Louisiana
Gov. Jeff Landry visits Monroe, hints at major announcement for Northeast Louisiana
![Gov. Jeff Landry visits Monroe, hints at major announcement for Northeast Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry visits Monroe, hints at major announcement for Northeast Louisiana](https://gray-knoe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/TEBLLMR4DFC5HH5IKZQAK45QXY.png?auth=d5af324bb17c5b580c3d8a3aaa36387bbe70098efded66a1c253f5b61c291741&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
MONROE, La. (KNOE) – Governor Jeff Landry made a stop in Northeast Louisiana this Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 21), addressing key issues at the State of the State Luncheon held at the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM).
Landry touched on the importance of education and economic development in his speech, emphasizing the critical role these sectors play in the state’s overall growth.
“The ones that you all have elected for Northeast Louisiana have been unbelievable, they really have, they deserve a round of applause,” Governor Landry said, praising the area’s legislators for their dedication and effective collaboration.
State Representative Michael Echols, who represents Louisiana’s 14th District, spoke highly of the governor’s collaborative approach. “He’s been a good partner. Now we have a governor that’s actually trying to work with us to accomplish some of those things,” Echols remarked.
Governor Landry revealed plans to return to the region before Christmas with a special announcement, stirring anticipation among local officials and residents.
Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis confirmed that the announcement is expected to be significant. “It is something that we have all been looking forward to, something we have longed and wished for,” Mayor Ellis said.
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Louisiana
Louisiana Illuminator accepted in the Local Media Association's Lab for Journalism Funding • Louisiana Illuminator
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The Local Media Association has chosen the Louisiana Illuminator as one of 17 news organizations to participate in the 2024 cohort of the its Lab for Journalism Funding.
The lab will help these local news organizations develop and execute strategies to fund essential local journalism via philanthropy. The six-month intensive lab runs from August through January 2025.
The lab, a program of Local Media Foundation, is operated by LMA with continued support from the Google News Initiative. Since its launch in September 2020, the lab has trained and coached more than 100 publishers, helping them raise more than $25 million to fund community service journalism.
This is the third cohort of the lab this year, after LMA launched two state cohorts in Colorado and Pennsylvania, with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“Each of these newsrooms has a commitment to community service,” said Frank Mungeam, chief innovation officer at LMA. “We are excited to help them develop philanthropy as one of the ways to sustain their essential local journalism.”
“The Google News Initiative has been a long-standing partner of the Lab for Journalism Funding,” said Tiffany Proscia, news partner manager, Google News Partnerships. “Through this partnership, the LMA has consistently shown its dedication to promoting the sustainability of the news ecosystem. Since its launch in 2020, this program has achieved notable success. We look forward to our continued partnership with LMA and its members.”
“This training will help further our mission as a nonprofit news organization to serve underrepresented and marginalized communities in Louisiana,” said Greg LaRose, the Illuminator’s editor in chief. “The knowledge and connections gained through the LMA workshop will help ensure that we continue to produce journalism with a local impact, with resources to focus on topics of critical importance to our readers.”
The 17 newsrooms accepted into the 2024 cohort include a diverse set of organizations in small and large markets, across varied media platforms, with a strong representation of family-owned outlets and publishers who focus on traditionally underserved audiences. These news outlets share a commitment to civic journalism.
Newsrooms will receive one-on-one coaching from the LMA team of coaches, including Joaquin Alvarado, Joanne Heyman, Sam Johnston and Jennifer Preston. Frank Mungeam will once again lead the lab. LMA will publish case studies on publisher lessons and successes from the lab that can be applied across the news industry.
Louisiana
Louisiana Treasurer takes aim at Bank of America, but others have similar ESG policies
![Louisiana Treasurer takes aim at Bank of America, but others have similar ESG policies Louisiana Treasurer takes aim at Bank of America, but others have similar ESG policies](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/theadvocate.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/4c/64c7e858-b11f-552f-9e9f-e4440a83eb93/651df5b46e602.image.jpg?crop=1763%2C926%2C0%2C124&resize=1200%2C630&order=crop%2Cresize)
In rejecting Bank of America, Fleming aligned himself with other state finance officials from the State Financial Officers Foundation, a right-leaning organization that casts ESG policies as a tool used to aid progressive politics.
In an April 2024 letter, Fleming and 14 other SFOF members said the financial institution “had a track record of de-banking religious organizations” and that its “Net-Zero Banking Alliance commitments will also lead to de-banking.”
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance is a coalition of banks that have pledged to align their lending and investments with net-zero emissions goals to limit global temperature increases.
In a May response, Bank of America said that “religious beliefs or political view-based beliefs are never a factor in any decisions related to our client’s accounts.”
