Louisiana House OK end around to possible veto

Jun. 24--The Louisiana House approved Tuesday an end run around the governor should he veto legislation aimed at lowering auto insurance rates at the expense, opponents say, of throwing the state's civil justice system into chaos.

Relying on Republican votes -- Rep. Francis Thompson, of Delhi, was the only Democrat supporting the measures -- the Louisiana House approved three resolutions that would suspend until August 9, 2021 parts of Louisiana law governing evidence and procedure should the frantic effort fail to pass some sort of dramatic reworking of how Louisiana conducts its civil trial, which supporters call "tort reform."

The three resolutions, if approved by the Senate, would go into effect only if the governor chooses to veto House Bill 57 or the legislation fails to win final approval in the seven days left before the special session adjourns.

The closest measure to the finish line, HB57, is sponsored by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales. The legislation is scheduled Wednesday for a House vote on the Senate's amendments. If the House concurs, then the legislation heads to the governor's desk. If not, three representatives and three senators will meet to hammer out an agreement.

Supporters among the business and insurance communities contend that the way Louisiana conducts its civil courts is outside the norms accepted across the rest of the country leading to more injury lawsuits being filed and that's why the state's drivers pay the second highest insurance rates in the country. Changing how the courts operate would lower policy prices by 10%, maybe even 25%.

Opponents among lawyers and judges counter supporters presented no evidence that rates would fall. But the dramatic changes to Louisiana's civil system would strain case docketing, stress court proceedings, and leave people injured in accidents more beholden to insurance companies because litigating successful lawsuits would become much more difficult.

Many Republicans ran last fall on promises to lower auto insurance rates through changes in the civil justice system. But they haven't been able to get a bill into law.

A bill changes law and needs a two-thirds majority to overturn any veto. But a resolution allows a majority of legislators -- 53 in the House, 20 in the Senate -- to temporarily suspend a law.

Shreveport Republican Rep. Alan Seabaugh, who defends insurance companies as a lawyer, told his colleagues that he prefers a bill that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards would sign into law. "I don't really want to have to get to 70," Seabaugh said, referring to the number of votes needed to overturn a gubernatorial veto.

But the resolutions would achieve much of the same goal. He noted that a majority of lawmakers had already approved similar ideas in the Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2020, which was passed on June 1, the final day of the regular session. But that measure included wording mistakenly added at the last minute that amounted to a windfall for some people who suffered only minor injuries in a car wreck. Seabaugh didn't vote on that bill because of the wording. Edwards eventually vetoed the measure.

-- House Concurrent Resolution 18 would suspend the law that prevents a defendant driver from arguing that the plaintiff's failure to wear a seatbelt led to more serious injuries.

-- House Concurrent Resolution 19 would suspend the law that allows insurance companies to be sued directly for the accidents their client caused. The insurer would still handle the lawsuit, but jurors wouldn't know the company's identity or facts about the policy.

-- House Concurrent Resolution 20 would suspend the $50,000 case amount needed to allow a jury to decide the case rather than a judge. With the jury threshold effectively at zero, all litigants, including those whose cases already have been filed, would be able to ask for a jury trial.

"If you ran for office last year saying you wanted to lower auto insurance rates, this is a chance to do it," Seabaugh told his colleagues.

"This is a political shakedown. It's being used as leverage," said Republican Rep. Joseph Stagni, a chiropractor from Kenner, "because you can't get to 70 or you're not willing to work through the specific issues."

"It sends a bad signal to whole state of Louisiana saying if we don't think we can get the governor's signature we're just going to go around the governor," said Democratic Rep. Robby Carter, a lawyer from St. Helena Parish.

He also noted that state district and city court judges said the three resolutions would wreak havoc on their dockets and lead to long delays before the cases could be resolved.

The state Senate has three near-identical resolutions on its calendar. Now, the three House-passed resolutions are headed to the Senate for consideration and vote.

