It was only a matter of time. The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry is engineering a new super PAC to accept unlimited donations ahead of the 2019 election cycle. They now join the ranks of GUMBO PAC, the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority and a band of other outfits that are changing the face of Bayou State politics. “This is essentially the new normal and where things are,” said LABI PAC director John Diez, adding that the association was creating a framework “where we go after bigger dollars and conduct some independent expenditures.” LABI still intends to maintain its four regional PACs, which are expected to go from “little PAC” status to “big PAC” status sometime next year, Diez said on the latest episode of The LaPolitics Report podcast. That means maximum contributions from the individual PACS (North, South, West and East) could jump from $2,500 to $5,000 for the coming legislative cycle.
—The Louisiana Family Forum is asking its members to contact U.S. Sen. John Kennedy to support Kyle Duncan for the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. (Kennedy sits on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.)
—The Louisiana Press Association is under new management. With government affairs specialist Kevin Hayes and attorney Scott Sternberg staying aboard, the positions of executive director and acting executive director have been eliminated and SSA Consultants is now overseeing day-to-day operations. SSA is also said to be working on a few restructuring recommendations.
They said it: “It certainly gives me heartburn.” —Secretary of State Tom Schedler, on the $6 million price tag of statewide elections, on WAFB-TV
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
