By: Julie O’Donoghue | Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana lawmakers would be able to accept a wider range of international travel paid for by outside groups without having to disclose those trips publicly under new legislation.
The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 74-20 Wednesday for House Bill 260, sponsored by Rep. C. Travis Johnson, D-Vidalia. It would allow nonprofits, political organizations, foreign governments and others to pay for more international trips for state lawmakers.
In an unusual move, the House members did not debate the bill before it was approved. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Under the proposal, the compensated travel could be justified for a number of reasons including “trade, cultural, diplomatic, educational or humanitarian purposes.”
The legislators would not have to say who paid for their trip, how much it costs or even whether they had taken the trip at all, under the bill.
In an interview Thursday, Johnson said he would be in favor of adjusting the bill to include a requirement that information about the trips be made public. The lack of disclosure was an oversight when drafting the legislation, he said.
Only a few foreign governments identified by the U.S. as official adversaries of America would be prohibited from paying for legislators’ travel. That list can change but currently includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia, according to the federal government.
Rep. C. Travis Johnson, D-Vidalia, left, chats with Rep. Wayne McMahen, R-Minden, on opening day of the regular legislative session, Monday, March 11, 2024, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.
Rep. C. Travis Johnson, D-Vidalia, left, chats with Rep. Wayne McMahen, R-Minden. (John Ballance/The Advocate, Pool)
Johnson said he was inspired to file the legislation after an outside group offered him and other lawmakers a trip to Israel last year. It wasn’t clear state ethics laws would allow the legislators to accept the gratis travel and he didn’t go on the trip, Johnson said in an interview.
Johnson said he has also been invited to accompany state Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain on trips to Cuba and London. The state representative, who is from rural Northeast Louisiana, is vice chairman of the House Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture and Rural Development Committee.
“It wouldn’t be right for us to pay for it” when lawmakers are going on trips in their official capacity as a state elected official, he said in an interview.
Under current state law, outside groups can pay for legislators’ transportation to any state, territory or commonwealth of the United States as well as offshore sites near Louisiana if the trip is for “educational or informational purposes.” Those trips and who pays for them don’t have to be publicly disclosed.
State law does require lawmakers who have their transportation, lodging, food and drink covered for public speaking appearances to submit information about who paid for their travel and how much it cost. That information is shared on the ethics board website for the public’s benefit.
Since Johnson’s bill would allow for groups to pay for international travel without having to engage in public speaking, the current public disclosure rules wouldn’t apply to those trips.
Louisiana laws regarding international travel were just broadened last year during a massive rewrite of the state’s ethics code.
Prior to 2025, outside groups could only pay for legislators’ travel to the 50 statesand Canada to deliver speeches. Over the past 10 months, lawmakers have also been able to accept complimentary trips for public speaking to places such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Mexico, Jamaica and The Bahamas.
Eleven years ago, under a previous law, the Louisiana Board of Ethics told a group of legislators they couldn’t go on a trip to Israel paid for by the American Israel Education Foundation.
In 2015, then-Sen. J.P. Perry, R-Kaplan, asked if he and then-state Reps. Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, could participate in an event called Educational Seminar in Israel for Southwest Christian Leaders.
The board concluded in a written opinion issued that year that the state ethics laws prohibited the lawmakers from accepting the offer because trip was considered a “thing of value.”
Perry is now a judge on the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, Johnson is the U.S. House speaker and Seabaugh is a state senator.