The Senate Judiciary “A” Committee hears several auto insurance bills today. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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The LSU Tigers are ranked number one in all of the major college baseball polls heading into in the final SEC regular season series of the year. Colleen Crain has the story.
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Addis’ very own John Foster had made it to the season finale of American Idol. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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The Senate Judiciary “A” Committee hears several auto insurance bills today. Committee Chairman Greg Miller says one of them would eliminate damages to those who were majority at fault in a crash.
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Miller says the purpose behind this is to discourage people from filing frivolous lawsuits against big companies which carry a high amount of liability insurance. He says, for example, someone who’s 80-percent at fault for causing a major crash could still be in for a big payday, depending on who the other party is.
Cut 5 (10) “…larger insurance policies.”
Miller says thanks to inflation, insurance rates will never be as low as they were, say, ten years ago. But he says the legislature can do things to make them more reasonable.
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Other bills the committee will consider include one that would require plaintiffs to prove that their injuries were the result of the crash and one that would limit payouts to uninsured injured drivers. The committee will also hear a bill that would cap pain and suffering damages at five-million dollars, but Miller says he opposes it, and it’s very likely that that bill will not pass.
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Amid tensions between Canada and the U.S., tourism groups are assuring visitors from north of the border and beyond that they are welcome in South Louisiana with open arms. Organizers of several South Louisiana festivals, including Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette, say many Canadian visitors have cancelled their trips this year amid the tensions between the two countries. New Orleans and Company CEO Wade Leger (luh-ZHAY) says the people of Canada are very important to the region.
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Leger says the people of South Louisiana are always welcoming towards people from other countries.
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Leger says despite the tensions and the number of Canadians cancelling their trips because of it, he still expects a brisk tourism season.
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Now that we’re well into the month of May and many more cyclists are out on the roads – at least the roads where it’s safe to ride a bicycle – both cyclists and drivers need to make concerted efforts to share the road and keep everyone safe. Greg Fischer with the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission says Louisiana roadways have proven to be deadly for cyclists.
Fisher says one basic rule of the road that anyone riding a bicycle needs to abide by is always to ride on the right side of the road.
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And if you ride at night, Fischer reminds you that bike lights are mandatory under state law. And you should go even beyond lights.
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And if you listen to earbuds while cycling, stop it. Doing so prevents you from hearing important ambient sounds, like oncoming traffic. For drivers, Fischer urges you to always give cyclists three to five feet of space when passing.
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A couple of major changes to Louisiana’s tax code failed to receive support from the House Ways and Means Committee. Oil City Representative Danny McCormick tried to convince the panel to support his bill that would eliminate the state and local sales tax on groceries. McCormick says it’s time to give a meaningful tax break to the citizens of Louisiana…
Guy Cormier, the executive director of the Louisiana Police Jury Association, voiced his opposition to the bill. He says the proposed tax break would cost local governments 600 to 700-million dollars a year statewide…
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No one on the committee made a motion to vote on McCormick’s proposal so the idea is dead for the session.
The House Ways and Means committee voted seven to four against New Orleans Representative Mandie Landry’s proposal to raise the individual income tax on tax filers who make more than 500-thousand dollars a year. Landry made this argument to the committee…
Denham Springs Representative Roger Wilder says he’s not interested in raising taxes…