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Black America Web
a day ago
- Politics
- Black America Web
Redistricting: Majority Black Voting Maps Rejected In Louisiana
Source: Mario Tama / Getty One of the most innocuous yet insidious ways voter suppression rears its head is through redistricting, a process by which a state legislature draws up voting maps along political lines. Despite a federal judge finding that their current legislative map violates the Voting Rights Act, Louisiana lawmakers have rejected a new map that would've included eight new, majority Black districts. The Louisiana Illuminator reports that Bill 487 and Bill 488, which would've redrawn the legislative maps for the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, were struck down in a 9-6 and 9-5 vote that fell along party lines. The current maps were drawn in 2022 and utilized census data from 2010, despite the fact that the state's Black population has only increased over the last decade. Black voters make up a third of Louisiana's population, but the current voting maps only have one majority Black district. Rep. Edmond Jordan (D-Baton Rouge), ithe chairman of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, authored both bills. He explained the changes were necessary to address a ruling by a federal judge last year that found the current map disenfranchised Black voters. 'By us not upholding our obligation and redrawing these maps … I think it sends a signal that we are unwilling to do so,' Jordan told his fellow legislators. 'Rather than wait on the court to come up with a decision, I think it's incumbent upon us to get ahead of that and maybe draw these maps and show the court that we're willing to comply with Section 2' of the Voting Rights Act. The Republican opposition explained that they didn't feel the need to update the maps as the ruling is currently under appeal, and they believe that the courts will rule in their favor. They also brought up concerns that the new district lines would require current elected officials to move in order to still represent their district or possibly have to run against another incumbent to maintain their seat in the legislature. Jordan understood those concerns but stated his priority was giving Black voters an equal voice in determining who represents them. 'What we're trying to do is attempt to unpack and uncrack these districts so that they would comply with Section 2,' Jordan said. Source: Juan Silva / Getty From the Louisiana Illuminator: Packing is a type of gerrymandering that forces a large number of voters from one group into a single or small number of districts to weaken their power in other districts. Cracking dilutes the power of those voters into many districts. Jordan's plan would have added new majority Black House districts in Natchitoches, Lake Charles, Shreveport and Baton Rouge, and Black Senate districts in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Jefferson Parish. In what can only be described as saying the quiet part out loud, state Republicans added that they found Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to be outdated. For clarity, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prevents any voting law or measure 'which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.' Considering that they're actively using legislative districts to curb the power of Black votes, it's clear Section 2 is still a necessity to maintain voting rights within majority Black communities. Redistricting is always a partisan affair, with the legislative map being drawn by whatever party has power. Far too often, though, the redistricting efforts by state Republicans are largely built around minimizing Black voting power to keep Republicans in office. This isn't only an issue in Louisiana, as several states have drawn legislative maps that explicitly undermine Black votes. Redistricting plans in the state of Texas are also facing legal challenges due to allegations of racism. There's an ongoing fight in Texas's Tarrant County over redistricting plans that several state legislators believe violate the Voting Rights Act, and there's currently a federal case underway against the Texas state government over its 2021 voting map that was believed to have 'diluted the power of minority voters.' One of the worst offenders is Alabama, whose redistricting efforts have been deemed racist by federal judges several times. State Republicans have said that if they don't receive a favorable ruling in their appeal on the decision, they won't update the voting map until 2030 to avoid federal oversight. There is nothing more on brand for the modern GOP than having a temper tantrum when being told to be less racist. If anything, this is a reminder that in America, the boring, procedural racism is often the worst kind. SEE ALSO: Poll Shows Companies Maintaing DEI Intiatives Have Better Reputations MIT Becomes Latest University To Back Away From DEI Initiatives SEE ALSO Redistricting: Majority Black Voting Maps Rejected In Louisiana was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
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Mortgages, Mardi Gras and country clubs: Louisiana campaign funds could soon cover these expenses