How they voted for HCR18

Voting for lifting seatbelt gag rule (61): Speaker Schexnayder, Reps Amedee, Bacala, Bagley, Beaullieu, Bishop, Bourriaque, Carrier, Coussan, Crews, Davis, Deshotel, DeVillier, DuBuisson, Dwight, Echols, Edmonds, Edmonston, Emerson, Farnum, Firment, Fontenot, Freiberg, Frieman, Gadberry, Goudeau, Harris, Henry, Hilferty, Hodges, Hollis, Horton, Huval, Illg, Ivey, Kerner, Mack, McCormick, McFarland, McKnight, McMahen, Miguez, Mincey, Nelson, C. Owen, R. Owen, Pressly, Riser, Romero, Schamerhorn, Seabaugh, St. Blanc, Stefanski, Tarver, Thomas, Thompson, Turner, Villio, Wheat, Wright, and Zeringue.

Voting against HCR18 (39): Reps Adams, Brass, Brown, Bryant, Butler, Carpenter, G. Carter, R. Carter, W. Carter, Cormier, Duplessis, Freeman, Gaines, Green, Hughes, James, Jefferson, Jenkins, T. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, LaCombe, Landry, Larvadain, Lyons, Magee, Marcelle, Marino, D. Miller, G. Miller, Moore, Newell, Phelps, Pierre, Selders, Stagni, White and Willard.

Not Voting (5): Reps Cox, Garofalo, Glover, M. Johnson and Muscarello.

How they voted for HCR19

Voting for suspending direct action laws (57): Speaker Schexnayder and Reps Amedee, Bacala, Bagley, Beaullieu, Bishop, Bourriaque, Carrier, Crews, Davis, Deshotel, DeVillier, DuBuisson, Echols, Edmonds, Edmonston, Emerson, Farnum, Firment, Fontenot, Freiberg, Frieman, Gadberry, Goudeau, Harris, Henry, Hodges, Hollis, Horton, Huval, Illg, Ivey, Kerner, Mack, McCormick, McFarland, McKnight, McMahen, Miguez, Mincey, Muscarello, Nelson, C. Owen, R. Owen, Pressly, Riser, Romero, Schamerhorn, Seabaugh, St. Blanc, Tarver, Thomas, Thompson, Turner, Wheat, Wright and Zeringue.

Voting against HCR19 (42): , Reps Adams, Brass, Brown, Bryant, Butler, Carpenter, G. Carter, R. Carter, W. Carter, Cormier, Coussan, Duplessis, Dwight, Freeman, Gaines, Green, Hilferty, Hughes, James, Jefferson, Jenkins, T. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, LaCombe, Landry, Larvadain, Lyons, Magee, Marcelle, Marino, D. Miller, Moore, Newell, Phelps, Pierre, Selders, Stagni, Stefanski, Villio, White and Willard.

Not Voting (5): Reps. Cox, Garofalo, Glover, M. Johnson, and G. Miller.

How they voted for HCR20

Voting to lower jury threshold (60): Speaker Schexnayder, Reps, Amedee, Bacala, Bagley, Beaullieu, Bishop, Bourriaque, Butler, Carrier, Coussan, Crews, Davis, Deshotel, DeVillier, DuBuisson, Echols, Edmonds, Edmonston, Emerson, Farnum, Firment, Fontenot, Freiberg, Frieman, Gadberry, Goudeau, Harris, Henry, Hodges, Hollis, Horton, Huval, Illg, Ivey, Kerner, Mack, McCormick, McFarland, McKnight, McMahen, Miguez, Mincey, Nelson, C. Owen, R. Owen, Pressly, Riser, Romero, Schamerhorn, Seabaugh, St. Blanc, Stefanski, Tarver, Thomas, Thompson, Turner, Villio, Wheat, Wright and Zeringue.

Voting against HCR20 (40): Reps Adams, Brass, Brown, Bryant, Carpenter, G. Carter, R. Carter, W. Carter, Cormier, Duplessis, Dwight, Freeman, Gaines, Green, Hilferty, Hughes, James, Jefferson, Jenkins, T. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, LaCombe, Landry, Larvadain, Lyons, Magee, Marcelle, Marino, D. Miller, G. Miller, Moore, Muscarello, Newell, Phelps, Pierre, Selders, Stagni, White and Willard.

Not Voting (4): Reps Cox, Garofalo, Glover and M. Johnson.

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