WHY WON’T KOSTELKA DEBATE THE CHANGE IN THE ETHICS STANDARD?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Julie Vezinot

May 28, 2008 225-336-4155

WHY WON’T KOSTELKA DEBATE THE CHANGE IN THE ETHICS STANDARD?

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Chris Whittington today criticized Sen. Bob Kostelka, for continuing to ignore legislation that would return the standard by which ethics charges are judged from "clear and convincing" to "reliable and substantial" evidence.

Three weeks ago, Rep. Cedric Richmond successfully amended HB 906 to return the standard of evidence back to "reliable and substantial" after Sen. Kostelka changed the standard to "clear and convincing" during the final minutes of the February special session addressing ethics reform.

Kostelka, whose change to the standard occurred without debate or discussion on the issue, has vowed to kill Richmond's amendment.

Whittington said that to kill the amendment without proper debate is an insult to the idea of ethics reform and to Louisiana citizens who have demanded real reform.

"Sen. Kostelka, with the blessing and support of the Jindal administration, managed to undo all of the ethics reforms they touted in one fell swoop," Whittington said. "Now, Sen. Kostelka is sitting on a measure that would at least allow for an honest and open debate on the issue.

"Why are Gov. Jindal and Sen. Kostelka so afraid of a debate on this issue? For those of us who believe that real ethics reform means being able to actually enforce our ethics laws, this is an extremely important issue.

"Gov. Jindal and Sen. Kostelka are hoping to be able to cover up their legislative shell game by silencing the debate on this issue," Whittington said. "This is becoming an extremely disturbing trend from a governor who promised us openness, transparency and real reform."

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