Landry: Injury lawyers, insurance companies in for reckoning

Gov. Jeff Landry opened the spring legislative session by calling for lower auto insurance rates. (Photo by Quinn Marceaux/LSU Manship School News Service)

BATON ROUGE — 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.