Latest news with #WesMuller
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nearly $32 million slated to start exterior makeover of Louisiana State Capitol
An aerial view of the Louisiana State Capitol. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) Gov. Jeff Landry and state lawmakers have put $31.7 million toward refurbishing the outside of the Louisiana State Capitol. The money, included in the annual state construction plan that took effect July 1, will be used to waterproof the Capitol's exterior in order for it to undergo a thorough cleaning. 'It is a symbol of Louisiana, and it's one of the most visited state capitol buildings in the country,' Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said. 'We're taking all the steps we need to waterproof it so it will last another 200 to 300 years.' Completed in 1932, Louisiana's State Capitol is a classic example of the Art Deco design style popular at the time and also used for the Empire State Building in New York City. Its construction took just 14 months. The building was the brainchild of Huey Long, who was a U.S. senator at the time and would be buried on its grounds three years later after his assassination in a Capitol hallway. The state will have to find more money in future years to complete the waterproofing project. It is expected to total $113.9 million, according to Louisiana's construction plan, Of the $31.7 million allocated this year, $21 million comes from general state funding and $700,000 from an account set up in 2023 for Capitol repairs. The state plans to borrow the other $10 million. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Landry vetoes Senate oversight for his Port of New Orleans board choices
Barges and ships navigate the Mississippi River near Gramercy, Louisiana, on May 1, 2025. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) A bill that attempted to add a layer of legislative oversight to the governor's picks for the Port of New Orleans board was officially sunk Monday with Gov. Landry's veto pen. Senate Bill 89 by Sen. Joseph Bouie, D-New Orleans, would have required the Senate to approve the governor's picks for members of the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans. The measure received unanimous approval from both chambers of the legislature. Currently, the governor has sole authority to choose port board members nominated by a coalition of organizations from Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard Parish. The nominating organizations are made up of university leaders, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. Members of the board serve for five-year terms. Landry cited 'an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy' as grounds for nixing the bill in his veto message, saying the port board selection process was sufficiently rigorous. 'Appointments are locally driven, carefully vetted, and rooted in industry expertise and community representation,' reads Landry's veto message. 'Adding a Senate confirmation requirement would complicate a system that already includes substantial input, oversight, and structure.' The Port Board of Commissioners is made up of four members from New Orleans, three from Jefferson Parish and one from St. Bernard Parish. As the sixth-largest port in the United States, the Port of New Orleans handles shipments of hundreds of cargo types, from consumer goods such as coffee, clothes and food to industrial materials including metals, wood and rubber. A major hub of global commerce, the Port of New Orleans ships more than 74 million tons of goods a year, according to a 2025 U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics report.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sharing an elected Louisiana leader's personal info could soon result in fines, jail time
A legislative proposal originally intended to provide an additional layer of security to judges and prosecutors who deal with violent criminals has been altered to shield a broad range of personal information about state elected officials in Louisiana. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) A legislative proposal originally intended to provide an additional layer of security to judges and prosecutors who deal with violent criminals has been altered to shield a broad range of personal information about state elected officials in Louisiana. Free speech and good government advocates are concerned officials could use the law, which will take effect unless the governor vetoes the proposal, to silence critics, punish journalists and keep unfavorable information out of the public's hands. Last week, the legislature gave final approval to House Bill 681 by Rep. Marcus Bryant, D-New Iberia, after Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, added last-minute amendments to include statewide elected officials, members of the Public Service Commission and state lawmakers under an existing state law that shields their personal information from being made public. The amended version of the bill passed the Senate on a 36-0 vote and the House on an 89-0 vote. The law prevents the elected officials' home addresses, phone numbers, personal email addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, federal tax identification numbers, bank account numbers, credit and debit card numbers, license plate numbers from being published in government records or on a public website. Also protected under the law are marital records and birthdates. An official's church, the school or daycare their child attends and the employment location of their spouse, children or dependents would also be shielded. 