Big Business and Big Insurance have not been shy about moving the ball in Louisiana to limit their exposure to litigation and claims for wrong doing in Louisiana. And making the right campaign contributions can certainly be cheaper than paying up for their liabilities if they do it right. They had an awfully aggressive session in this year’s Louisiana General Assembly, using the local state chamber, LABI (Louisiana Association of Business and Industry), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to front their special interests at the expense of Louisiana citizens.
During the recent legislative session, these insurance and business funded special interest advocacy groups used their lobbying clout to fight local Louisiana governmental bodies, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell and consumers that use legal funding, all at the behalf of Big Business and Big Insurance.
LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pushed a bill to curtail Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s authority to hire and pay counsel to pursue wrongdoers bilking the State out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The Louisiana Constitution authorizes the Attorney General "to institute, prosecute, or intervene in any civil action or proceeding.” Constitution be damned. LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an unprecedented attack on the power of the Louisiana Attorney General to protect the citizens of Louisiana at the behest of the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.
It seems that the constituents of LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce do not like the Louisiana Attorney General’s use of skilled outside counsel to prosecute companies engaged in a fraudulent drug pricing scheme that cost the citizens of Louisiana hundreds of millions of dollars. Particularly irksome to these companies, which spend untold millions burnishing their images, was the Louisiana Attorney General’s November 20th statement to the citizens of Louisiana announcing the “recovery of over $238 million in stolen Medicaid funds – money intended to provide care for our most vulnerable citizens.” LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pushed for the Louisiana General Assembly to take swift action to make sure that there would be no further such efforts by the Louisiana Attorney General to recover any other gains ill-gotten at the expense of the citizens of Louisiana.
LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also sponsored a bill that prevents a local Louisiana governmental body from recovering on its environmental damage claims. The bill, which was signed into law on June 6th, blocks a suit brought by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East against 97 alleged polluters. Bill opponents say the legislation will allow Chamber members to avoid responsibility for the restoration of the coast and wetlands that were damaged by dredging operations. The SLFPA-E claimed the companies dug, and then abandoned about 10,000 miles of canals through Louisiana wetlands. According to the SLFPA-E, the damage done by these Chamber members has led to greater hurricane storms surges which have a much graver impact on population centers. LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce made eliminating the ability of municipalities to pursue these claims a key goal of theirs during this legislative sessions, and were rewarded with retroactive legislation that curtailed the lawsuits initiated by these municipalities.
Lastly, LABI and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce made stymying a consumer protection bill sponsored by the legal funding industry a key legislative priority. Legal funding helps consumers that are in litigation with Big Insurance companies over a claim they have because of an injury they sustained at the hands of Big Insurance policyholders (such as State Farm and Allstate). Legal funding allows consumers to sell off a small fractional interest in the proceeds of their claims (to receive, on average, about $1000 in proceeds) so that they can pursue their case for as long as it takes but meet any immediate financial needs they have. A bill promoted by the consumer legal funding industry that brought new consumer protections and registration requirements to the current unregulated practice in Louisiana made its way successfully through both the House and the Senate despite four amendment attempts by the Chambers and Big Insurance to convert the bill from a consumer protection bill into a ban of the industry. However, the Chambers were able to derail the bill from getting to the Governor’s desk by one vote by using procedural tactics to reject a conference committee reconciliation recommendation.
The will of the people seemed to play second fiddle to the will of Big Insurance, Big Business and their front groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and LABI, during this session of the Louisiana General Assembly. Hopefully, Governor Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana General Assembly will stand up next session for the citizens of Louisiana in the face of these well-moneyed special interest forces.
Read more about the Chambers’ attacks on the Attorney General’s constitutional powers at: Jindal-signs-bills-to-ban
Read more about the curtailing of municipality lawsuits against alleged polluters at Bobby Jindal signs US Chamber bill to block lawsuits against Polluters
Read more about the legal funding consumer protection act that the Chambers blocked at: Louisiana Consumers deserve a fair shot