La. Farm Bureau Legislative Update: Lots of New Faces at the State Capitol

By Joe Mapes

La. Farm Bureau Legislative Specialist

Louisiana has just completed a round of runoff races for statewide and legislative seats. One result of this will be a republican supermajority in both the House and Senate beginning next year for four years. There will be 34 new members in the House, and 11 new members in the Senate. As well, Louisiana’s new republican governor also takes office in January with a strong mandate, having stomped the entire field of the other Gubernatorial Candidates and winning in the primary.

Also, the 2024 Louisiana Legislative session begins March 11 and ends on June 3. It’s an 85-day session where anything goes. Every other year, we have a “fiscal-only” session where we’re supposed to file only bills related to the state's budget.

Well, that doesn’t happen, but it is a shorter session with only 65 days in it. The crazy thing is that legislators can file more than 700 bills related to any subject matter during the fiscal session, on top of unlimited bills related to the state’s budget. I’ve always wondered if our current system of laws is so broken that we really need to change it thousands of times every year during a legislative session, but that’s how I make my living so I’m gonna shut up now.

The incoming governor has stated that he will hold a special session on crime, and possibly one on insurance as well, in 2024. That means we could have up to three legislative sessions next year where Farm Bureau would be working to promote and protect agriculture for our membership. There’s an old saying, "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” You might think that with a Republican-dominated legislature, and a strong Republican governor, that farming and agriculture would be safe because Republicans are conservative and generally support business interests like agribusiness, which is a $30 billion industry in Louisiana. 

That’s a lot at stake. However, what if some major issue descended upon Farm Bureau and agriculture in 2024 and we weren’t prepared?  The answer is that it wouldn’t be pretty, but we’re not going to find out either. Some of you may remember me from the La. Farm Bureau Administrative Assistants’ conference a couple of weeks ago. When I spoke to the group, I said that I understood what it meant to be on the front line in the Farm Bureau offices in the different parishes across the state. I also told you I was going to inform you about what’s happening in politics so that you can have answers for your policyholders so that you are able to explain to them that if more bills get filed at the legislature to punish insurance companies, that will only raise their rates. Farm Bureau policy holders could become advocates to their legislators for Farm Bureau‘s efforts in the legislative process, if they only understood. 

Speaking of advocacy, beginning in January, and through March, just prior to the legislative session, Farm Bureau will host regional legislative appreciation dinners around the state to get to know these new legislators back home in their districts. If you can help in any way to organize one of these events in your area, please do so. The relationships we develop back home are vital to what we do in Baton Rouge.

I could go on, but it’s time to get down to some business. At the beginning of the Administrative Assistants’ conference, I asked for a show of hands of who knew the names of their state senators and representatives. Not many hands were raised. It was a sobering moment. So, here’s the homework assignment. 

This is a legislator locator 

https://legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx

Use it to find out who your state senator and representative are. It’s simple. Just enter your address and then it pops right up for you. Oh, and yes, there will be a test later. So, for now, know that we are beginning to preemptively circle the wagons to make sure Farm Bureau continues to have a seat at the table so we're not on the menu.