By Ella Ray, Quinn Marceaux and Grace Thompson
LSU Manship School News Service
Gov. Jeff Landry opened the 2025 legislative session with a warning:
When it comes to fixing Louisiana’s insurance crisis, personal injury lawyers and insurance
companies are in for a reckoning.
Landry called the skyrocketing insurance rate a “dark cloud” that is looming over the
state. He vowed to push changes that would “spread the pain” evenly to hold both sides
accountable for what he described as a broken system draining wealth from Louisiana citizens.
“Our families continue to struggle with insuring their homes and their vehicles,” Landry
said, “and it’s completely unacceptable.”
Landry announced several proposals aimed at fixing the insurance problem that he plans
to sign into law if and when they make it up to his desk.
His proposals include legislation to rein in attorney advertising that promises high
payouts through “dubious testimonies and deceptive claims.” Former Gov. John Bel Edwards
vetoed a similar bill in 2020 over concerns about its constitutionality.
Landry suggested eliminating a presumption-of-injury provision. It states that if a person
was in good health before an accident and faces health problems after the accident, provided that
medical evidence shows a possible link between the accident and injury, then the injuries are
presumed to be caused by the accident.
Eliminating the presumption would push injury attorneys to prove that the victim’s injury
was caused by the accident, not a pre-existing condition or other cause.
Landry suggested Louisiana adopt a rule similar to one in Texas, which prevents
defendants from reducing the amount they owe in damages by subtracting payments the injured
party received from other sources. This ensures the injured individuals receive full
compensation, regardless of payouts from any other source.
On the insurance side, Landry suggested strengthening the “No Pay No Play” concept
against uninsured drivers. Currently, bodily injury damages awarded to uninsured drivers
exclude the first $15,000 as a penalty for not having insurance. Landry aims to increase that to
$100,000.
“This will limit the recovery for uninsured drivers who don’t play by our rules,” Landry
said.
Other proposals included prohibiting insurance companies from using credit checks to set
insurance premiums. He also wants to require insurance companies to offer a 5% premium
discount for large trucks that use dash cameras that could record what really happens in an
accident.
Landry noted that all these measures will only make a difference if the Legislature grants
the Louisiana Department of Insurance the power to lower rates.
“These changes will enable the commissioner to assess and reject excessive rates,
regardless of market conditions,” Landry said.
This legislation seeks to shift the burden of proof and increase transparency from
insurance companies by preventing them from keeping some information from regulators by
claiming it is confidential or proprietary.
However, Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple said at a press conference on April 10
that insurance companies must provide information to the department, regardless of whether it’s
marked confidential or proprietary.
“I have never had an issue obtaining the information requested and that I needed from an
insurance company,” Temple said.
He also said then that the department has the power to reject excessive rates. He said that
when a company submits a rate, the department’s actuaries determine if the rate is fair and tell
the company to lower the rate or face rejection.
“I have all the authority I need to deny a rate for being too high,” Temple said.
Even though the increase in auto rates is one of the state’s most pressing problems, it is
clear that Landry and Temple are not necessarily in agreement about how to solve it.
Temple said he and Gov. Landry have not discussed insurance since May 7, 2024, despite
meeting and talking with him several times since then.
“I have a relationship [with Landry],” said Temple, “but when it comes to insurance, I
wish it was better.”
Constitutional Amendments and Education
Despite voters’ decisive rejection in March of the four proposed constitutional
amendments, including a significant tax and budget overhaul, the governor made no mention in
his speech about plans to move forward on these issues.
Amendment 2 alone would have freed up hundreds of millions in tax revenue for general
use and made a $2,000 teacher pay raise permanent, funds now absent from Landry’s current
budget proposal.
Landry touted Louisiana’s 11-point rise on the national education report card, noting that
the state now ranks 32nd up from 49th, and said the improvement was partly due to his
administration’s efforts to let teachers curate their own lesson plans rather than “following a
script.”
But the governor did not address where money for a teacher pay raise might come from.
DOTD Modernization and Public Safety
Landry said he is reorganizing the Department of Transportation and Development so it
is more efficient on road projects.
He said he is putting a Cajun twist on Elon Musk’s Department of Government
Efficiency, jokingly calling it DOGÉ DOG-Ey. This new initiative will focus on cost savings in
Medicaid waste and other bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Landry also outlined efforts to address juvenile crime by investing in regional
rehabilitation centers and partnering with community colleges to give young offenders a second
chance.
Economic Development
Landry highlighted several major economic development projects launched since
November’s special session, including a Meta plant in Richland Parish, a Hyundai steel mill in
Ascension, an expanded Venture Global LNG facility in Plaquemines, and a Radiance
Technologies AI chip plant in Ruston.
In one recent survey, he said, Louisiana had the largest increase in national economic
output rankings, rising 13 spots.
“We are not just joining the new industrial South— we are leading it,” Landry said.