The mass resignation of ethics board members came as they themselves faced tougher scrutiny of their own finances under laws that took effect Tuesday. And it occurred months after they asked Jindal to veto a bill that drastically changed their jobs, effective Aug. 15: The board will continue to investigate allegations of ethics code violations, but the amount and quality of evidence needed to prove violations is higher. Decisions on whether laws actually were violated move from the Ethics Board to administrative law judges selected by an appointee of the governor.

The nonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council argued against the changes, as did political consultant and demographer Elliott Stonecipher of Shreveport, who has become one of the harshest critics of the changes. Stonecipher said this week that the mass resignations of board members, together with the new laws, give Jindal great influence in shaping the board. He said Jindal and future governors will have strong influence on the outcome of ethics cases.

“At every important point in the process, gubernatorial-political pressures are certain, and designed into the new process,” said Stonecipher, who is considering a lawsuit to block the changes. ”If a person subject to a complaint has political stroke, ‘no problem.’ If a person who complained does not have political stroke, the complaint goes nowhere.”

Is this the reform you wanted when you voted for Jindal because of his ethics reform pledges???

Can you imagine EWE with this power???

Open it up to full disclure.. If the gov doesn’t make the right decision, he can be flooded by the people to do the right thing, as with the pay raise.

I wonder what the appeal process would be if a Governor appointed administrative judge levied a fine on you? That is a powerful tool the governor will have to punish enemies. It could bankrupt you just defending yourself.

Just another example of the pyrite standard that we have now.

Would EWE, Huey or Earl Long or even Jindal have used the new powers of the governor derived from his ethics laws to get rid of political enemies in government????