Louisiana state senator drops effort to lift ban on casino campaign contributions

A state senator reversed himself Thursday and ended his short-lived effort to remove Louisiana’s ban on political campaign contributions by casinos.

Sen. Thomas Pressly cited public attention to the issue from The Times-Picayune/The Advocate, which reported that he slipped an amendment with no public debate onto a campaign finance bill two days earlier that would have lifted the prohibition.

Acting at Pressly’s request, senators on Thursday stripped the amendment from House Bill 906, which would lift campaign contribution limits to political candidates for the first time since 1988.

With the amendment gone, Sen. Pat Connick, R-Marrero, told senators they should pass the bill, and they did overwhelmingly, 29-5.