Provides for the assessment of fees by the Board of Ethics and Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure (OR +$201,923 GF EX See Note)

House Bill 556 amends Louisiana law governing the Board of Ethics and the Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure to modify how these bodies assess and waive fees and penalties related to campaign finance disclosure filings. The bill revises R.S. 18:1505.4 and R.S. 18:1511.4.1 concerning civil penalties for failure to file or accurately file campaign finance reports, and amends R.S. 42:1157 regarding late filing fees under the Code of Governmental Ethics. The core mechanism establishes a mandatory notification and cure period structure: when a filer fails to timely file a report, omits required information, or files inaccurate information, the supervisory committee must send notice by certified mail within four days of the missed due date, giving the filer seven business days to correct the deficiency or file a written response contesting the allegation before any penalties accrue. Additionally, the bill eliminates the authority of the Board of Ethics and Supervisory Committee to grant conditional waivers of fees or penalties, requiring that any waiver granted must be permanent in effect rather than contingent on future compliance.

Candidates, committee treasurers and chairmen, and other persons required to file campaign finance disclosure reports under Louisiana law are directly affected by these changes. The new notification and cure period gives filers a structured opportunity to remedy filing deficiencies without penalty, protecting those who respond promptly to notice from accruing daily civil penalties. However, those who fail to correct filings within the seven business day deadline become subject to daily penalties as prescribed in existing law. The Board of Ethics and Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure experience operational changes, as staff must now send notices of delinquency within four days of discovering late filings and administer the seven-day cure period before penalties begin accruing. These bodies also lose discretion to impose conditional waivers, which previously allowed them to suspend or reduce penalties pending future compliance with ethics or campaign finance laws, eliminating a tool that could incentivize compliance while maintaining enforcement authority to grant permanent fee reductions based on good cause or other considerations.

This legislation operates within Louisiana's existing ethics and campaign finance regulatory framework, amending provisions of the Ethics Code and Campaign Finance Disclosure Act that assign enforcement authority to the Board of Ethics and its Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure. The bill preserves the Board's underlying authority to assess civil penalties under R.S. 18:1505.4 and the supervisory committee's ability to impose additional civil penalties not exceeding ten thousand dollars for election-related reports filed after specified deadlines, conditioning penalty accrual only on the completion of the notification and cure period. The amendments maintain existing provisions allowing waiver of penalties and fees but restrict the conditions under which waivers may be granted, reflecting a legislative intent to standardize waiver procedures and eliminate contingent relief arrangements. The bill also clarifies that for purposes of computing due dates and penalties, a report shall be considered due on the deadline specified in the notice of delinquency rather than the original statutory deadline, and extends the day-counting exclusion that already applied to penalties under subsections A and B to include subsection E's notification and cure period.