[Kreweoftruth] Rep. Abramson, Conflicts of Interest and April 17

[kreweoftruth at kreweoftruth.net]

News from LouisianaTruth.Org
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    C.Brylski (504) 897-6110
 
 
REP. NEIL ABRAMSON:YESSIR, MR. OIL, I’M READY TO RING THECONFLICT OF INTEREST MONEY BELL: CHA CHING!!!!
 
THE HOUSE CIVIL LAW COMMITTEE, CHAIR NEIL ABRAMSON, will go against thewishes of his colleagues and hold hearings on HB 618 Tuesday, April 17. HB 618is a bill which would weaken Act 312 and thus prevent remediation of pollutedlands by the oil and gas companies which did the damage.
 
            Crime may not pay, but State Representative NeilAbramson has discovered a way to make an apparent conflict-of-interest pay forhimself and the large New Orleans law firm in which Rep. Abramson is astockholder and member, LouisianaTruth.org has discovered.
AsChairman of the Louisiana House Civil Law Committee, Rep. Abramson, on Tuesday,April 17, 9:30 a.m., will push a bill in his committee that grants theDepartment of Natural Resources primary jurisdiction over so-called “legacylawsuits”.  Rep. Abramson is theauthor of the legislation.
If passed, Abramson’s bill will stripfrom Louisiana landowners their current right to initially pursue land andwater pollution damages caused by major oil companies in Louisiana courts byjury trials. “Instead, these caseswould start in the bureaucratic morass of the Department of Natural Resources,”said Cheron Brylski, LouisianaTruth.org.
Majoroil companies have long sought this legal change outlined in HB 618, in orderto keep hidden company documents out of the public domain, keep Louisiana juriesfrom adjudging their fault in these cases, and save oil companies literallyhundreds of millions of dollars in environmental clean up costs, said Ms.Brylski.
          “Rep.Abramson is determined to hit the money bell,” she said. “Rep. Abramsonrepresents the large oil companies in these very cases through his law firm. Heis now attempting to protect with his legislation in the very committee hechairs, after other legislators said such legislative consideration should bedelayed one more week while public hearings were conducted.”
              Accordingto the Liskow and Lewis law firm web site, Abramson is touted as a StateRepresentative and a lawyer who represents “oil and gas companies in legacy lawsuits involving claims of property and ground water contamination.”
          Accordingto the state ethics law, Abramson may have more than a money problem. The stateethics law prohibits a public official from receiving anything of economicvalue, other than his governmental compensation, for performing his publicduties.
Herein lies the issue, said Ms. Brylski. “Is Neil Abramson working for himself, hislaw firm, and his big oil clients while serving as a State Representative andcommittee chairman, or is he working for his constituents in the 98thHouse District? Did someone say, ‘Cha-ching’?” 
 
Formore information: C. Brylski (504) 897-6110.


cheron brylski
the brylski company
3418 coliseum street
new orleans, louisiana 70115
cbrylski at aol.com
504.897.6110
504.460.1468 cell
504.897.0778 fax
www.brylskicompany.com
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