§1114.3. Disaster or emergency contracts; prohibition; disclosure
A.(1) No statewide elected official, legislator, commissioner of administration, or
chief of staff or executive counsel to the governor, nor the spouse of any such person, nor any
corporation, partnership, or other legal entity in which such a person owns an interest of
greater than five percent, except a publicly traded corporation or a legal entity in which the
person owns a passive ownership interest that is the result of participation in a federally
approved program of employee ownership, shall enter into any contract to which all of the
following apply:
(a) The contract is directed to addressing needs directly emanating from a
gubernatorially declared disaster or emergency.
(b) The person knows or reasonably should know that the contract or subcontract is
funded or reimbursed in whole or in part with federal funds distributed, paid, or allocated to
or by the state or a state department, agency, or official.
(2) Hereafter in this Subsection, "person covered by this Subsection" shall mean a
statewide elected official, legislator, commissioner of administration, or chief of staff or
executive counsel to the governor, or the spouse of any such person. "Company covered by
this Subsection" shall mean a corporation, partnership, or other legal entity in which a person
covered by this Subsection owns an interest of greater than five percent, except a publicly
traded corporation or a legal entity in which the person owns a passive ownership interest
that is the result of participation in a federally approved program of employee ownership.
(3) The provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall not apply to
construction-related contracts entered into with entities more than two years following the
initial declaration of disaster or emergency, provided that the entity is not the governmental
entity of a person covered by this Section.
(4)(a) The following shall not be considered contracts for the purposes of this
Section:
(i) A transaction valued at two thousand five hundred dollars or less. However, no
person shall enter into separate transactions valued at two thousand five hundred dollars or
less as a subterfuge to avoid the prohibition of this Subsection.
(ii) A foster parent provider agreement or a child care provider agreement entered
into with the Department of Children and Family Services.
(iii) An agreement with a state entity or state quasi-public entity providing for
housing, medical treatment, retirement benefits, or insurance benefits, provided on the same
terms and conditions available to similarly situated persons.
(iv) An agreement providing for public assistance benefits, including but not limited
to subsidies for agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, soil and water conservation, educational
scholarships, grants and subsidies, or guaranteed student loans, provided that such benefits
are available to similarly situated persons.
(v) An agreement for which the compensation is solely reimbursement of costs.
(vi) Applying for, payment of fees for, or obtaining a license, credential, or permit
provided that such license, credential, or permit is available to similarly situated persons.
(vii) The payment of admission fees.
(viii) The sale of property pursuant to the expropriation of immovable property by
any branch, agency, department, or institution of state government.
(ix) The donation of professional veterinary services and the donation of any goods
and services related to the provision of such veterinary services.
(b) The provisions of this Subsection shall not prohibit the following:
(i) Contracts for employment or for services in a professional educational capacity
in an elementary or secondary school or other educational institution.
(ii) Contracts for employment or for services by any licensed health care professional
providing services in the classroom or working with administration in an elementary or
secondary school or other educational institution.
(iii) Contracts for services by health care professionals which are required by federal
or state law to provide an educational program for students in an elementary or secondary
school or other educational institution.
(iv) A provider agreement entered into with the Louisiana Department of Health
under the state medical assistance program.
(v) Contracts of employment of a physician or other licensed health care professional
with the state or the charity hospitals of the state or the Louisiana Department of Health.
(5) Each person covered by this Subsection who derives, either directly or through
a company covered by this Subsection, any thing of economic value through any contract
which is directed to addressing needs directly emanating from a gubernatorially declared
disaster or emergency and which the person covered by this Subsection knows or reasonably
should know is or may be funded or reimbursed in whole or in part with federal funds shall
disclose the information required by Subsection C of this Section as provided in that
Subsection.
B.(1) Except persons covered by Subsection A of this Section and except as provided
in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, each elected official, each appointed state official, and
each immediate family member of an official subject to this Subsection or Subsection A of
this Section who derives, either directly or through a legal entity in which such official or
immediate family member owns ten percent or more, any thing of economic value through
any contract which is related to a gubernatorially declared disaster or emergency and which
the official or immediate family member knows or reasonably should know is or may be
funded or reimbursed in whole or in part with federal funds shall disclose the information
required by Subsection C of this Section as provided in that Subsection.