'It's incredibly concerning and broad … in a way I cannot describe because I don't yet know how bad it's going to be,' said attorney Scott Sternberg, who works on First Amendment cases, adding that such prosecutions would likely be unconstitutional. If Gov. Jeff Landry allows the proposal to become law, the newly included elected officials could request their personal information be removed from public records. It could also be used to force someone to remove an online post with personal information about the elected officials. For example, the law could be wielded against somebody who raises concerns about conflicts of interest pertaining to the employment of an elected official's spouse or child. If that person does not comply, they can be sued and face misdemeanor charges that carry up to 90 days in prison, a $1,000 fine or both. The bill could allow the sealing of marital records to prevent the public from learning of allegations of abuse in a divorce proceeding. 'In Louisiana's constitution … we have decided the people are entitled to certain information, because … the people have learned to check up on the government every now and then,' Sternberg said. 'Whenever an exception [to public records law] passes … it limits the public's right to access,' Sternberg added. Broadening the scope of the bill without public debate troubles good governance advocates. 'Slipping such a significant public records exemption into a bill with little acknowledgment and no debate raises questions about what people are trying to hide and undermines transparency,' said Steven Procopio, president of Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. Lawmakers and other individuals involved in Bryant's legislation have not been willing to say how the last-minute amendments got into the bill. 'These bills are not mine. I'm just bringing them,' Bryant said in an interview, referring questions to Zach Daniels, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, who declined to comment for this report. Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said he asked to have statewide elected officials added to the bill but not state lawmakers or Public Service Commission members. Temple said billboards bearing his home address have been put up around the state, prompting his request. Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said he did not ask for the amendments but supports them. Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, D-Baton Rouge, posted on social media he had 'no clue' how PSC members were added, adding he did not support the legislation. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana ethics board wants state Senate to reject bill that lifts complaint confidentiality
The Louisiana Board of Ethics is pushing back against legislation that would eliminate confidentiality for people for provide tips about misconduct. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator). The Louisiana Board of Ethics expressed alarm Friday that the Louisiana Legislature is just one vote away from eliminating confidentiality for people who provide tips about government misconduct. 'This is all just abusive. It's just trying to dissuade someone from filing a complaint,' said retired attorney William Grimley, a Louisiana Senate appointee to the ethics board since 2022, about House Bill 160 sponsored by Rep. Kellee Hennessy Dickerson, R-Denham Springs. Other members of the 15-person board nodded in agreement with Grimley. As a last-minute effort to stop the legislation, they instructed their staff to send a letter from the board expressing their concerns about the bill. The board members also said they intended to personally contact their own senators and Gov. Jeff Landry's office to warn about the legislation. 'I think it will have a drastic chilling effect on the number of complaints you receive,' Ethics Administrator David Bordelon told board members. 'We often receive complaints that are asking not to be disclosed because there's some sort of relationship or some sort of fear of retaliation.' Under the bill, investigations into ethics law violations would still be kept private and shielded from the public unless the board votes to bring charges. But the name of a person who provides a tip about alleged wrongdoing would be revealed to whoever they accused of misconduct. Currently, the identity of someone providing a tip to the ethics board is never shared with the target of an investigation. Dickerson said she is bringing the bill to protect government officials from political retaliation similar to what she experienced personally. In 2023, the ethics board voted to fine Dickerson $1,500 when she was a member of the Livingston Parish School Board and running for state representative. The members concluded she had broken state ethics laws by inappropriately helping a public school teacher get paid for doing construction work at the high school where the teacher was employed. State law doesn't allow public employees to perform contract work for their employers. 'I believe this is a fight for truth and justice and to give you the knowledge to know who is fighting against you,' Dickerson said of her legislation. Her bill would likely encourage 'witness tampering and documents not being provided,' Bordelon said. The tipster might experience harassment and intimidation from the subject of the investigation even before the probe gets underway, he added. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Dickerson said she has guarded against intimidation in her bill by allowing any tipsters to sue the accused for damages if they experience harassment. Critics of the legislation said those lawsuits would be expensive and not financially feasible for many members of the public. The ethics administrator also reiterated that the board – not the person providing the tip – decides whether to charge someone with ethical misconduct. Even if the person who submitted the complaint to the board is politically motivated, the board is not. 'It's the board that is the accuser,' Bordelon told members. 'You make your decision based on the facts and the evidence that we present to you as staff.' Dickerson included another barrier to ethics investigations the board found troubling. It requires people submitting tips to the board to either have them signed by a notary, which costs money, or to deliver them personally to state ethics administration headquarters in downtown Baton Rouge. Currently, the public can submit tips via mail and sometimes electronically. 'Imagine somebody in Grand Isle complaining about their local councilman. They would have to either pay a notary to notarize a statement … or drive to Baton Rouge and file it with us in person here,' Bordelon said. Dickerson also wants to limit materials the ethics board can use to launch an investigation to just tips from the public and reports from state officials. The board has no existing limits on the sources it can use to launch an investigation. For example, it undertook 18 investigations from 2020-23 based on news reports that resulted in a discovery of wrongdoing. Under the bill from Dickerson, a former broadcast journalist, they would no longer be able to use a news story as the basis for an inquiry. This year, Landry and legislative leaders have gotten behind a few bills that would dramatically curb the ethics board's authority to pursue investigations. Lawmakers said the effort is a response to overzealous enforcement by the ethics board that crossed the line into harassment. Still, it's not clear whether Landry supports Dickerson's legislation. His staff hasn't endorsed it during public hearings like they have other ethics bills. Recent ethics board appointees from Landry and lawmakers are also among those worried about Dickerson's bill. 'I would love for 100% compliance and to put us out of business. But you know, that's not happening,' said Jason Amato, a former St. James Parish Council member who Landry picked to lead the ethics board earlier this year. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE 'I'd love to be able to cancel our monthly meeting because we didn't have any items on the agenda. But I'm only six months in, and that isn't happening anytime soon,' he added. Lawmakers have until Thursday to decide whether to send Dickerson's proposal to Gov. Jeff Landry's desk to be signed into law. The House voted 88-7 for the bill last month, and it is scheduled for Senate debate Sunday.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As charges linger over Landry, Louisiana Legislature passes dramatic changes to ethics law
The Louisiana Legislature has approved an overhaul of the state ethics laws that will make it harder to bring ethics charges against public servants. (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) Louisiana lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a set of dramatic changes to state ethics laws Wednesday that will make it much more difficult to charge elected officials and public employees with misconduct. House Bill 674 alters the process the state ethics board used to bring charges against Gov. Jeff Landry two years ago that are still pending. Landry's charges won't be affected by the legislation, but he pushed for the bill and is expected to let it pass into law. The governor's personal attorney, Stephen Gelé, helped craft the language contained in it. Beyond making it harder to bring ethics charges, the legislation also loosens limits on elected officials' and state employees' state travel, weakens restrictions on government contracts with public servants and their families, and reduces requirements for elected officials and political candidates' disclosure of financial interests. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, said it is a reaction to the ethics board's overzealous enforcement that has frustrated officials in both parties. The anger toward the board was reflected in lawmakers' overwhelming support of the bill. The Louisiana Senate and House voted 34-2 and 92-1, respectively, for the ethics overhaul this week. Yet ethics board members expressed concerns about the bill during its May meeting. Its top staff member, Ethics Administrator David Bordelon, described it as 'skewing' the ethics investigation process in favor of the person accused of wrongdoing. The state's preeminent government watchdog group, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR), also vociferously opposed the legislation. 'This is designed to make sure we don't have ethics investigations,' PAR President Steven Procopio told lawmakers at a hearing last week. This is a developing story. Please check back for more details.
