2013-1025 - Laserfiche WebLink

STATE OF LOUISIANA 00 oF LopjsI. . DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE .+'�¢��`I �9ia LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS ��,,, P.O.BOX 4368 ;,f BATON ROUGE,LA 70821 ,� (225)219-5600 n•``' FAX:(225)381-7271 1-800-842-6630 www.eth cs state.Ia.us August 20,2013 Joe Gendron Director of Government Relations Louisiana Bankers Association 5555 Bankers Avenue Baton Rouge,LA 70808 RE: Ethics Board Docket No. 2013-1025 Dear Mr. Gendron: The Louisiana Board of Ethics, at its August 16, 2013 Board meeting considered your request for an advisory opinion regarding whether a state PAC may make a contribution to a legislative caucus or can PACs make contributions to other PACs. The Board concluded, and instructed me to advise you that the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act (CFDA) will prohibit contributions from political committees to legislative caucuses. However, the CFDA does not prohibit contributions from one political committee to another. La. R.S. 18:1505.2I provides that a political committee may use contributions received for any purpose but such funds may not be used for personal use, or use unrelated to the administrative cost or operating expenses of the political committee. Excess funds may be returned to contributors on a pro rata basis, given as charitable contributions as provided in 501C(3), expended in support or opposition of a candidate, proposition, or political party, or maintained in a segregated fund for use in a future political campaign. La. R. S. 18:1505.2H (2) (c) provides that contribution limits made from a political committee to a committee which is supporting or opposing a candidate for different offices shall be the highest applicable limit. In general, it does not appear that a legislative caucus is defined as a political party or a charitable organization under 26 USC 501C (3) or 26 US 170(c). As such,it does not appear that excess funds of a PAC may be given to a legislative caucus. However, since political committees are committees that are either supporting or opposing a candidate or proposition during an election, 1505.2(I) permits a political committee to make a contribution of excess funds to another political committee. The contribution limit for contributions given from political committee to political committee is determined by the committee receiving the contribution. The facts in this advisory opinion are general. Should you need an advisory opinion regarding a particular legislative caucus, the Board recommends that you make a request for an advisory opinion regarding the particular legislative caucus with the specific facts concerning the caucus to be addressed included in the request. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER