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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 28
BY SENATOR JACKSON AND REPRESENTATIVES ADAMS, BROWN, BRYANT,
CARRIER, GARY CARTER, WILFORD CARTER, GREEN,
JEFFERSON, JENKINS, TRAVIS JOHNSON, JONES, LARVADAIN,
LYONS, MOORE, NEWELL, PIERRE, THOMPSON AND W HITE
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Department of Insurance to study and report on approaches taken
by other southern states to reduce auto insurance premiums, to report statistics
related to insurance fraud compiled by the Louisiana Automobile Theft and
Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority, and to advise the legislature as to any steps
taken and any progress made by the department to increase the number of
automobile insurers offering policies in Louisiana, and to create the legislative Task
Force on Available and Affordable Automobile Insurance to provide a forum in
which the department shall present its findings to the legislature and the public.
WHEREAS, Louisiana residents continue to struggle to pay for auto insurance, as
evidenced by Louisiana's ranking as the second most expensive state for automobile
insurance in the nation; and
WHEREAS, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance, approximately
fifteen percent of Louisiana drivers do not have insurance and forty percent have only the
minimum policy; and
WHEREAS, studies have reported that Louisiana residents often pay as much as fifty
percent more than the national average for auto insurance; and
WHEREAS, other southern states, including Arkansas, have recently taken action
to lower auto insurance rates by reducing auto insurance fraud and investing in technical
support to allow for real-time reporting on whether a driver actually has auto insurance or
is uninsured; and
WHEREAS, Arkansas requires auto insurers to offer mandatory discounts, such as
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a discount for college graduates and defensive driver discounts for those insureds fifty-five
years and older who have successfully completed a course approved by the Arkansas Office
of Driver Services; and
WHEREAS, legislation was filed in Maryland earlier this year, modeled after a
California program, that would have created the Lifeline Low-Cost Automobile Insurance
Program to offer certain low-cost auto insurance policies to certain residents of Maryland
in households with a gross annual household income not exceeding three hundred percent
of the federal poverty level and who met certain other requirements such as having good
driving records; and
WHEREAS, Florida requires pre-owned automobiles to go through vehicle
pre-insurance inspection prior to obtaining automobile insurance, with the ultimate goals of
preventing fraud and helping reduce the cost of automobile physical damage, collision, and
comprehensive insurance coverage by accurately documenting each vehicle; and
WHEREAS, according to the Insurance Information Institute, forty-seven states
including Louisiana have set up fraud bureaus or units to combat common fraudulent
insurance practices including padding or inflating claims, misrepresenting facts on an
insurance application, submitting claims for injuries or damage that never occurred, and
staging accidents; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention
Authority is statutorily created to assist the department of insurance in investigating fraud
and reporting any fraud found to law enforcement authorities; and
WHEREAS, it would assist the legislature in its policy-making role for the
department to study the statistics related to fraud apprehension by the Louisiana Automobile
Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority in comparison to the fraud units in other
southern states and to report to the legislature those statistical findings; and
WHEREAS, considering that increased competition among auto insurance companies
in Louisiana should lower rates, the legislature would be further assisted by the department
advising and reporting on any steps taken and any progress made to increase the number of
automobile insurers offering auto insurance policies in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, it would assist Louisiana residents in lowering their individual
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automobile insurance rates for the department to link or attach prominently to the
department's website a document similar to the "Nine Ways to Lower Your Auto Insurance
Costs" by the Insurance Information Institute; and
WHEREAS, the legislature desires to form a task force to study available and
affordable automobile insurance and to provide a forum for the department to present its
findings to the legislature and to the public.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Insurance to study and report to the legislature on
approaches taken by other southern states to reduce auto insurance premiums, to report the
statistics related to insurance fraud compiled by the Louisiana Automobile Theft and
Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority, and to advise and report on any steps taken and any
progress made by the department to increase the number of automobile insurers offering auto
insurance policies in Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby creates the
Task Force on Affordable Automobile Insurance to study the availability of affordable
automobile insurance and to provide a forum for the Department of Insurance to present the
results of the studies and content of the requested reports pursuant to this Resolution to the
legislature and to the public.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be comprised of the
following members:
(1) Two senators appointed by the president of the Senate, who shall designate one
senator to serve as cochairman.
(2) Two representatives appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives,
who shall designate one representative to serve as cochairman.
(3) The commissioner of insurance, or his designee.
(4) The colonel of the state police, or his designee.
(5) One member appointed by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.
(6) One member appointed by the Louisiana Chapter of the American Federation of
Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
(7) Five members, one to be appointed by each of the five insurance companies with
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the greatest number of automobile insurance policies written in Louisiana during the last
calendar year, as reported by the Department of Insurance.
(8) One member appointed by the Louisiana Association of Justice.
(9) The governor, or his designee.
(10) One member who is a Louisiana driver who purchases Louisiana private
passenger automobile insurance, appointed by the Louisiana Chapter of the American
Association of Retired Persons.
(11) One member who is a Louisiana driver who purchases Louisiana private
passenger automobile insurance, appointed by Together Louisiana.
(12) One member who is a Louisiana driver who purchases Louisiana private
passenger automobile insurance, appointed by the Public Affairs Research Council of
Louisiana.
(13) The attorney general, or his designee.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that task force members shall serve without
compensation or reimbursement of expenses other than what may be afforded by their
appointing authorities, and legislative members of the task force shall receive the same per
diem and reimbursement of travel expenses as provided for attendance at legislative
committee meetings under the rules of the respective house in which they serve.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the names of the appointees to the task force
shall be submitted to the president of the Senate by August 14, 2020.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a majority of the membership of the task force
constitutes a quorum and that if all task force members have not been appointed by
September 1, 2020, a majority of the appointed membership shall constitute a quorum until
additional appointments are made.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the senator designated as a cochairman shall
convene the first meeting of the task force no later than September 8, 2020.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall, by December 15, 2021,
make recommendations to the House Committee on Insurance and Senate Committee on
Insurance for legislation that may make affordable automobile insurance more widely
available to Louisiana drivers.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force will terminate on
December 31, 2021.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
commissioner of insurance.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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