Louisiana
Stephanie Grace: Louisiana deserved a debate over insurance this fall. It won’t get one.
When longtime Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon decided not to run for reelection, this column posed a question: Who’d want the job anyway?
Now we know the answer. Just one guy.
His name is Tim Temple. He’s a Republican who lives in Baton Rouge and worked for much of his career in the industry the insurance commissioner regulates. And last week, he got the job without one citizen casting a vote for him (or, to be fair, against him). That’s what happens when only two candidates sign up to run and one drops out.
No offense to the commissioner-elect, but this is not a good outcome for his future constituents, who deserved — as always, but especially now — a robust discussion about how to fix a badly broken market.
That’s what everyone wants, certainly the hundreds of thousands of Louisianans feeling the pain of a homeowners insurance collapse caused largely by something beyond the control of Donelon, Temple or any other commissioner: Although insurers (and reinsurers) are in the risk business, they sure don’t seem inclined to take on exposure in a region that’s increasingly vulnerable to widescale extreme weather fueled by climate change.
Temple’s got a philosophical answer to this: He views reducing regulation as something of a magic bullet.
“We have to create a marketplace in Louisiana so that companies want to come back,” Temple has said. “When they compete, that’s when you see premiums come down.”
He hasn’t entirely spelled out what that means in terms of policy — that’s what campaigns are for — but Temple dismissed Donelon’s push earlier this year for an incentive package for insurers, saying it didn’t address the root problems. One proposal he often mentions is to allow companies to seek rate changes when they want to, not once a year, as is the case now.
Another issue to watch is a unique-to-Louisiana law that bans home insurers from dropping customers of three years or more, except under limited circumstances. Donelon, a fellow Republican who also preaches the free-market gospel but has backed balanced regulation, says the industry hates the law, but he has defended it as an important consumer protection. He did so this year against a legislative move to water it down.
Temple is likely to get plenty of support for his purist approach in a business-friendly Legislature as he pursues the feel-good goal of “affordability and availability,” as he put it to LaPolitics journalist Jeremy Alford a couple of months back.
To say that’s easier said than done is like saying that it’s hot outside. I mean, obviously.
Consider the state’s recent experience with car insurance. A few years back lawmakers passed insurer-friendly changes to how claims are handled legally, arguing that doing so would reduce rates. Rates are actually up, though, and Louisiana remains among the most expensive states in which to insure a vehicle.
There’s a competing philosophy, of course, one that doesn’t rely on giving insurers what they want and hoping the market will take care of the rest.
It argues for setting more rules for those who want to do business in the state, on the theory that government needs to advocate for the people it represents against businesses that are motivated by profit. It might even espouse a better public option than the one offered now, because, as with flood insurance, there are some risks that the private sector just doesn’t want to take on.
Whether anyone in this camp has a formula for making this all work is the question, and the fact that nobody signed up to make a case points to the difficulty in finding a suitable answer.
Still, it’s an important debate that Louisiana won’t have this fall because the election was over before it started. Louisiana’s going to with Temple’s approach, whether or not it’s the one voters would have chosen.
Although it might not seem so right now in the glow of his default victory, this isn’t a great outcome for Temple either.
He didn’t get the chance to go out and earn the voters’ buy-in through a campaign, yet he’ll be the one that they blame if things don’t improve — just as the public would likely have blamed Donelon had he decided to run again.
To avoid that fate, Temple needs to do no less than convince an industry that doesn’t like losing propositions that offering affordable insurance in Louisiana is a winning one.
Piece of cake, right?
Louisiana
Louisiana prisons routinely hold inmates past their release date, Justice Department argues
Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds inmates for weeks or months after they were supposed to be released from custody following the completion of their sentences, the U.S. Justice Department said in a lawsuit filed Friday.
The lawsuit against the state comes after a multi-year investigation into a pattern of “systemic overdetention” that violates inmates’ rights and costs taxpayers millions of dollars per year.
