BATON ROUGE - Important tort reform measures are rapidly advancing in the state legislature, which according to Republican state Sen. Conrad Appel will vastly improve Louisiana's business climate.
“I am not sure that people in Louisiana understand that the passage of House Bill 9 by Rep. Ray Garofalo and/or Senate Bill 418 by Sen. Kirk Talbot, the main tort reform bills, has huge significance beyond lowering automotive rates,” Appel said Sen. Appel. “[House Bill 9] sailed out of the House Insurance Committee Tuesday on an 11-5 vote, while [Senate Bill 418] had a more difficult time in the Senate Judiciary A Committee but did manage to come out on a 4-3 vote.”
Appel made these comments in a May 13 opinion piece published in The Hayride.
Appel
He said the reasons for Louisiana’s less-than-stellar judicial reputation – he noted the state is “perceived as a Judicial Hellhole” – go beyond outrageous automobile rates.
“That ringing indictment of our state comes from the fact that we are widely perceived to have a civil justice system that is not fair or balanced,” Appel said. “As relates to automobile rates, our system of justice results is the second highest insurance rates in the nation. As it relates to our economy, our civil justice system is well known to be a major reason that business people accept that we are negative toward business.”
The opinion of trial lawyers who say the state is not “a judicial hellhole” matters less than the opinion of business owners, he said.
“It does not matter because, whether true or not, the perception that we are a state unfair to business is widely accepted and, in all cases, perception is reality," Appel said. "And that reality is reflected by an exit of insurers, higher rates, and low prospects for prosperity for our people.”
Business owners looking for a new place to locate their companies use a list of multiple reasons to make decisions. And one of those factors, Appel says, Is fairness of civil justice.
“When our rank in this impactful metric is one of the worst in the country, we are handicapped in ability to attract businesses," he said. "And when we do not attract businesses, our people’s income and their opportunity for promotions suffer. So, not only do our people pay astronomical insurance rates, they are deprived of the prosperity that a strong business climate provides.”
When signed into law, tort reform will not only lower insurance rates but it will improve the state’s business climate and bring more income and opportunity to the residents of Louisiana, Appel said.