Baton Rouge, LA – Governor Jeff Landry’s administration is facing scrutiny over its handling of financial disclosure requirements for top staff members, raising broader concerns about government transparency and the erosion of public accountability in Louisiana.
State law mandates that high-ranking officials in the governor’s office, including the chief of staff, policy director, general counsel, deputy chief of staff, and legislative director, file annual financial disclosures that include their full names and residence addresses. These disclosures serve as a key safeguard against conflicts of interest and corruption, allowing the public to track potential financial entanglements among government officials.
However, while similar forms from other state officials were publicly posted in May, Landry’s staff disclosures were withheld for seven months. The Ethics Board’s database did not include the records until December, shortly after a journalist inquired about the missing documents. Even then, the governor’s office had successfully lobbied for the staffers’ home addresses—explicitly required under state law—to be blacked out before the forms were made public.
A Growing Culture of Secrecy
The decision to withhold and later redact these financial records has fueled concerns that Landry’s administration is moving away from transparency and toward greater government secrecy. This move comes amid a broader pattern of efforts to limit public access to information, including:
- Expanded control over the Ethics Board, following legislation Landry backed that increased his ability to directly appoint board members.
- New restrictions on public records, making certain gubernatorial travel records and other executive documents less accessible.
- A legal opinion from Attorney General Liz Murrill, arguing that Louisiana’s constitutional right to privacy overrides existing financial disclosure laws, despite those laws being in place for over 15 years.
These actions have raised concerns among ethics advocates and some lawmakers, who argue that the administration’s approach weakens longstanding transparency measures and sets a precedent for further erosion of public accountability.
Privacy or Political Convenience?
Landry’s office has justified its request to redact staff home addresses by citing security concerns, pointing to recent legislative changes that protect state employees’ personal information in personnel records.
However, critics argue that this rationale does not align with existing law. Only 33 state officials are required to disclose their home addresses under financial disclosure laws, a measure that has been in place since 2008 without prior controversy. Ethics experts have noted that if the administration genuinely believed the requirement posed a risk, it could have pursued a legislative fix rather than withholding records and pressuring the Ethics Board for redactions.
Even members of the Ethics Board itself questioned whether they had the authority to make such changes unilaterally. Alfred “Butch” Speer, a longtime state legislative expert, warned that redacting legally mandated information could amount to an unauthorized modification of public records.
Despite these concerns, the Ethics Board—now with increased influence from Landry appointees—ultimately voted 11-1 to keep the home addresses private.
A Dangerous Precedent for Transparency
The broader concern among transparency advocates is what this decision signals for the future of ethics oversight in Louisiana. If the administration can push to shield required financial information without legislative approval, critics worry this could open the door to more exemptions and weakened disclosure rules down the line.
Louisiana has long struggled with a reputation for political corruption, and financial disclosure laws were strengthened in 2008 precisely to build public trust and prevent conflicts of interest. Now, Landry’s administration has taken steps that some see as a rollback of those reforms, making it harder for the public to hold officials accountable.
If the governor believes financial disclosure laws should be changed, the appropriate path is through the Legislature, not through selective enforcement or legal maneuvering. The public has a right to know whether its leaders are following the same rules they enforce on others. The question now is whether Louisiana’s ethics system will remain a meaningful check on power—or if it will continue to erode under increasing political pressure.
