‘Two little boys crying wolf': Landry calls for shared blame on Louisiana's insurance crisis
Gov. Jeff Landry addresses the Louisiana Legislature on opening day of legislative session, Monday, April 14, 2025, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate-Pool)
The only difference between trial lawyers and insurance companies, Gov. Jeff Landry told state lawmakers Monday in his speech to open the 2025 legislative session, is that one wants to skin you from the ankle up and the other wants to skin you from the ear down.
Landry's stance that both sides are to blame puts him at odds with the historical approach his fellow Republicans have taken, which has largely put trial lawyers and their roadside billboards in their crosshairs. With his flashy statements, the governor teed up the fight over insurance legislation, which is certain to take center stage in the 59-day session.
'The only thing worse than a little boy crying wolf is two little boys crying wolf,' Landry said, referring to trial attorneys and the insurance industry.
While no Republican lawmakers joined Landry's staff in standing to cheer for his remarks about insurance, legislative leaders are not necessarily against his plan to hold both parties responsible.
'It needs to be everybody,' House Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, said in an interview after the governor's remarks. 'I agree with that 100% because none of us are perfect, and certainly those two groups have room to be better.'
Legislative Democrats seemed inclined to work with the governor. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Matt Willard, D-New Orleans, praised Landry for calling for legislation that would prohibit credit checks for setting insurance premiums.
'This is a time to do right by the rate payers, by the people of Louisiana,' Willard said in a press conference after the speech.
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Lawmakers will start debating insurance bills Tuesday, with the aim of getting the legislation approved as soon as possible. Lawmakers hope Landry will embrace the bills they send him. If not, their early passage could give them the opportunity to override his vetoes.
Last year, Landry vetoed a highly anticipated, so-called 'tort reform' bill that would have further capped damages an auto accident victim can seek from the insurance company of the driver at fault. Trial lawyers, who donated considerable amounts of money to Landry's gubernatorial campaign, opposed the bill.
Exiting his honeymoon period after 15 months in office – and on the heels of voters rejecting four of his priority constitutional amendments – Landry is now taking a tougher tone with the trial lawyers community that has largely supported him.
'I am just as tired of seeing Morris Bart as I am of seeing the lizard,' Landry said at a news conference last week, referring to billboards and commercials from the New Orleans personal injury lawyer and the national insurance company Geico.
Bart later hit back on social media.
'Maybe I should learn how to hunt?!!' Bart wrote, referencing a turkey hunting trip to Texas that Landry took the week before with Gordon McKernan, one of Bart's competitors, and several members of legislative leadership. Those gathered discussed insurance legislation, The Advocate reported.
At the same time, Landry's relationship with Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple has declined, with the pair openly feuding. In an interview Monday, Temple was hesitant to criticize Landry but said he was looking forward to working on the insurance issue with Landry.
While insurance prices will be the primary theme of the session, Landry also previewed his other legislative priorities for the year, including reorganizing the state Department of Transportation and Development, funding vouchers for private school and a list of 'Make America Healthy Again' or MAHA bills.
Landry's proposal to provide more funding for private school vouchers through his LA GATOR program, one of his major legislative victories last year, faces an uphill battle. Lawmakers are also seeking money to keep teacher pay at last year's level, which will require finding approximately $200 million.
LA GATOR is supposed to cost the state $50 million this year, and some lawmakers are hesitant to fund private school tuition while cutting public school teachers' pay.
'Make America Healthy Again' is the slogan of President Donald Trump's Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime Landry ally. The governor and Kennedy are largely ideologically aligned, including on vaccine skepticism.
Landry is backing Sen. Patrick McMath's Senate Bill 14, which would ban 'ultra-processed' foods in schools. Similar proposals are being considered or passed by other states.
Several other bills are being touted as MAHA bills, but Landry has not yet taken a stance on them. They include proposals to remove fluoride from public water systems, to prohibit injecting chemicals into the sky to control the weather and creating the crime of 'intentional exposure to a self-spreading pathogen.'
While Willard commended Landry for wanting to make the population healthier, he emphasized the importance of making decisions based on science.
'So encouraging exercise and healthy eating patterns, that's great,' Willard said. 'Removing fluoride from the water source and some of the other proposals out there, you know, major concerns.'
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