Landry has had with the ethics board.

The governor is in an ongoing legal dispute with the board over whether flights he took as attorney general on a political donor’s plane should have been publicly disclosed. In 2022, the board also reprimanded Landry for using his campaign funds to pay his car loan.

Another new law that gives the governor more freedom to appoint who he wants to the ethics board will take effect in January.

The current board is scheduled to vote Friday on whether to waive Landry’s $100 fee.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and X.