Governor Edwards signs legislation removing the cap on the amount of money candidates in state elections can receive from political action committees.
Opponents are concerned this will open the state up to an influx of outside money but Gonzales Senator Ed Price said his legislation was about transparency. He said it allows candidates to consolidate the number of PACs they form to receive donations, making the money easier to track.
“It may open it up but at least citizens can now see what political action committee is supporting you without having to go and search,” said Price.
The bill was opposed by the State Board of Ethics. Council for a Better Louisiana President Barry Erwin said removing the previous caps could result in a campaigns becoming a lot more expensive, and drastically increase the influence of out-of-state actors.
“For voters who want to be the ones to pick their own candidates or their own person for governor I think this will raise some concerns about big money from out of state trying to influence or buy elections,” said Erwin. “That’s something that we really have not seen in Louisiana, you see it as part of the national debate but this is something that is a new twist for us in Louisiana and it is going to raise a few eyebrows.”
The previous caps for contributions to a candidate from PACs were $80,000 for major offices, $60,000 for district offices, and $20,000 for smaller offices per the AP.
Price disagreed with that criticism. He said under the old capped system candidates still functionally could receive unlimited amounts of money.
“It’s not that oh now you are going to have 120,000 or 150,000 thousand from these political action committees, it’s already happening,” said Price.
The bill had overwhelming support from both the House and Senate during the session. The removal of the contribution cap will go into effect on August 1st.
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