Gov. Jeff Landry is pushing an overhaul of the Louisiana Board of Ethics' investigation process while also facing ethics charges brought by the board. (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) Louisiana politicians would be able to use money they raise to run for elected office on a much broader group of expenses, including their home mortgages, country club fees and gym memberships under legislation Gov. Jeff Landry is pushing. Louisiana House Republican Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, is sponsoring a sprawling rewrite of Louisiana's campaign finance laws in House Bill 693. The 101-page legislation loosens dozens of restrictions placed on the people and political groups who raise and spend money on state and local elections. The Louisiana Board of Ethics has for years prohibited elected officials and candidates from spending campaign and political action committee (PAC) money on property they own. Wright's bill would make that type of spending legal under certain circumstances. For example, a candidate or elected official could use their campaign and PAC money to help pay off a portion of their home mortgage, as long as part of the property was used for campaign purposes and the candidate charged his campaign 'fair market value,' under one provision of the legislation. The bill was largely written by two private attorneys who work for Gov. Jeff Landry and represented him in multiple legal disputes he has with the ethics board. Most recently, lawyers Stephen Gelé and Charles Spies are working for Landry as the governor faces ethics charges for failing to disclose flights he took on a political donor's plane in 2021. But Wright's legislation would not affect the outcome of that case against Landry. Gelé has described the massive rewrite of the state's campaign finance laws as an effort to 'modernize' Louisiana's practices and bring them more in line with federal campaign finance law. 'This campaign finance legislation respects fundamental constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and due process, and updates the statute providing clear rules governing current campaign practices, while still providing transparency and preventing the appearance of corruption,' Gelé said in a written statement to the Illuminator. Wright said his legislation is also meant to address frustrations elected officials have with ethics board fines and investigations into their spending. 'There's a lot of people who don't like what they do or don't do,' Wright said. 'For whatever reason, people don't feel like they are getting a fair review.' Legislators' ambivalence to the ethics board has been reflected in support for the bill. Wright's proposal easily cleared the Louisiana House of Representatives on a 77-16 vote, with a small group of Democrats in opposition. The Senate is now considering the bill, which needs approval from both chambers before June 12. One of the state's preeminent government watchdog groups, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, warned the bill would open the door to at least the appearance of political corruption. 'Louisiana, historically, had serious corruption problems and the Board of Ethics was sort of created to look at that,' Steven Procopio, the organization's president, said in an interview. '[G]iven our history, it's very important that we not backslide.' 'It doesn't solve any problem for citizens. What it really solves is making things more convenient for public officials,' he added. Wright's proposal is part of a wider effort to weaken the ethics board authority overall that concerns Procopio. There are two other bills in the Senate that would also make it harder for the board to enforce ethics law violations. 'I can't find a single reason why citizens would support this,' he said. What would be allowed Should it pass, Wright's legislation would explicitly let political candidates, elected officials and their PACs spend money on a long list of new services and expenses that aren't laid out in the current law. These proposed allowable expenses would include: *Paying lobbyists at the State Capitol and in Washington D.C. * Paying for an elected official or candidate's spouse and children to accompany them to Washington Mardi Gras, a national political convention or any professional conference attended as an elected official. *Covering any fines or penalties the ethics board has levied against a person for violating campaign finance or ethics laws. * Paying for security measures such as cameras and fences to be installed in order to protect a candidate or elected official, including at their personal residence or office. *Payments on a personal or business loan, including a home mortgage, on property owned by the candidate as long as the candidate is using a portion of that property for campaign purposes and is charging his campaign 'fair market' value. For example, this could include storing campaign signs in the garage of an elected official's house and then charging the campaign the market rate of a local storage locker. *Paying dues, fees and gratuities to a social organization such as a country club, fitness center, Mardi Gras krewe or any other 'nonpolitical organization' as long as the membership 'facilitates' interaction with a constituent, another elected official or a former elected official. The ethics board has explicitly not allowed some of these proposed campaign expenses under the current law for several years. For example, those who miss deadlines for submitting campaign finance reports cannot use their PAC or campaign account to pay the financial penalties the board imposes on them. It must come from their personal funds under current law. Wright's legislation would eliminate that restriction. The ethics board has also generally interpreted a legal ban on using campaign and PAC money for 'personal use' to mean a candidate or elected official cannot use their political cash to help pay off loans on buildings, homes and other property they own. In 2007, the ethics board told former state Treasurer John Schroder his political campaign could not lease office space from a company he owned. Schroder, who was treasurer from 2017-24, was running for his first state elected office in the Louisiana of Representatives at the time. 'A candidate cannot do business with himself,' Gray Sexton, who served as general counsel to the state ethics board for 40 years, said about current ethics laws in an interview earlier this month. Yet Wright's legislation would reverse that board opinion, allowing others like Schroder to lease out not only their commercial property to campaigns, but also their personal residences. 'This would allow market value transactions between the candidate and the campaign to go forward,' said Sexton, who now represents politicians who appear before the ethics board in his private law practice. Eighteen years after seeking that opinion, Schroder said he agrees with the ruling the ethics board initially gave him. 'I think it just erodes public trust,' he said of politicians paying their personal businesses with campaign or PAC funds. 'The public just doesn't trust the politician or the political space today.' Carnival costs Wright's legislation would also definitively declare that elected officials can use their political money to cover membership dues for Mardi Gras krewes and the balls and parades they host. The ethics board has spent decades wrestling over whether expenses related to participating in Mardi Gras can be covered with campaign funds, and its response has often been muddled. Most of the board's public guidance about Mardi Gras is also nearly 30 years old. In early 1998, the state ethics board told St. Tammany Parish officials they couldn't use campaign funds to 'join a local civic organization which holds meetings and functions culminating in a Mardi Gras parade.' Later that year, the board reiterated that same stance when asked for a similar opinion. 'Campaign funds may not be used to pay for membership dues and expenses related to an organization which holds a Mardi Gras parade,' the board wrote at the time. But in the months that followed, the board issued advisories allowing campaign funds to cover some Mardi Gras expenses. In 1998 and 1999, the board said elected officials could use campaign money to purchase Mardi Gras parade throws bearing their name or likeness. Their election funds could also cover the costs of a candidate participating in a parade, as long as it wasn't krewe membership dues and the elected official wasn't covering their face on the parade route, which is common for many parades. Should Wright's legislation pass, none of these restrictions would remain relevant because the new law would allow politicians to use their campaign and PAC money for krewe dues, as long as being a member of the krewe helped them interact with a constituent, another elected official or a former elected official. The bill also contains a provision to allow elected officials and candidates to spend even more freely on 'events related to the Mardi Gras celebration in Washington D.C.' Every year, thousands of politically connected Louisiana residents kick off carnival season at a four-day, rolling party and festival called Washington Mardi Gras. It features tblack-tie balls, business luncheons, panel discussions, political fundraisers and parties sponsored by business groups and lobbyists. For years, elected officials have dipped into their campaign accounts to cover their expenses for this event. Elected officials spent a combined $594,000 from their campaign accounts in 2023 alone on Washington Mardi Gras, according to an Illuminator analysis. That came from 64 elected Louisiana officials, including 34 state lawmakers. It's not clear to what extent political funds have been used to cover spending on politician's spouses and children at Washington Mardi Gras, as Wright's legislation specifically allows. Elected officials' families often attend the event, but campaign finance reporting isn't precise enough to give the public those types of details about the expenses. The ethics board's investigations are also confidential, meaning if they are scrutinizing a particular person's Washington Mardi Gras spending, it wouldn't be known to the public. But lawmakers have been complaining for months that the ethics board has started looking into Washington Mardi Gras spending more generally. 'Washington Mardi Gras seems to be getting a lot of attention, and I don't know why,' said Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, who is cosponsoring the legislation with Wright during a public hearing last year. PACs pay for posh events, destinations One way Wright's legislation would accommodate all these proposed new political expenses is by setting up leadership PACs in Louisiana's campaign finance law. At the federal level, a leadership PAC is typically one set up by a member of Congress to give money to other candidates running for office. Wright's bill would allow for a similar type of organization at the state level. Supporters said it will make it easier for state elected officials to support their colleagues and push their political agendas. Government watchdog groups have been highly critical of federal leadership PACs, describing the accounts as 'slush funds' that allow members of Congress to spend lavishly at vacation resorts and restaurants. Two nonpartisan organizations that promote government accountability, Issue One and the Campaign Legal Center, found less than half of the money Congressional leadership PACs spent during 2019-20 went to their stated purpose of helping other candidates. Instead, members of Congress spent significant amounts on lavish resorts, country clubs and restaurants. The leadership PAC spending of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was held out as an example by the group. Paul spent $990,000 from his leadership PAC over 2019-20, but only 12% of those dollars went to other political candidates' campaigns. Meanwhile, he used the funds for $14,000 in hotel stays and $13,000 at restaurants. He also spent $2,300 on various golf courses and $820 for baseball tickets at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. '[S]uch spending patterns give the impression that some politicians are simply raising money at one posh location to pay for the next fundraiser at the next fancy destination,' Issue One and the Campaign Legal Center wrote in a report issued in 2021. A former congressman, Landry is the person pushing most for the campaign finance law changes contained in Wright's bill. The governor also stands to benefit the most from more flexibility in political spending because he has far more money in his political accounts than any other state government official.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
