55 Louisiana lawmakers raise campaign cash during special sessions

Fifty-five Louisiana lawmakers held fundraisers during two special sessions Gov. Jeff Landry called at the beginning of 2024. (Photo credit: Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)

Almost 40% of state lawmakers this year took advantage of an exception in state ethics laws that allows them to raise campaign funds during special sessions of the Louisiana Legislature. 

Fifty-five legislators participated in campaign fundraisers for themselves during two special sessions Gov. Jeff Landry called in 2024. The first session, held in January, dealt with political redistricting, and the second one, in February, focused on criminal justice. 

State law prohibits lawmakers from accepting political donations during the Legislature’s annual regular session, except in certain cases when they are running for another office. But they do not face that restriction during special sessions the governor calls.

Lawmakers can participate in fundraisers during special sessions as long as they notify the state ethics board about the events within two days of a special session being scheduled. The amount of money raised at the events, however, won’t be available on public campaign reports until next year. 

The regular session fundraising prohibition is supposed to create distance between lawmakers and special interest groups when the legislators vote on bills. Outside of the special sessions however, legislators are not required to say when they hold fundraisers. 

The first special session on redistricting kicked off with a fundraiser for the new leadership of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Chance McNeely, a partner in The Delta Resource Group lobbying firm, held a joint fundraiser for House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice; Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro; and Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, at the Hilton Baton Rouge just blocks from the Louisiana Capitol Jan. 16, the day after the session opened.

House Speaker Rep. Phillip DeVillier (Photo by Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP, Pool)

McFarland and Emerson are in charge of the House committees that oversee the state budget and taxes, respectively. Emerson also carried a controversial bill to bolster partisan primaries for the governor during the January special session.

“It’s very customary for fundraisers to be held in the lead up to the regular session,” McNeely said in an interview. “There are lots of them when a new Legislature comes in.” 

The Delta Resource Group’s client list includes the Louisiana Coalition to Fix Our Roads and the Louisiana Concrete Association, two industry organizations that advocate for the state to spend more money on road and bridge projects, according to a review of state lobbyist records.  

The second special session on crime opened Feb. 19 with another downtown Baton Rouge fundraiser near the Capitol. Advanced Strategies Inc. held a campaign event for Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, and Sen. Mike Reese, R-Leesville, who chair the criminal justice committees that vetted most of Landry’s legislative package that session. 

The two legislators sponsored controversial pieces of criminal justice legislation as well. Villio carried measures to significantly increase prison sentences, and Reese pushed through a bill to overhaul the management structure of state public defenders.

Advanced Strategies is likely interested in another area that Villio and Reese’s committees oversee. Alton Ashy, the firm’s founder, is the primary lobbyist for video poker industry, according to a review of state lobbying records. Reese and Villio’s committees traditionally oversee almost all of the state’s gambling legislation.

Other big-name clients for Advance Strategies include: Entergy; Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, which is one of the state’s biggest hospital networks; Air Products, a company with a major carbon capture project in south Louisiana; and Elevance Health, a health insurance provider that attempted to buy Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana at the beginning of the year. 

Disclosure reports show four lawmakers overseeing legislation on property insurance and insurance-related lawsuits had fundraisers at one lobbying firm’s office March 5, the day before the crime session was originally expected to end. 

Haynie and Associates, led by the father-son team Randy and Ryan Haynie, hosted an event for the heads of the Legislature’s insurance committees, Sen. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, and Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock. On the same day, they held fundraisers for Sen. Gregory Miller, R-Norco, and Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, who chair the legislative committees that  handle bills that affect lawsuits and trial lawyers. 

Insurance bills and lawsuit legislation were not topics of the crime special session, but they are among the lawmakers’ top priorities during the regular session. Louisiana is in the middle of a property insurance crisis, where residents are finding it unaffordable to stay in their homes or buy new real estate. 

The Haynies represent a handful of insurance companies as well as Davidson, Meaux, Sonnier, McElligott, Fontenot, Gideon and Edwards – a law firm that specializes in “insurance defense” according to its website. 

Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond (Allison Allsop/Louisiana Illuminator)

Baton Rouge-based lobbyists were responsible for throwing almost all of the lawmakers special session fundraisers this year, but the Haynies sponsored more than any other firm. Disclosure reports show they were involved in fundraisers for 16 of the 55 lawmakers. 

The Haynies’ office space and venue may contribute to that output. Directly across a lake from the back of the Capitol, the Haynies own the former house of the late Gov. Earl Long’s widow Blanche. It’s tucked away in a small neighborhood of houses behind the Governor’s Mansion and has one of the best views of the Capitol in Baton Rouge. They call it Longview. 

“We’ve always hosted a lot of events at our office because it’s a good location and convenient,” said Ryan Haynie in a text message. “Having an office set up for it makes it really turnkey.”

The Haynies’ other major business clients include Caesars Entertainment, the smoking products company Altria, the New Orleans Pelicans and the New Orleans Saints, according to a review of lobbyist records. 

They also represent criminal justice reform groups that fought Landry’s tough-on-crime legislation during the second special session like the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana, The Sentencing Project and Voice of the Experienced (VOTE).

Two other firms, Advanced Strategies and Louisiana Lobbying Solutions, also held fundraisers for seven legislators over the two special sessions.

Like the Haynies, Advanced Strategies Inc. has an impressive downtown Baton Rouge office called Bridgeview. It includes a roof deck that overlooks the Mississippi River and the Interstate 10 bridge.

Though legislators are allowed to raise money during the special sessions, Landry could not. The governor can’t collect political donations during any type of session, according to campaign finance laws.

But two lawmakers are looking to lift the ban on political fundraising during sessions altogether.

Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marerro, sponsored a bill to completely repeal the law that prohibits lawmakers and the governor from raising money while they are meeting.

Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, has legislation that would allow lawmakers to raise money during the regular session, but only in an election year. They would also have to disclose all donations over $1,000 received.

Green and Seabaugh said the current structure gives election opponents an unfair advantage over legislative incumbents because their challengers can raise money during every part of the year. Seabaugh, who had an expensive race in 2023, said his proposal would level the playing field.

But with the session half over, neither of their bills have been able to move past a committee yet.

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