From New Orleans City Business:

Legislation aimed at quieting a growing controversy over ethics laws Gov. Bobby Jindal pushed soon after taking office won final approval Tuesday in the House.

But Shreveport political consultant Elliott Stonecipher, a Jindal critic, said the new legislation accomplishes little. He said a lawsuit may be filed over the issue after the legislative session ends.

The disagreement has its roots in the special session that Jindal called in February. At Jindal’s behest, lawmakers expanded ethics laws with a host of new lobbying restrictions, income reporting requirements for public officials and bans on officials’ government contracts.

But they also approved a Jindal-backed bill that takes away the state Ethics Board’s authority to judge whether ethics rules were violated. While the board will investigate possible violations, the decision on guilt and punishment will move, beginning Aug. 15, to panels of administrative law judges chosen by an appointee of the governor.

Supporters said the move would create a fair process that separates prosecution of an ethics complaint from the judgment. Opponents said it would politicize ethics oversight.

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