(2) No person required to disclose information by Paragraph (1) of this Subsection
shall be required to disclose the receipt of any thing of economic value pursuant to this
Section when the value of the transaction or contract is two thousand five hundred dollars
or less. However, no person shall enter into separate transactions or contracts valued at two
thousand five hundred dollars or less with the same person or governmental entity or agency
thereof as a subterfuge to avoid the disclosure requirements of this Section.
C.(1) The following information shall be disclosed:
(a)(i) If an elected or appointed official, the name and address of the elected or
appointed official and the office held by such person.
(ii) If an immediate family member of an elected or appointed official, the name and
address of such person; the name, address, and office of the elected or appointed official to
whom the person is related; and the nature of the relationship.
(b) If through a legal entity, the name and business address of the legal entity, the
percentage of the official's or immediate family member's ownership interest in the legal
entity, and the position, if any, held by the official or immediate family member in the legal
entity.
(c) The nature of the contract or subcontract, including the amount of the contract
or subcontract and a description of the goods or services provided or to be provided pursuant
to the contract or subcontract.
(d) The amount of income or value of any thing of economic value derived through
the contract or subcontract by the official or immediate family member for the previous
calendar year, except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection.
(2) Each elected or appointed official and immediate family member subject to the
provisions of this Section shall file an initial disclosure statement with the Board of Ethics
no later than thirty days after the official, immediate family member, or legal entity enters
into the contract. The initial disclosure statement shall contain all of the information
required by Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, except that instead of the actual amount of
income or value of any thing of economic value derived from the contract by the official or
immediate family member for the previous calendar year, the official or immediate family
member shall include the amount of income or value of any thing of economic value to be
derived or, if the actual amount is unknown at the time the statement is due, reasonably
expected to be derived from the contract or subcontract for the first calendar year of the
contract or subcontract.
(3)(a) After filing the initial disclosure statement, the elected or appointed official
or immediate family member shall file the disclosure statements required by this Subsection
with the Board of Ethics no later than May fifteenth each year and shall include such
information for the previous calendar year.
(b) An elected or appointed official or immediate family member subject to the
provisions of this Section shall be required to file the annual disclosure statements required
by this Subsection until a disclosure statement is filed after the completion of the contract
or subcontract subject to disclosure, or the person filing such statements, or to whom the
immediate family member is related is no longer an elected or appointed official, whichever
occurs first.
(c) Annual disclosure statements shall not be required for the receipt of things of
economic value pursuant to contracts entered into prior to an elected or appointed official
taking office; however, if an elected or appointed official or immediate family member
thereof receives or reasonably expects to receive a thing of economic value otherwise
required to be disclosed by this Section pursuant to the renewal of such a contract or
subcontract occurring after the official takes office, such official or immediate family
member shall file a disclosure statement no later than thirty days after such renewal in
accordance with Paragraph (2) of this Subsection and annually thereafter in accordance with
this Subsection.
(d) All disclosure statements filed pursuant to this Section shall be a matter of public
record.
(4)(a) Failure to file a statement, failure to timely file a statement, failure to disclose
required information, filing a false statement, or engaging in a subterfuge to avoid the
disclosure requirements of this Section shall subject a person required to file to penalties as
provided by this Chapter.
(b) In addition to other applicable penalties, whoever fails to file a statement required
by this Section, or knowingly and willfully fails to timely file any such statement, or
knowingly and willfully fails to disclose or to accurately disclose any information required
by this Section shall be assessed a civil penalty in accordance with R.S. 42:1157 for each day
until such statement or the required accurate information is filed. The amount of the penalty
shall be one hundred dollars per day.
(c) In addition to other applicable penalties, whoever enters into separate contracts
valued at two thousand five hundred dollars or less as a subterfuge to avoid the disclosure
requirements of this Section shall be subject to the penalties of R.S. 42:1153.
D. For the purposes of this Section, the term "appointed state official" or "appointed
official" shall mean a person holding an office in any branch of state government or other
position on a state agency, board, or commission or any executive office of any state agency,
board, commission, or department which is specifically established or specifically authorized
by the constitution or laws of this state or by executive order of the governor and which is
filled by appointment or election by an elected or appointed public official or by a
governmental body composed of such officials of this state.
E. Nothing in this Section shall require the disclosure of any thing of economic value
received from an individual assistance claim.
Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 18, §1, eff. Nov. 29, 2005; Acts 2006, No. 412, §1, eff.
June 15, 2006; Acts 2008, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 2, §1, eff. March 3, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 514,
§1, eff. June 30, 2008.
NOTE: See Acts 2008, No. 514, §5, for applicability.