CAPITOL CORNER

LMTA's Legislative Overview with Executive Director Renee Amar

2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WRAP-UP:

I must say that I have only seen one other time when the session descended into pure chaos on the final day and that was actually when President Alario was at the helm of the Senate and Speaker Barras presided over the House. This year’s end of session chaos was one for the books.

Lawmakers took the last 20 minutes of the session to pass the budget bills (yes, there is more than one) amidst screams from lawmakers on the floor. You could classify it as nothing but commotion and disorder. I don’t know about you but it is not how I believe the people’s business should be conducted.

For a generic update on what occurred during the legislative session, PAR did a fantastic update that includes the entire budget battle “ins and outs” that is as non-partisan as they come. (VIEW THE PAR REPORT HERE)

Specific trucking bills that passed, stalled or were killed are detailed below. LMTA's final bill tracking report can be viewed here. (VIEW LMTA'S FINAL BILL TRACKING REPORT)

THE GOOD NEWS:

Third Party Litigation Financing (TPFL) disclosure was passed and sent to the Governor. He has until 6/26 to sign or veto.
- SB 196 by Sen Peacock is the bill that mandates disclosure of third party litigation financing arrangements. Currently, no one knows when a third party firm invests in their lawsuit and it makes it difficult for both sides to navigate the lawsuit once the TPLF is engaged.

A regulatory oversight bill passed and was sent to the Governor. He has until 6/29 to sign or veto.
- HB 221 by Rep Wright would give more legislative oversight to regulations being issued by state agencies; a concept that LMTA strongly supports and encourages lawmakers to support.

A commercial insurance resolution passed.
- SCR 19 by Sen Talbot would set up a task force to study and report on the impediments that truckers have in obtaining affordable insurance. The task force will be looking at approaches that other states have taken and the economic impact of commercial insurance on state revenue.
- Recommendations will be made to increase the number of insurers offering insurance in the state. LMTA has a seat on the task force so will be represented.

DOTD mobile enforcement was killed.
- HB 594 by Rep Larvadain which would have moved mobile enforcement to DOTD from LSP was deferred in committee. We appreciated the members of the House Transportation Committee who stood strong with the state’s truckers on this issue.

Calcasieu River Bridge toll relief only for local residents was killed.
- SB 50 by Sen Abraham that would set up a shadow toll for the Calcasieu River bridge to offset the toll for local residents.
- The shadow toll would not help truckers so we would still have to pay the full toll for the bridge. The bill was deferred in the Senate Finance Committee.

Automated wheel chocking systems (studied by DOTD) resolution killed.
- HR 161 by Rep Larvadian would have required DOTD to study the use of automated chocking systems. The resolution was deferred by the House Transportation Committee.

Trucking annual training resolutions amended.
- HCR 135 & HCR 142 by Rep Knox, HCR 135 dealt with the Office of Motor Vehicles and our compliance with FMCSA’s drug and alcohol clearing house. The other was HCR 142 which was much more problematic asking DOTD to study whether we should receive annual training to ensure we are in compliance with all state and federal regulations. After many discussions with the bill author, he heard our concerns and was agreeable to amending the language.
Majority of labor and minimum wage bills were killed.

There were a myriad of anti-business bills filed that were mostly killed in the House Labor Committee.

The lawmakers that have served on this committee for the last four years did a phenomenal job (at times, without help from the business community) in protecting all Louisiana businesses from bills that would make us a competitive, anti free market state.

Each of those lawmakers deserve a big thank you and your support!

- We opposed HB 283 by Rep Lafleur that would have said we could not screen, or hire based on the wage history of an employee. Ultimately, the bill was deferred.
- We opposed HB 596 by Rep Freeman that would have set up a massive government bureaucracy for Family and Medical Leave. It would set up a fund with an employer tax and a complicated system of applying to some but not all. The bill had a $33 million fiscal note for the state of Louisiana to administer. And a whopping $350,000,000 million tax bill funded by employers and employees. It also included independent contractors of which LMTA was in strong opposition. Owner operators are in business for themselves for a reason and don’t need the government getting in the middle of their relationship with the trucking company. Thankfully, the bill was ultimately deferred.

THE (REALLY) BAD NEWS:

HB 324 by Rep Paula Davis, which would have addressed the Martin decision, was deferred in the House Civil Law Committee.
- There was a 24-hour “all call” from the trial lawyers to committee members and that caused apprehension amongst some committee members who didn’t want to have to run against a well-funded trial lawyer opponent. Though there was broad support from the business community, we could not overcome the opposition.

Of note, this is why the fall legislative races and the gubernatorial election are critical to truckers. You are left to deal with this issue in lawsuits going forward until this case can be fixed legitimately.

The trucking community thanks Rep Paula Davis, Rep Thomas Pressly and LMTA General Counsel Doug Williams of Breazeale, Sachse, Wilson for their hours spent preparing for the committee meeting.