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The State of Disclosure in Louisiana
Louisiana
has earned a grade in the C range in each
of the five Grading State Disclosure assessments
conducted since 2003, and ranked 26th in
2008. A stronger performance in the web site
usability category earned Louisiana a passing
grade in that category and pushed the state’s
overall grade up to a C+ in 2008.
Louisiana
earned a B- again in 2008 and ranked 20th
in the disclosure law category. In 2008,
Louisiana’s governor called a special
legislative session on ethics that saw the
passage of several campaign finance measures.
While contributor occupation and employer disclosure
requirements failed to pass, the session did
see the passage of measures related to independent
expenditure reporting, late contribution reporting,
and mandatory electronic filing. Currently,
statewide candidates who raise $50,000 must
file electronically, while legislative candidates
can do so on a voluntary basis. With the passage
of House Bill 78 in 2008, both statewide and
legislative candidates who raise $25,000 will
be required to file electronically starting
in 2010. In 2012, the threshold will be removed
and all candidates will be required to file
electronically.
Louisiana
dropped from a B to a B- in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category in 2008 as
the Board of Ethics reported that paper filings
are posted to the Internet more slowly than
in 2007. The Board of Ethics’ web
site features databases of electronically-filed
contributions and expenditures that offer multiple
search fields and the ability to sort and download
search results. After the close of the 2008
assessment period, the database was modified
and users can no longer search across “All
Candidates” (which could cause significant
delays in retrieving search results). Now,
users can select between one to ten candidates
at a time and search their records. This function
operates better, but still makes it cumbersome
to obtain a comprehensive view of a particular
donor’s contributions.
Louisiana’s
grade rose to a D+ in the web site usability
category in 2008 after receiving an F in
2007. The Board of Ethics’ web
site was far easier to locate from the state’s
homepage this year, leading to a significant
improvement in the state’s usability
test performance. Overall, testers rated their
experience with the site more favorably than
testers did in 2007, and most testers expressed
confidence in the data they found on the site.
The Board of Ethics reported that a redesign
of the web site is expected this year. If the
redesign occurs, adding clear instructions
for site visitors, detailed lists of candidates
for statewide and legislative office, and overviews
of recent and historical campaign financing
trends would be a great benefit to the public.
→ Quick
Fix: Post a complete
list of candidates on the disclosure
web site that includes name, party
affiliation, and office sought.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Directory
of Campaign Finance Late Fees. For
each committee that has incurred fees,
the site lists which report was late
and by how many days, the fine amount,
amount paid to date, and outstanding
fee balance. View image
 Disclosure Agency: Board of Ethics
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.ethics.state.la.us
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