The trucking industry in Louisiana says the legal climate is its biggest concern in 2025. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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Louisiana ranks 31st in the Tax Foundation’s Tax Competitiveness Index, but that’s up six spots from the year before. Jeff Palermo has more.
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Nearly four years ago, a longtime Louisiana politician predicted that LSU would be on the hook for another massive buyout for its football coach. As Andre Champagne reports, his prediction was spot-on.
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The trucking industry in Louisiana says insurance and lawsuit abuse are its biggest concerns in 2025. Renee Amar, the executive director of the Louisiana Motor Transport Association, says the cost of insurance is driving truckers out of the state.
Cut 4 (11) “…affordable truck insurance.”
Amar says the insurance environment in Louisiana is ripe for fraud, especially when it comes to staged accidents. She says truckers have to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets and are forced to wait years before their cases can be prosecuted.
Cut 5 (10) “…premiums for you.”
Amar says while she’s happy that the bill that stopped payments to those more than 50-percent at fault for accidents became law in this year’s session, she’s upset that the medical transparency bill didn’t.
Cut 6 (13) “…20-thousand-dollar bill.”
Amar says the Louisiana trucking industry will try again in next year’s regular session to get that bill passed and onto Governor Landry’s desk.
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Louisiana’s ranking in the Tax Foundation’s State Tax Competitiveness Index improved from 37th to 31st, with further improvement expected as a result of the tax reforms improved last year. Tax Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Manish Bhatt (“bot”) says those reforms include a new flat individual income tax rate of three-percent and a corporate income tax rate of 5.5-percent.
Cut 7 (08) “…seeing positive gains.”
Bhatt expects Louisiana’s ranking to improve in 2026, as the state’s franchise tax will be repealed. He says modernizing a state’s tax structure helps position it for growth.
Bhatt says Louisiana could move up in their rankings even more if it restricted its sales taxes.
Cut 9 (13) “…improvement in that.”
Wyoming, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Alaska and Florida ranked in the top five. Maryland, Connecticut, California, New Jersey and New York ranked in the bottom five.
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In 2021, Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell predicted that LSU would be responsible for paying a hefty buyout to Brian Kelly before he even stepped onto the field. Nearly four years later, Campbell says I told you so.
Campbell says LSU should have never given Kelly a 10-year contract without it being incentive-based.
Campbell says the LSU Board of Supervisors did not handle Kelly’s contract well and says it needs to avoid the same mistake with this next coach search.
Cut 12 (10) “…never happens again.”
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This weekend, you will want to try on your winter jacket; and if it doesn’t fit or if you don’t have one, you’ll want to head to your local department store to buy one. That’s because we’re going to be in for the coldest temperatures of the season at the outset of next week. LSU Health Climatologist Barry Keim says a cold front is coming down into the state late this weekend, blanketing the state with frigid Canadian air.
And if you think that’s cold, Tuesday morning will be even colder. Keim says temperatures in some parts of the state will drop below freezing.
Keim says if you can survive those two days, temperatures will start their climb back up to normal afterwards,
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LSU football travels to Tuscaloosa to face fourth-ranked Alabama tomorrow. The offense and defense have been going up against each other in inside run drills, which requires more physicality from the linemen. Interim Head Coach Frank Wilson says he’s pleased with his team’s tenacity in practice this week.
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LSU’s defense will continue to be tested when the Tigers face junior quarterback and Heisman candidate Ty Simpson. Simpson has thrown for 20 touchdowns and only one interception so far this year. Wilson says Simpson possesses an elite skillset.
Cut 17 (19) “…to gain yardage.”
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The Saints’ offense will be without a big weapon moving forward after New Orleans sent Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks. Quarterback Tyler Shough says Shaheed’s departure will create more opportunities for other receivers.
Cut 18 (18) “…to have success.”
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UL-Lafayette got back into the win column after defeating South Alabama, 31-22, in Mobile last week. Even though it hasn’t been the ideal season, head coach Michael Desormeaux (DEZ-er-moe) was happy for his group and wants his team to continue to play with the same determination this week.
The Cajuns will host Texas State tomorrow, which will be the last Sun Belt matchup between the two teams as the Bobcats are moving to the Pac-12 after this season. Desormeaux says his team is focused on winning out to become bowl eligible.