Ethics Complaint Filed Against Opponents of Amendments #1 & #2 for Failing to Disclose Expenditures

Complaint Requests Investigation Into The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and The Louisiana Budget Project

On Friday, November 5, Louisiana Swamp Watch Executive Director James Lee filed a formal complaint with the Louisiana Ethics Administration Program requesting an investigation into two organizations, The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and The Louisiana Budget Project, for failing to disclose expenditures against Constitutional Amendments #1 and #2 on the November 13, 2021 ballot.

The Louisiana Campaign Finance Disclosure Act requires any entity supporting or opposing propositions to disclose expenditures if the aggregate of expenses exceeds $1,000- a threshold both organizations appear to have exceeded. Within the 20 day period before an election, reports are required within 48 hours of spending $200 or more. The complaint includes information of the expenditures made by both organizations, including Facebook advertisements and text messages sent out by the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, at a cost of at least $5,000-$6,000 and mailers sent to voters by the Louisiana Budget Project. At the time the complaint was filed, neither organization had filed reports, despite requirements to report expenditures of $200 or more within 48 hours. Power Coalition began running ads on October 15, with mail from The Louisiana Budget Project hitting voters mailboxes on October 29 and November 4.

As of today, November 10, The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice has still not reported its expenditures, despite their spending beginning on October 15, according to Facebook's records. The Power Coalition appears to have lapsed on several reports, as they would have been required to file both a 10 Day Prior to Primary report for the spending that began on October 15, as well as 48 hour reports for spending since October 25. According to Facebook's records, they have spent $3,500-$4,000 since that date.

The Louisiana Budget Project has finally filed an expenditure report that was made public today on the Board of Ethics website, showing $54,000 spent on November 3rd on mail and digital ads against Amendment #2. As indicated in the complaint, voters began to receive mail from The Louisiana Budget Project on October 29, several days before their report was filed and made public.

Over the coming days, stay tuned to this space as Louisiana Swamp Watch will continue to educate the public on these two far-left organizations and try to get to the bottom of their spending to influence your vote in Saturday's election.