Committee deadlocks on bill to narrow family financial disclosures for appointed board members

The House Governmental Affairs Committee failed to advance House Bill 250 on a tie vote Tuesday after members split over whether the measure would weaken ethics oversight or encourage civic service.

Representative Turner, the bill’s sponsor, said HB 250 was intended to reduce a paperwork burden that discourages qualified people from serving on unpaid boards and commissions. Turner argued the change would limit reporting obligations for family members of appointed board members, not remove abstention or other conflict rules. “I’m just trying to relieve some of the reporting… so good people will serve,” Turner said.

Opponents repeatedly warned the bill could create an opening for conflicts of interest. Representative Newell told the committee the change was too broad and could let appointed members vote on matters that enrich household members without sufficient public oversight. “This would allow for board members to vote on issues that could possibly enrich their household,” Newell said, and urged tighter language and a statutory cross‑reference to existing disqualification and abstention provisions.

Committee members pressed several legal and practical questions about how the bill would interact with existing ethics statutes, including whether failure to report would continue to trigger penalties. The chair suggested adding a pointer to existing statute (RS 42:1112) and clarifying abstention duties as a possible amendment.

After debate the chair moved to report the bill favorably as amended. A roll call produced six votes in favor, six against and one recusal; with no majority, the motion failed and HB 250 did not advance out of committee. The committee record shows Vice Chair Lyons recused himself during the vote.

Next steps: Because the committee did not report the bill, HB 250 will not proceed to the House floor from this committee at this time.