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+ STATE OF LOUISIANA .. <br /> o.' 4 Loves DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE <br /> ;gyp, 9i: LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS <br /> ��, <br /> u�; , .1 i, P.O.BOX 4368 <br /> 1,44, 1 BATON ROUGE,LA 70821 <br /> °4.. S (225)219-5600 <br /> FAX (225)381-7271 <br /> 1-800-842-6630 <br /> wwwethics.la.gov <br /> April 24, 2018 <br /> Representative Mark Wright <br /> 522 North New Hampshire Street, Suite 1 <br /> Covington, Louisiana 70433 <br /> Re: Ethics Board Docket No. 2018-213 <br /> Dear Representative Wright: <br /> The Louisiana Board of Ethics, at its April 20, 2018 meeting, considered your request for <br /> an advisory opinion regarding whether the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit you, a <br /> recently elected State Representative, from continuing your employment with the American <br /> Waterways Operators. You provided that you have been employed with the American <br /> Waterways Operators since 2009. You served as Vice-President-Southern Region for the <br /> American Waterways Operators, a national association for the tugboat, towboat and barge <br /> industry. The Southern Region is composed of members in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, <br /> Alabama, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. <br /> As a regional representative your responsibilities have primary been to facilitate member <br /> governance in the region and work with the US Coast Guard in a variety of projects related to <br /> association members. In addition, you have been registered as a federal lobbyist. None of the <br /> activities of the American Waterways Operators involve the Louisiana state Legislature. <br /> In addition to the above description you previously served on the board of the Louisiana <br /> Association of Waterways Shipyards (LAWS). LAWS serve industry members in Louisiana <br /> independently of your employer, American Waterways Operators. LAWS has a retained a <br /> professional lobbying firm. Your service as an officer for LAWS was terminated prior to your <br /> election to public office. You resigned from LAWS in 2016. <br /> The Board concluded and instructed me to inform you that the Code of Governmental <br /> Ethics would not prohibit you from continuing your employment with American Waterway <br /> Operators. La. R.S. 42:1111E(1) provides that no public servant, and no legal entity of which <br /> such public servant is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee, or in which such public <br /> servant has a substantial economic interest, shall receive or agree to receive any thing of <br /> economic value for assisting a person in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a <br /> transaction, with the agency of such public servant. Because American Waterways Operators <br /> would not be assisting a person in a transaction involving the State Legislature you would not be <br /> prohibited from receiving a salary from the American Waterway Operators. <br /> AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER <br />