The Louisiana Legislature adjourned sine die at 6 p.m. on June 3. This year’s session focused on insurance reform, lawsuit abuse reform, education reform, and making it easier to do business in Louisiana. The biggest focus for NFIB was insurance reform and supporting business friendly legislation. While the session did not go entirely as we would have wanted it to, we did have several wins that moved the needle further for small business owners.

NFIB worked with the Lawsuit Abuse Coalition, other business lobby groups, and alongside Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple to help get a package of insurance reform bills passed. Commissioner Temple brought forth a package of bills that would add stability, predictability, and fairness back to our insurance market in hopes of lowering rates. While not all the reform legislation made it out of Senate Judiciary A, several bills were able to pass both chambers and head to the Governor’s desk.

Signed by the Governor:

• HB 337 – allows injured parties to sue insurance companies directly instead of going through the business or party they believe caused the harm.
• HB 611 – a measure that is intended to help homeowners’ insurance providers manage risks.
• SB 323 – will reduce costs by allowing policyholders to resolve claims more efficiently.

Awaiting the Governor’s signature:

• HB 423 – would delete the requirement that the court shall award the claimant 40% of the difference between the amount billed and the amount actually paid.
• SB 84 – legislation that would direct that if a final judgment is in favor of the defendant and is at least 25% less than the offer of judgment, the defendant is entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and costs from the plaintiff.
• SB 355 – would provide for the transparency and disclosure of all third-party litigation funding agreements.

There were several other wins for small business in Louisiana in regards to employer relations. The first is the passage of SB 60 and HB 716 that provides for universal recognition of occupational licenses, removing red tape and making it easier for people to begin working once they move into the state. HB 156 will repeal certain provisions related to the employment of minors, expanding job opportunities for teens and encouraging businesses to hire more young people. While there were several proposed bills to revamp the workers’ compensation system in Louisiana, many did not make it out of committee. One of the few workers’ comp bills that survived is HB 200, which provides relative to past payments of workers’ compensation premiums. It has been sent to the Governor.

Looking forward to next session, which will be a fiscal session. NFIB will continue to urge the Legislators and Governor to help small business owners by lowering the tax burden they face, revamping the workers’ compensation system, and passing legislation that helps make Louisiana a better environment to own and operate a small business.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if you should have any questions on the 2024 legislative session. I can be reached at leah.long@nfib.org or 225-218-6847.