Other fiscal agents
Fleming last week did not mention JPMorgan Chase, which is also a member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Nor did he mention US Bank, which in a 2023 report said it intends to “partner with our clients on their transition to a lower carbon economy” and called itself “one of the most active renewable energy investors in the nation.”
Bank of New York Mellon also considers climate in its investments, and Capital One and Hancock Whitney have taken steps in that direction.
Regions Bank and Cadence Bank have taken steps to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions.
Fleming said any decisions about state fiscal agents are up to the IEB. But he defended his recommendation to reject Bank of America as a way to push back against policies he deems harmful to Louisiana. The IEB has not scheduled a vote on Bank of America’s application.
“As we create counter pressure, what we’re finding is (banks) are beginning to back away from some of these things,” Fleming said, though he did not point to specific examples.
Meanwhile, Moller said he commends public companies that consider problems associated with climate change. Because Louisiana is particularly susceptible to the negative impacts of climate change, “if anything, we should be trying to do more business with companies that take this threat seriously,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Louisiana
Louisiana senators Cassidy, Kennedy still seeking flood insurance reforms
![Louisiana senators Cassidy, Kennedy still seeking flood insurance reforms Louisiana senators Cassidy, Kennedy still seeking flood insurance reforms](https://gray-wvue-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/QCIYJDBUX5F6NFE77KAKMIUD6U.jpg?auth=4409591e87964db363e8a1a1a0c7b06bce28a0e414a770aa7bd3dea082f37fef&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Amid increasing flood insurance costs, Louisiana’s U.S. senators say they are continuing to push for reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program.
Property owners are seeing higher flood coverage premiums, on top of soaring property insurance costs.
Katherine Drezek is a Louisiana homeowner who said she has seen her flood insurance premium rise in recent years.
“Yes, I think all the insurance has gone up, not only flood insurance. Fire insurance, just the house insurance period, has gone up,” she said.
Still, Drezek has not considered dropping her flood coverage.
“No, I live too close to the lake not to have flood insurance. I mean we live in Louisiana, we need flood insurance,” Drezek said.
With Congress in recess, Republican senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy were speaking Tuesday (Aug. 20) in the New Orleans area.
Cassidy toured Wrstbnd, a company in the Elmwood section of Jefferson Parish, after he spoke to the River Region Chamber of Commerce. And on the north shore, Kennedy addressed the St. Tammany Chamber.
“We need to fix the flood insurance program. The first thing we need to do is expand it,” Kennedy said.
Only a fraction of the properties in the U.S. are covered through the National Flood Insurance Program. According to FEMA, the NFIP protects more than $1.28 trillion in assets through nearly 5 million policies.
“We’ve got about 5 million people across America that’s got flood insurance. That’s not enough,” Kennedy said. “That’s not enough, because the more people you have, the more risk you can spread.”
Fox 8 asked Cassidy if there should be an effort to get more properties covered by flood insurance.
“There should be,” he said. “Banks are supposed to require it if homes are at risk. One thing we know is that more homes are at risk. So, for example, more people are building next to the coast. People want to live next to the water, and so that almost inherently puts them at risk.”
But he added that high costs are keeping some property owners from either acquiring or keeping flood insurance.
“On the other hand, if the premium is so expensive people can’t afford it, it drops off,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said he wants Congress to mandate FEMA to take into account more levees when determining flood insurance rates.
“Right now, if a levee works but it’s not federally recognized, FEMA does not include that levee in their kind of risk assessment,” Cassidy said. “But the levee works. People can show flood water on one side, dry homes on the other. So, we would require FEMA to begin taking into account these non-federally recognized levees which work.”
Kennedy said, “I’m for creating some sort of national catastrophe fund that includes flood, that includes fire, earthquake. That’s harder to do than it sounds, but you get 15, 20, 30 and 40 million people in a fund, you can spread the risk better than you can with only five million.”
Under Risk Rating 2.0, the methodology FEMA has been using in recent years to determine premiums, rates can legally be increased up to 18% a year.
“This algorithm apparently can look into the future and tell whether your home is going to flood 45 years from now. I don’t believe it. I think it was an excuse to raise premiums,” Kennedy said.
With U.S. House members and some senators up for reelection in November, pundits say Congress will hesitate to pass consequential legislation before the end of the year.
On the prospects of getting NFIP reforms approved this year, Cassidy said, “I can’t tell you that it’s going to happen, but I can tell you that we’re in active negotiation as to how we could help lower-income Americans afford their flood insurance.”
Kennedy concedes that reaching a consensus on how to change the program will be difficult.
“We need to fix it,” he said. “But it’s not easy to do, because you’ve got a lot of people who, first, don’t care. They’re in a state that’s never flooded. And No. 2, we’ve got a lot of different points of view about how to fix it.”
Drezek said she has a message for Congress.
“Lower it. Please, please, please lower the insurance,” she said.
Kennedy said Congress will not let the program expire.
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