BATON ROUGE (AP) — Candidates for office in Louisiana will soon be able to take unlimited sums directly from political action committees, under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
The removal of limits on donations that come largely from special interest groups will take effect Aug. 1. Edwards signed the legislation despite opposition from the state Board of Ethics.
Sen. Ed Price, a Democrat from Gonzales, told colleagues that his bill was aimed at improving transparency. He argued candidates sidestep the current limits by creating multiple campaign organizations to accept the cash, making it harder for the general public to track the financing.
Before the change, PAC donations have been limited to $80,000 for major office candidates in Louisiana, $60,000 for district office candidates and $20,000 for smaller office candidates. That cap is a total applied to the combined primary and general elections for a candidate.
