Louisiana
Top Louisiana legislator Tanner Magee undecided on supporting incentive package for insurers
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NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The particular legislative session on Louisiana’s insurance coverage disaster is lower than per week away, and the No. 2 chief within the state Home of Representatives will not be able to say he’ll help the lone merchandise on the agenda.
Home Speaker Professional Tem Tanner Magee (R-Houma) says too many essential questions stay unanswered earlier than state lawmakers convene subsequent Monday (Jan. 30) to think about whether or not to position $45 million into an incentive fund for insurers.
“I’m on the fence,” Magee advised Fox 8. “I would like extra data (from Insurance coverage Commissioner Jim Donelon). I’m not a ‘no.’ However I’m not a ‘sure,’ but, both.”
Donelon says monetary incentives are wanted to draw extra insurers to the state. He says eight insurance coverage firms failed within the aftermath of Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida.
Magee stated, “I believe that as a part of my due diligence as a legislator is to search out out all these questions on what firms are we , who can we actually anticipate to get in earlier than this time interval and the way a lot cash is it actually going to require? I’m involved that $45 million is basically not sufficient to carry an actual insurance coverage firm into the state of Louisiana.”
Magee stated he believes the state ought to take steps to make sure that insurance coverage firms working in Louisiana are adequately capitalized in case of main hurricanes.
“I believe it’s a two-step factor,” Magee stated. “We have to be sure that they’ve a minimal capitalization, so far as having sufficient cash at the very least to pay a good quantity of claims out to all people. I additionally assume we have to mandate what ranking businesses are getting used to price these insurance coverage firms, as a result of there’s a number of fly-by-night ranking firms. … I believe there’s extra industry-standard ones that we might use.”
In the meantime, insurance coverage premiums within the state are rising.
Dave Clements, co-owner of Clements Insurance coverage Companies in St. Bernard Parish, stated, “We’re seeing will increase of 40%, 50%, 70% and even 80% in some instances.” He stated it’s a problem to search out cheaper insurance coverage.
“The insurance coverage firms are simply taking a shellacking,” Clements stated. “They’re spending billions and billions of {dollars} making an attempt to get folks again of their houses. So, sadly, these prices are simply going to get handed on to the shoppers. It’s been a problem and sadly not sufficient time has handed for these costs to return again down.”
Clements stated the few insurance coverage firms which can be writing Louisiana insurance policies are being very selective about which properties they cowl.
“There are a number of firms, however they’re few and much between, and their necessities have modified,” Clements stated. “They’re requiring a sure stage of ‘Protection A’ and also you have to be at the very least $250,000. They’re requiring that your roof solely be 5 years outdated. And a few folks simply don’t meet these necessities. However the firms have the power to be restrictive on who they’ll write, as a result of they’re solely going to take the best-of-the-best enterprise proper now.”
Magee stated a lot of his constituents had been impacted by insurer insolvencies.
“They filed chapter and left the state,” he stated of the businesses. “And on the finish of the day, LIGA — which is a state entity — is the one who’s choosing up the tab on it. And so I believe lots of people are hesitant to leap again into what I believe is greatest described as fly-by-night insurance coverage firms once more, only for the sheer sake of doing it within the look of getting low cost insurance coverage, which all of us need.”
Magee stated he expects insurance coverage reform to return up in the course of the common legislative session which begins in April.
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Louisiana
Louisiana (LHSAA) high school football playoffs: quarterfinals schedule, matchups, times, scores, 2024 brackets
The Louisiana high school football playoffs continued last week, and now it’s time for Round 3 — the state quarterfinals.
Stick with High School on SI for complete coverage of the 2024 LHSAA football playoffs.
Here are the Louisiana high school football playoff brackets, with matchups and game times for every LHSAA division:
(1) Vermilion Catholic vs. (8) St. Edmund
Friday
7 p.m.
(12) Kentwood vs. (13) Southern Lab
Friday
7 p.m.
(3) Covenant Christian vs. (11) Ouachita Christian
Friday
7 p.m.
(2) Ascension Catholic vs. (7) Riverside Academy
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) Haynesville vs. (9) Welsh
Friday
7:30 p.m.
(4) Jeanerette vs. (12) General Trass
Friday
7 p.m.
(6) Logansport vs. (19) Franklin
Friday
7 p.m.
(2) South Plaquemines vs. (7) Mangham
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) Dunham vs. (9) Lafayette Christian
Friday
7 p.m.
(4) Jewel Sumner vs. (5) Bunkie
Friday
7 p.m.
(3) Calvary Baptist vs. (6) Episcopal
Friday
7 p.m.
(2) Isidore Newman vs. (7) Catholic – N.I.
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) St. James vs. (9) Pine
Friday
7 p.m.
(4) Kinder vs. (5) Union Parish
Friday
7 p.m.
(3) Oak Grove vs. (6) Sterlington
Friday
7 p.m.
(7) Jena vs. (15) Loreauville
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) Archbishop Shaw vs. (8) John F. Kennedy
Friday
7 p.m.
(5) Madison Prep vs. (13) Istrouma
Friday
7 p.m.
(3) E.D. White vs. (6) Vanderbilt Catholic
Friday
7 p.m.
(7) Leesville vs. (18) Booker T. Washington – N.O.
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) Franklinton vs. (8) Lakeshore
Friday
7 p.m.
(4) Franklin Parish vs. (5) Iowa
Friday
7 p.m.