Since at least 2012, more than a quarter of the inmates scheduled to be released from Louisiana prisons have been held past their release dates, according to the DOJ.
LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS WEIGHING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT WOULD SEND MORE JUVENILE OFFENDERS TO ADULT JAILS
The Justice Department warned Louisiana officials last year that it may file a lawsuit against the state if it failed to fix the problems. Lawyers for the department argue that the state made “marginal efforts” to address the issues, noting that such attempts at a fix were “inadequate” and showed a “deliberate indifference” to the constitutional rights of inmates.
“[T]he right to individual liberty includes the right to be released from incarceration on time after the term set by the court has ended,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.
“To incarcerate people indefinitely … not only intrudes on individual liberty, but also erodes public confidence in the fair and just application of our laws,” the statement added.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill, both Republicans, attributed the problem to the “failed criminal justice reforms” pushed by “the past administration.”
“This past year, we have taken significant action to keep Louisianans safe and ensure those who commit the crime, also do the time,” Landry and Murrill said in a joint statement to The Associated Press. “The State of Louisiana is committed to preserving the constitutional rights of Louisiana citizens.”
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The two state officials also purported that the lawsuit is a last-ditch effort by President Biden, who leaves office next month, arguing that President-elect Trump’s incoming administration would not have pursued the case.
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Advocates have repeatedly challenged the conditions in Louisiana’s prison system, which includes Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the nation, where inmates pick vegetables by hand on an 18,000-acre lot. The site was once the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by Isaac Franklin and named after Angola, the country of origin for many of the enslaved people who worked there.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Louisiana
Army Black Knights Predicted to Beat Louisiana Tech in Independence Bowl
The Army West Point Black Knights came up short in their last game, as they lost their annual rivalry matchup against the Navy Midshipmen 31-13 to lose the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
But, their season is not yet over, as they will have a chance to finish things on a high note in the Independence Bowl against a new opponent; the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
Originally, the Black Knights were supposed to face off against the Marshall Thundering Herd, but a change had to be made after they experienced a mass exodus of players entering the transfer portal following a coaching change.
Based on records, the quality of the opponent would seem to have dropped off considerably. Marshall had 10 victories, while Louisiana Tech had only five.
But, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN still believes that this will be a competitive game in Shreveport, La. in the Bulldogs’ backyard. Louisiana Tech is in Ruston, La., 70 miles away from Shreveport.
He predicted that Army will sneak away with a 23-16 victory.
“he Bulldogs have half the number of wins as the Thundering Herd, but their defense can be very stingy at times, and will need to perform against Bryson Daily and the Black Knights. … Army is undoubtedly still smarting from the Navy loss, and top running back Kanye Udoh entered the portal. Louisiana Tech jumps ahead early behind quarterback Evan Bullock, but Army eventually takes control and grinds out a low-scoring win, its 12th on the season.”
Rittenberg pointed out that several of LA Tech’s defensive linemen have entered the transfer portal. Udoh just announced his transfer to Arizona State.
This has already been one of the best seasons in program history, as they reached the 11-win mark only one other time in 2018. But, an argument can be made this is their best season since it won its last national championship because it was not independent.
The Black Knights were a member of the American Athletic Conference, the first time since 1998-2004 that they weren’t independent as a member of Conference USA. They found a ton of success, going 8-0 in the regular season before defeating the Tulane Green Wave in the AAC Championship Game in West Point, New York.
Army has shown an ability to grind out wins, playing a physical style of football on both sides of the ball. Daily is the leader offensively, producing with his arm and legs at a high level.
He threw for 942 yards with nine touchdowns and only four interceptions, three of which came in the matchup against Navy. On the ground, he led the AAC with 283 carries, 1,532 yards and 29 scores.
His 29 rushing touchdowns were the most in the country, as he won the 2024 AAC Player of the Year Award.
The Black Knights would love to see Daily provide one more memorable performance to help the team reach the 12-win mark for the first time in program history.
Louisiana
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