The Louisiana State Senate will convene August 23, 2004 at 1:30 PM to consider the election of a nominee to the Louisiana Board of Ethics. Senate rules provide for such administrative meetings called by the Senate President to deal with matters like the ethics board vacancy.

"With the unexpected resignation of one of the two Senate elected members of the Louisiana Board of Ethics, the administrative meeting is necessary for the Senate to fulfill its obligations under state law to fill the vacancy," Senate President Hines said.

Janice Martin Foster, a Senate elected member of the board, resigned her post in May. As detailed in state law, the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities had 60 days to submit a list of nominees to the Senate for the vacant ethics board position. The private colleges group submitted the list of nominees to the Senate in early July. The Senate must act to elect a replacement within 60 days or the first name on the list is named to the board.

"We should be able to complete our business in this one day meeting," Senate President Hines said. "The Senate Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs will meet in the morning to review the list of nominees and make a recommendation to the full Senate. We will then convene in the afternoon to act on the committee’s recommendation, allowing time for full discussion of the nominees to this important board."

The Louisiana Board of Ethics oversees compliance with the state’s ethics laws governing the activities of public employees and public officials, including the enforcement of campaign finance laws. The nominees submitted by the private colleges include Dr. Dolores Spikes, former chancellor of Southern University- Baton Rouge; Ms. K. Michele Allison-Davis, dean of admissions at Loyola University School of Law; Revius Ortique, Jr., former state Supreme Court Justice and Mr. Greg Weiss, a Mandeville attorney.

Besides consideration of the ethics board vacancy, the only other matters that can be considered at the special meeting are other administrative matters relating to Senate operations. The Senate will make every effort to minimize the costs associated with the administrative meeting and will handle those expenses within its existing budget.