(6) Plaquemine vs. (14) Opelousas
Friday
7 p.m.
(7) North DeSoto vs. (18) Cecilia
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) Edna Karr vs. (8) St. Thomas More
Friday
7 p.m.
(4) Catholic – B.R. vs. (5) Archbishop Rummel
Friday
7 p.m.
(6) Teurlings Catholic vs. (19) John Curtis Christian
Friday
7 p.m.
(2) Alexandria vs. (10) C.E. Byrd
Friday
7 p.m.
(1) Neville vs. (24) Chalmette
Friday
7 p.m.
(4) Central – B.R. vs. (21) West Monroe
Friday
7 p.m.
(3) Ruston vs. (6) Southside
Friday
7 p.m.
(2) Airline vs. (10) Destrehan
Friday
7 p.m.
To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App
Louisiana
Genetic testing shows more Gulf of Mexico shrimp at Louisiana seafood market, festival • Louisiana Illuminator
A joint WVUE-TV Fox and Louisiana Illuminator investigation into shrimp sold at festival and market vendors in the New Orleans area found most of the samples to be domestic.
The results could indicate retailers and event organizers are becoming more careful about how they label and present their dishes.
The samples of shrimp were collected from nine vendors at an area seafood market in early November and from five vendors Oct. 6 at the Gretna Heritage Festival. Only one of the samples, which came from a non-restaurant vendor at the Gretna Fest, tested positive as foreign. All nine samples from the seafood market were from the Gulf of Mexico, the analysis found.
The testing was performed by SeaD Consulting, a food safety technology company that recently developed a rapid seafood species identification test. Dave Williams, a Houston resident, developed the process in collaboration with Florida State University microbiologist Prashant Singh.
“I grew up in the fishing communities,” Williams said. “It’s important to me.”
Their technology examines tissue for specific DNA markers unique to a species of Asian shrimp commonly raised in aquaculture farms.
The Illuminator and WVUE-TV Fox 8 independently collected the shrimp samples and shipped them to Singh’s laboratory at Florida State, following an industry standard chain-of-custody protocol.
Last month, SeaD Consulting used its own team to collect seven samples from the inaugural Louisiana Shrimp Festival in New Orleans. Testing from that event showed all seven samples were domestic, though that was expected considering the event served as a fundraiser for local shrimpers.
Those results are a far cry from those seen at the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, where four out of five vendors evaluated during the Labor Day weekend event were serving shrimp that tested positive for foreign genetic markers.
A similar story unfolded a few weeks later at the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on Oct. 12. Testing by SeaD Consulting at that event revealed four out of five samples were farm-raised imports.
News of the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival results sparked immediate outrage from consumers and public officials who have been trying for years to address the ongoing problem of imported seafood. State Rep. Jessica Domangue, R-Houma, publicly excoriated Shrimp & Petroleum Festival organizers for allowing its vendors to undermine Louisiana’s unique culture and “openly violate Louisiana law” for years.
Williams said he believes word of his testing has gotten out to festival and market organizers, prompting them to consider stricter rules for food vendors. He has now turned his attention to the restaurant industry, which he said has been more resistant to change.
“We don’t want to stop people promoting their product in a manner that helps them sell it,” Williams said. “So if they’re going to put boats on the wall, if they’re going to have nets, if they’re going to imply that they’re local, then, for God’s sake, serve local product.”
State laws require restaurants and anyone else selling seafood in Louisiana to label it as such, but the state never adequately funded enforcement of the laws. Ambiguity in state law prevented health inspectors from levying fines even after recording more than 2,600 violations since 2019. Lawmakers rectified that issue with legislation passed in May, calling for stricter enforcement.
Laws at the federal level have seen a recent step-up in enforcement.
Last summer, U.S. Food & Drug Administration agents arrested the owners of an iconic Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurant and their seafood wholesalers on charges related to a decades-long fish substitution scheme. The individuals pleaded guilty to felonies ranging from wire fraud to mislabeling seafood.
In the wake of that case, the Federal Trade Commission adopted new guidance in October to clarify that restaurant decor, imagery, menu descriptions and slogans that suggest their seafood is local could be illegal if the restaurant is not actually serving domestic catch, according to Reuters.
According to some estimates, upwards of 80% to 90% of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported. The foreign seafood industry has a number of problems. Some seafood companies have been caught using slave labor for commercial fishing and processing, and testing of imported seafood in Louisiana revealed the presence of banned veterinary chemicals that are potentially harmful to humans.
Louisiana shrimper and seafood retailer David Chauvin said the influx of cheap imported shrimp has decimated the domestic industry.
“For us to compete with imported shrimp, we can’t,” he said. “If we keep going down this road, we’ll be out of business.”
Chauvin said he believes regular genetic testing at restaurants and festivals could make a big difference for the industry. He and other shrimpers have been asking for tighter regulations for years, but he said there are many big businesses making a lot of money from the status quo. The state should at least require all state institutions, such as schools and prisons, to prohibit serving imported shrimp, he said.
Chauvin’s idea was actually included in legislation Louisiana approved in May that will take effect Jan. 1. The new law will require all local school districts, state agencies and state institutions that serve seafood to use only domestic shrimp and crawfish. It will also set much stricter country-of-origin laws for restaurants, prohibitions against vague menu descriptions, clear enforcement authorizations for state agencies and much higher fines for labeling violations by retailers and wholesalers.
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The 12 best TV deals you can grab ahead of Black Friday
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