GEISMAR — Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said Gov. Jeff Landry has refused to speak to him about the state’s insurance crisis in nearly a year, a claim the governor’s office disputes.
The open squabble between two Republican state leaders just days before legislators meet to tackle soaring coverage premiums, among other pressing issues, casts some doubt over whether the parties involved can arrive at solutions to make insurance more affordable.
Temple’s remarks came near the end of a news conference Thursday morning in a gravel yard at Bengal Transportation, with large commercial trucks as a backdrop, where he announced his legislative agenda to tackle high auto and property insurance rates in Louisiana. The owners of a commercial trucking company and a towing business spoke in favor of Temple’s plans.
Landry held a similar conference the day before at the State Capitol, though his legislative agenda is focused primarily on auto insurance for the upcoming lawmaking session that starts Monday.
Temple, who did not attend the governor’s event, said he last spoke to Landry in May 2024 regarding the insurance legislation lawmakers passed last year. After the governor vetoed some of that legislation, Temple said he called the governor’s office and was told Landry wasn’t available “at any time for the foreseeable future,” Temple said.
The governor disputed that account.
“I’ve never refused to meet with the insurance commissioner,” Landry said through his spokeswoman, Kate Kelly. “I’ve always asked the insurance commissioner to bring me the data for lowering insurance premiums in this state.”
The governor said Temple has never been able to produce a package of bills with a guaranteed percentage of premium discounts for policyholders. If the commissioner can provide one, “I’m all ears,” Landry said.
Landry and Temple differ in some of their views as to what has caused auto premiums to skyrocket in Louisiana. In many respects, their differences are a continuation of the decades-old debate between trial lawyers and the insurance companies they sue.
Plaintiffs lawyers argue insurance companies are greedy, while insurers argue Louisiana laws have made it too easy to file bodily injury lawsuits for high-dollar settlements that aren’t always warranted.
The governor said his legislative agenda takes a “balanced approach” that targets both trial lawyers and insurance companies to try to lower rates. The commissioner’s agenda also targets both sides but focuses mostly on his take on litigation reform with the backing of insurance companies.
The Temple agenda includes, among others, bills to cap damage awards a plaintiff can receive in an injury lawsuit and to limit the fees lawyers can receive for certain kinds of cases. Another would prohibit insurers from factoring advertising costs into their policy rates, which is also a proposal the governor backs.
Many of the proposals are ones lawmakers considered but never passed in previous years. They include a bill to require claimants provide sworn proof of loss statements, and legislation that would limit the amount a plaintiff can recover for medical expenses to the actual amount the plaintiff paid to their medical provider.
During Thursday’s press conference, Temple said Landry made some “incorrect” statements about two of the proposals the governor unveiled the day before.
One, according to Landry, would demand transparency from insurers regarding proprietary formulas insurance companies to calculate policy rates. Insurers are allowed to treat their rate formulas as trade secrets, which prevents consumers and lawmakers from knowing how the rates are calculated.
However, Temple said insurers already provide him with any information he asks for, including confidential materials, though he acknowledged that he cannot share those details outside of his office.
Another Landry agenda item Temple questioned is a proposal that would give the insurance commissioner authority to prohibit any rates deemed “excessive,” which Landry said is a power afforded to Temple’s peers in many other states.
Temple said such a proposal is unnecessary.
“I have all the authority I need to deny a rate that is too high,” he said.
Louisiana law currently prohibits the insurance commissioner from rejecting a rate as “excessive” unless the market is declared “noncompetitive.” The law states that all insurance markets are presumed to be competitive unless the commissioner declares a market “noncompetitive” after holding a public hearing in which someone has proven that competition does not exist in the state for a particular line of insurance.
Some of ideas Temple is backing to address the homeowner insurance crisis include a bill to establish tax credits for installing fortified roofs and a measure that increases the notice insurers have to provide before cancelling or not renewing a policy from 30 days to 45 days. It also requires the insurer to include a reason for ending coverage.
Both press conferences this week have recentered insurance rates as a top priority for lawmakers this session.
“We just need to get something done,” Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, said in a phone interview. “It’s the one common thing I hear from everybody — Republican, Democrat, independent — it doesn’t matter.”
Johnson said the House Insurance Committee, on which he sites, will meet Tuesday to consider some of the measures.
“We spent six months having hearings,” he said. “I think we’re more informed than we were a year ago, and I think the governor is more receptive to some of these bills.”