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Louisiana lawmakers put some limits back in place on gifts to public officials
Rep. Beau Beaullieu has updated his proposal to change state ethics laws concerning gifts to public officials. (Allison Allsop/Louisiana Illuminator) Louisiana lawmakers are no longer looking to broadly lift restrictions on gifts to elected officials and public employees while doing their jobs, but they appear intent on discouraging ethics investigations. Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-Iberia, removed language from House Bill 674 that would have allowed public servants to receive $200 worth of gifts annually. This would have applied to all local and state government employees, from a local police officer to the governor. Instead, Beaullieu has rewritten the legislation to keep a portion of a current limitation on government worker gifts in place. Now, gifts that aren't food would be mostly restricted to $200 worth of flowers or a charitable donation to express sympathy for a family death. New allowances for 'seasonal' food and beverages remain in the legislation, however. Under current law, most public officials are not supposed to receive food and drink as gifts unless it's at a party or reception. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Under existing rules, they have to consume the food in person at the event where it is given. The edible gift can cost no more than $79 per person, a cutoff the Louisiana Board of Ethics adjusts every year based on the Consumer Price Index. Beaullieu's updated proposal would allow elected leaders and public employees to take seasonal or holiday foods as gifts for a religious or state holiday, even outside of a party or reception. The cap on food gifts would also be $79 per person per holiday or whatever new price the ethics board adopts in future years. Besides the gift policy changes, Beaullieu's bill contains several ethics law modifications that would make it much harder for the state ethics board to investigate and charge people with misconduct. The ethics board oversees enforcement of campaign finance laws and the state ethics code for public employees, elected officials and lobbyists. Anyone from a public school teacher to the governor can be subject of one of its investigations. The adjustments Beaullieu proposes would require more members of the ethics board to vote in favor of pursuing an investigation and give the board far less time to decide whether a person should be charged with ethical wrongdoing. People accused of ethics violations would also have more ability to push back on the allegations under Beaullieu's bill. If the legislation were to pass, the new standards that would have to be met in order for the ethics board to launch an investigation would be very difficult to achieve. For example, the ethics board would have to be confident that wrongdoing had occurred in order to sign off on any preliminary probe into the alleged misconduct. Ethics Administrator David Bordelon said earlier this month the process Beaullieu seeks would 'skew' the process in favor of the public servant accused of wrongdoing. He also took issue with a new restriction Beaullieu proposed Tuesday on ethical investigations and charges. The state representative added language to his bill prohibiting the ethics board from launching an investigation based on information it received through an advisory opinion request. The board is frequently asked to explain how ethics laws apply in specific situations through advisory opinions. It issues at least a few of these public letters monthly providing feedback. 'If someone submits an advisory opinion request that indicates a violation has already occurred, it should be within the board's prerogative to initiate an investigation of that,' Bordelon told senators at a committee hearing Tuesday. Beaullieu said he is trying to overhaul state ethics investigations because many elected officials feel the board has been too aggressive when pursuing allegations. The state's preeminent state government watchdog, the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, has come out strongly against the bill. 'This is designed to make sure we don't have ethics investigations,' Steven Procopio, the organization's president, said of the proposed changes. The legislation is backed by Gov. Jeff Landry, who has had several personal conflicts with the ethics board over his nine years in statewide office. In 2023, the board charged Landry in 2023 with the ethics violation of failing to disclose flights he took on a political donor's private plane to Hawaii for an attorneys general conference. That dispute is ongoing because the governor and board members have not reached an agreement on what Landry's punishment for the violation should be. Stephen Gelé, the attorney representing Landry in this ethics dispute, also helped write Beaullieu's legislation to overhaul the state's ethics laws. The Louisiana Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the bill Tuesday with no objections. An earlier version of the proposal also passed the Louisiana House unanimously, but both the Senate and the House will have to approve the amended version before it can become law. It must pass by the Louisiana Legislature's session adjournment June 12. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
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Attempt to remove fluoride from Louisiana drinking water goes flat
