BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s economic development chief agreed to pay a $1,200 fine after the state Board of Ethics found he violated lobbying rules the year before joining Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration.
Stephen Moret’s fine became public Thursday, after the board approved the punishment. Moret’s signature agreeing to pay is dated Sept. 28.
The board found Moret should have registered as a lobbyist by late 2006, when he was head of the Baton Rouge area’s chamber of commerce and lobbying then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s staff. At the time, Moret was pushing for a bill that would force elected officials to disclose their sources of income.
The bill failed to pass that year — but a similar bill sailed through the Legislature this year, one of many ethics bills pushed by Jindal.
In the board’s written summary of the matter, Moret’s understanding of ethics law was outdated — partly because he relied on information found on the Board of Ethics’ Web site. The site had not been updated “and contained a summary which did not reflect current law,” according to the board’s synopsis.
After consulting the Web site, Moret believed he was not obliged to register — then lobbied legislators on behalf of the bill sponsored by Reps. Don Cazayoux, D-New Roads, and Michael Jackson, D-Baton Rouge.
Moret registered as a legislative and executive branch lobbyist in May 2007. He “registered out of an abundance of caution” after his staff and legislators told him his understanding of the ethics rules “may have been incorrect.”
Melissa Sellers, Jindal’s communications chief, did not return a message seeking comment.
Moret’s punishment follows an ethics fine levied on Jindal in April.
The governor agreed to pay a $2,500 fine and acknowledged his gubernatorial campaign missed a deadline to report financial help from the state Republican Party.
Jindal’s fine was the maximum allowed under state law for the campaign finance violation.
Moret’s was far below the maximum of $10,000 for violation of the lobbyist disclosure rules, according to the board’s synopsis of the case.
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