Louisiana

Louisiana senators Cassidy, Kennedy still seeking flood insurance reforms

Published

1 year ago

August 20, 2024

Louisiana senators Cassidy, Kennedy still seeking flood insurance reforms

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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Louisiana

CWD Case Found in a White-tailed Deer in Concordia Parish, LDWF Announces

Published

9 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

CWD Case Found in a White-tailed Deer in Concordia Parish, LDWF Announces

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been reported in a hunter-harvested white-tailed buck in Concordia Parish, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) said. The buck was harvested on Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and is the first CWD detection in a wild deer in Concordia Parish.

CWD was first detected in Louisiana in 2022. The latest positive brings the total number of CWD detections for Louisiana to 44.

Initial diagnostics by the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL) detected CWD prion in tissue samples submitted by LDWF. Per required protocol, LADDL has forwarded the sample to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa for confirmatory testing. Final confirmation is anticipated in the coming weeks.

Due to this preliminary detection during the ongoing deer season, hunters are encouraged to submit additional hunter-harvest samples for testing. A CWD sample drop-off site is located along Highway 15 near the northern boundary of Richard K. Yancey WMA.

To obtain viable samples for testing, a fresh head including a few inches of neck is required. Data submission cards and bags are available on site. Once completed, the bagged deer head and data card should be placed in the available cooler at the CWD drop-off site.

LDWF is currently in the process of implementing the LDWF CWD response plan. More information regarding the response plan and intended mitigation efforts for this area will be forthcoming.

“We continue to count on our hunters, property owners, deer processors and taxidermists for their assistance in monitoring CWD as their continued partnership with our department will help manage the expanse of CWD in the state keeping our deer population healthy,’’ LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said.

CWD is a neurodegenerative disease of white-tailed deer and other members of the Cervidae family. The disease is caused by a prion, an infectious, misfolded protein particle, and is 100-percent fatal in affected deer after an indeterminate incubation period. There is no treatment or preventative vaccine for CWD. CWD-infected deer may exhibit symptoms of weight loss and emaciation, salivation, frequent drinking and urination, incoordination, circling, lack of human fear, and subsequent death of the animal.

Although CWD has not been shown to be contagious to humans, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend against the human consumption of deer known to be infected with CWD. Also, it is recommended that people hunting in areas known to harbor CWD-infected deer have their deer tested for the disease prior to consumption. LDWF provides CWD testing for hunter-harvested deer free of charge.

For more information on CWD, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/cwd.

Questions can be addressed to Dr. Jonathan Roberts at jroberts@wlf.la.gov or Johnathan Bordelon at jbordelon@wlf.la.gov.

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Louisiana

What Louisiana’s broadband cost cuts mean for families, taxpayers

Published

21 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

What Louisiana’s broadband cost cuts mean for families, taxpayers

Louisiana’s approach to expanding high-speed internet access is being recognized on the national stage,

Recently, The Wall Street Journal highlighted the state as a model for reducing costs while accelerating broadband deployment.

In a recent editorial, the Journal pointed to Louisiana as a case study in how streamlined regulations and efficient program design can significantly lower the cost of connecting households and businesses to high-speed internet.

According to the Journal, Louisiana sharply reduced its average cost per connection after adopting updated federal guidance.

“The average cost for each new household or business connected in Louisiana fell to $3,943 from $5,245,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

The editorial credited fewer procedural requirements and increased private-sector participation as key factors allowing states like Louisiana to stretch taxpayer dollars further while expanding access, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

Louisiana’s broadband strategy has drawn attention not only for its cost savings but also for how state leaders plan to reinvest those savings.

In September, Gov. Jeff Landry sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick outlining a proposal to redirect remaining broadband funds into state-led initiatives aligned with national priorities, including artificial intelligence, education, and workforce development.

In the letter, Landry requested federal flexibility to allow Louisiana to keep and use remaining grant funds within the state, rather than returning or reallocating them elsewhere. The governor argued that reinvesting the savings locally would support long-term economic growth, innovation, and community development across Louisiana.

Louisiana was also the first state in the nation to submit a revised broadband plan under the updated federal framework, positioning it at the forefront of efficient high-speed internet deployment. State officials said the approach not only accelerates connectivity but also opens the door to broader investments that strengthen education systems, workforce readiness, and emerging technologies.

As The Wall Street Journal noted, Louisiana’s experience is increasingly being viewed as a national example of how states can modernize infrastructure programs while delivering better value for taxpayers — a model that could influence broadband policy well beyond state lines.

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Louisiana

Federal regulators seek record fine over Louisiana offshore oil spill

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Federal regulators seek record fine over Louisiana offshore oil spill

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The U.S. Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump is seeking a record $9.6 million civil penalty against a pipeline operator over a massive offshore oil spill that sent more than 1 million gallons of crude into waters off Louisiana.

Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, known as PHMSA, announced the proposed penalty against Panther Operating Company for violations tied to the November 2023 failure of the Main Pass Oil Gathering pipeline system.

PHMSA said the $9,622,054 penalty is the largest civil fine ever proposed in a pipeline safety enforcement action.

Federal investigators concluded the spill released about 1.1 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf after a subsea pipeline connector failed and operators did not shut the system down for hours.

“Safety drives everything we do,” Duffy said in a statement. “When companies fail to abide by the rules, we won’t hesitate to act decisively.”

According to PHMSA, the violations involved failures in integrity management, operations and maintenance, leak detection, emergency response and protections for high-consequence areas.

The agency also proposed a compliance order requiring Panther to overhaul how it evaluates geological and geotechnical risks affecting the pipeline system.

The spill occurred along the 67-mile Main Pass Oil Gathering system, which transports crude oil from offshore production areas south of New Orleans. Oil was first spotted roughly 19 miles off the Mississippi River Delta, near Plaquemines Parish.

Federal investigators later determined the pipeline was not shut down for nearly 13 hours after pressure data first suggested a problem. Regulators said quicker action could have significantly reduced the volume released.

The National Transportation Safety Board said underwater landslides and storm-related seabed movement contributed to the failure and that the operator did not adequately account for known geohazards common in the Gulf.

PHMSA said Panther must now develop a plan to protect the pipeline against future external forces such as seabed instability, erosion and storm impacts. The company has 30 days to respond to the notice of probable violation and proposed penalty.

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