A bill to remove fluoride from public water systems failed Wednesday afternoon in the Louisiana legislature. (Elise Plunk/Louisiana Illuminator) A proposal to end the addition of fluoride from public drinking water in Louisiana failed Wednesday in the legislature following passionate testimony from health care and dental professionals. Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Michael 'Big Mike' Fesi, R-Houma, would have required localities that want fluoride added to their water to have their residents petition for an election and vote on the issue. It failed in the House Committee on Health and Welfare in a 10-5 vote. Louisiana law currently mandates the addition of fluoride to drinking water systems with 5,000 or more service connections. 'Water fluoridation is a safe, effective and equitable public health intervention that has been proven for over eight decades to reduce dental decay significantly,' Dr. Kimberly Smith-Bibbins, chief dental officer for SWLA Center for Health Services, said during committee testimony. 'We can replace our teeth,' Fesi said in a text message after the bill was voted down, sharing his doubts about the ability for utilities to regulate the amount of fluoride people consume. 'I don't think we can replace our thyroid or pineal gland.' There is not any firmly documented link between consuming fluoride and thyroid or endocrine issues, with many of the focused studies into it laced with methodology and bias concerns. Fluoridated water systems serve about 38% of Louisianans, compared with a national rate of about 75%, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. Smith-Bibbins said Louisiana, in particular, benefits from public water fluorination, especially 'where many communities face barriers to accessing regular dental care.' 'It has served our children very, very well without negative consequences to our adults,' Rep. Joseph Stagni, R-Kenner, said before voting against the bill. Removing fluoride requirements could cause a 'cataclysmic problem' in public health outcomes for Louisiana, he said. Louisiana Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham spoke in support of Fesi's bill in committee, citing claims that overfluorination can lower children's IQs. The validity of studies that have come to this conclusion has been called into question, with critics citing inadequate data and only loose connections between fluoride dosing and lower IQ scores. Abraham argued that communities could opt in to fluoridation, to which Stagni responded that the option currently exists in state law for locals to remove it through a vote. 'If people want out, the people have a mechanism right now to take fluoride out of their water,' Stagni said.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
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Louisiana lawmakers reject redistricting plan with more majority Black districts
The Louisiana Capitol Building, April 8, 2021. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator). A Louisiana legislative committee has killed two bills that would have added eight new majority Black districts to the state House and Senate. The author of the proposals, Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, argued the maps are necessary because a federal judge has ruled the current state legislative maps, adopted in 2022, violate the federal Voting Rights Act. Attorney General Liz Murrill has appealed that decision on the state's behalf, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has yet to issue a decision. House Bill 487, which redistricts the Senate, was killed on a party-line 9-6 vote with Republicans prevailing. House Bill 488, the new House of Representative district map, fell in a 9-5 vote, again along party lines. The votes mean Louisiana will not update its legislative maps in the current legislative session, though they have the opportunity to do so in a future session. 'By us not upholding our obligation and redrawing these maps … I think it sends a signal that we are unwilling to do so,' Jordan said. 'Rather than wait on the court to come up with a decision, I think it's incumbent upon us to get ahead of that and maybe draw these maps and show the court that we're willing to comply with Section 2' of the Voting Rights Act. The section Jordan cited prohibits voter discrimination based on a person's race, color or membership in a language minority group. Republicans have argued Section 2 is outdated, as it has served its purpose to dismantle Jim Crow-era laws. Although a third of Louisianians are Black, less than a third of state legislative districts have majority Black populations. The redistricting plan adopted in 2022 maintained the same number of majority Black districts from the previous redistricting cycle, based on 2010 Census demographics, even though the percentage of the state's Black population has increased in the interim. Republicans on the committee repeatedly pointed out that the case is still on appeal and indicated they were optimistic courts may rule in the state's favor. Lawmakers also expressed concern that Jordan's plan put upwards of 20 incumbent lawmakers outside of their existing district, meaning they would either have to move to maintain residency in their current districts or run against another incumbent to return to the legislature. Jordan said that while he considered incumbency, his primary concern was giving Black voters an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. 'What we're trying to do is attempt to unpack and uncrack these districts so that they would comply with Section 2,' Jordan said Packing is a type of gerrymandering that forces a large number of voters from one group into a single or small number of districts to weaken their power in other districts. Cracking dilutes the power of those voters into many districts. Jordan's plan would have added new majority Black House districts in Natchitoches, Lake Charles, Shreveport and Baton Rouge, and Black Senate districts in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Jefferson Parish. Republican lawmakers expect the 5th Circuit to wait to release an opinion on the legislative maps until after the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on Louisiana's current congressional district boundaries, as the decision might create new precedent. In the congressional redistricting case, non-Black voters are suing the state over a map lawmakers passed last year that created a second majority Black district, arguing it violated their constitutional rights. The Supreme Court decision is expected later next month. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
