Jim Beam column:Landry loves political power
Louisiana's Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who in the last year has been given more power and authority than any governor since the late-Huey P. Long nearly a century ago, said he doesn't understand why the state's insurance commissioner refuses to accept more power.
Landry made that statement during an April 16 House Insurance Committee meeting on House Bill 576 by Rep. Robby Carter, D-Amite, that would give the insurance commissioner greater freedom to reject excessive auto insurance rates.
'The last time I checked,' Landry said, 'I've yet to find a politician not willing and eager to accept more power.'
Commissioner Tim Temple also testified at that hearing that under current law he can suppress rates for practical reasons, primarily if the rates are actuarily justified. He said Carter's bill would return to the days when the state had an insurance rating commission that often set rates for political reasons.
Temple said three successive insurance commissioners elected in the 1980s and 1990s went to prison after facing accusations of accepting illegal favors from insurance companies.
The commissioner and others have said it's obvious that Landry wants to put greater responsibility on the commissioner so he can blame Temple if car insurance rates keep rising.
Landry insists the Legislature has passed laws to lower rates but premiums keep rising and insurance companies are making unbelievable profits. He was extremely emotional during that hearing. The governor said if lawmakers didn't pass Carter's bill, he would bring them back in a special session to get it done.
Carter's bill cleared that committee with a 13-4-1 vote and was scheduled for full House debate on April 28. However, Carter put off a vote twice, apparently because he lacked the support the legislation needed.
Landry proved on April 30 that he wanted that Carter bill passed and that he would do whatever it took to make it happen. The Advocate reported that the governor got Rep. Jeff Wiley, R-Gonzales, to allow Rep. Brian Glorioso, R-Slidell, to allow an amendment to one of his bills (HB 148) that was actually the Carter bill that Carter couldn't get passed in the House.
The newspaper said Landry 'powered over Republican opponents in the state House' and the amendment was approved 67-33. Only 36 Republicans supported it, while 33 opposed it. All 31 Democrats voted for the amendment. The bill passed the House 68-34 and went to the Senate.
To their credit, Republican Reps. Brett Geymann of Moss Bluff, Chuck Owen of Rosepine, Rodney Schamerhorn of Hornbeck and Phillip Tarver of Lake Charles were four of the 33 who opposed the amendment.
Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, who worked for the Insurance Department for a decade, explained why passage of the bill was a terrible idea.
'We're sending a message to the industry that we're an unstable place to do business,' Davis said.
Rolfe McCollister, author and CEO of the Baton Rouge Business Report, isn't buying Landry's 'balanced approach' between insurance companies and trial lawyers on auto insurance.
McCollister said in a column that he remembered Landry's veto of a critical auto insurance bill last year 'when you had a chance to do the right thing. This is a matter of who the people will trust …'
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry on June 18, 2024, said Landry's veto of that bill that held promise in lowering rates was a major disappointment. It said the legislation 'was a compromise bill that helped bring fairness, predictability and transparency to our legal system.'
LABI added, 'The governor's signature would have sent a resounding message to insurance carriers throughout the state and the country that Louisiana is indeed open for business as we work to fix our unstable insurance market.'
Landry's veto last year took the steam out of insurance reform that could have been more successful. And he's been ranting and raving about passing the Carter bill since it was introduced.
Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, chair of the House Insurance Committee, and a strong Landry supporter, told The Advocate in an interview how dangerous the Carter bill is.
'I think this bill has the potential to completely nullify all the good bills we may pass and the potential to negate all the property reforms we made last year,' Firment said. 'It will send a chilling effect to the entire market. It could be catastrophic for our insurance market.'
Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com. Reply Forward
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