Gov. Edwards calls special session to address Insurance Incentive Fund

Governor John Bel Edwards wants the state legislature to convene to appropriate funds to the Insure Louisiana Incentive Fund

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - Governor John Bel Edwards issued a call for a special session Sunday, Jan. 22.

The Louisiana Governor wants the state legislature to convene to appropriate funds to the Insure Louisiana Incentive Fund, which was created during the 2022 Legislative session in hopes of attracting more insurance companies to Louisiana. 

Details can be found in the proclamation below. 

Edwards implied that his decision to call for the special session is in harmony with the view other officials hold view on the matter, including insurance commissioner Jim Donelon.

The Governor stated, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has stressed that funding the Insure Louisiana Incentive Fund cannot wait until the regular session in April. I am grateful for the cooperation of the Senate President and House Speaker and the legislature in calling this special session focused on this Fund. While Commissioner Donelon says we must do this now, this is just a first step in addressing Louisiana’s ongoing insurance issues after the devastating hurricane seasons of 2020 and 2021, a crisis worsened by hurricanes and wildfires in other states in 2022. We will continue to work on this issue during the regular session beginning in April."

Other officials, such as Senate President Page Cortez, agreed that when it comes to appropriating the incentive program, "Time is of the essence.”

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder touched on why he feels the special session is needed as a short-term fix to a bigger problem faced by local businesses and property owners.

“We have to attract more companies to write policies in our state. We expect that Commissioner Donelon will make the incentive program work as a temporary fix, but we need to do more to solve the problem,” Schexnayder said.  

The special session will begin Monday, Jan. 30, and adjourn no later than 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 5.