Preview of John Bel Edwards' upcoming agenda: Push minimum wage hike, auto insurance bills

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA)

Mar. 3--In the legislative session beginning next week, Gov John Bel Edwards will push many of the same proposals that he has failed to usher through the Legislature over the past four years, including raising the minimum wage and passing laws aimed at reducing the gap between how much money women and men make.

Edwards, speaking at the Press Club of Baton Rouge Monday, outlined a handful of bills he will back in the legislative session, and said he will add more priorities in the coming weeks.

Republicans have gained a supermajority in the state Senate and a near-supermajority in the state House, making Edwards' task of pushing through a minimum wage hike and other priorities even tougher in his second term. A Democrat, Edwards has pushed various iterations of minimum wage increases and gender wage gap bills over the last four years.

This year, Edwards also said he is backing several proposals to tighten rules on insurance companies to prevent them from charging more to people for reasons like gender and whether they are a veteran or widow. That comes ahead of negotiations with Republicans and business groups who are pushing to overhaul the state's legal system to make it more favorable to insurance companies, which they say will reduce auto insurance rates.

Edwards, who was supported by trial attorneys in his reelection bid, said he wants to make changes that will have a direct impact on the cost of insurance, which is why he's backing a slate of bills sponsored by state Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria. Those bills would prohibit insurers from charging more to people based on factors like a person's credit score, gender, marriage status and whether they are a veteran.

The governor will ask lawmakers to establish a statewide minimum wage of $9 an hour by 2021, which would be increased to $10 an hour later that year and be indexed to inflation. Currently, Louisiana has no minimum wage and reverts to the federal floor of $7.25 an hour. State Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, is sponsoring that bill.

He is pushing for a bill sponsored by state Rep. Barbara Carpenter, D-Baton Rouge, to prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss their salary, and prevent employers from asking prospective employees about their salary history. He said the measures would help women close the gap between how much they make compared to men.

Business groups have opposed such efforts in past years, and Republicans have consistently blocked them.

"We're not going to stop trying until we're successful because we know it's the right thing to do," Edwards said. "We also know the majority of Louisianans agree with both of those."

Edwards campaigned on both a minimum wage hike and closing the gender wage gap when running for reelection last fall.

The governor will push for hospitals or birthing centers to be required to have policies to investigate maternal deaths in a timely manner, in an effort to address Louisiana's maternal mortality rate that is higher than the national average. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans. He is also backing a bill by state Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, to provide "reasonable accommodations" for employers "temporarily disabled due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions in the workplace."

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