Veto of tort reform to be reconsidered

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed a tort reform bill June 12 after the state legislature had approved it during their regular session.
The Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2020, SB 418, was reportedly vetoed due to a poorly worded, last-minute addition which would have awarded tens of thousands of dollars more to modestly injured plaintiffs than that which their injuries would cost to treat. As well as, the Advocate reported that Edwards had remarked that not one insurance company had testified on behalf of the bill, and that as it landed on his desk, it was neither a compromise nor a mandate to decrease insurance rates.
Last week, legislators stayed in Baton Rouge for a special session, during which time they reworked the bill to resubmit it to the governor, but they also had not ruled out a veto override if the votes for it were there, however unlikely that was.
State Senator Bret Allain explained, “Since we started the special session, several legislators have taken bits and pieces of everything that was in there (the original bill) and they are now passing bills that address the seatbelt gag law, what a jury can see as far as medical expenses, who can be sued, and the jury threshold. All of those are now in separate bills, and I would expect those to mostly go through process.
“I think the Senate has enough votes to override the veto, but I don’t know if the House does.”
According to Allain, if a veto override did not occur, the alternative would look something like several smaller bills that collectively did the same thing as the omnibus bill, as opposed to the one, big bill.
He said he was in support of the tort reform measure, and of lowering car insurance rates in the state, but that he did not originally vote for the omnibus bill, and that he agreed in principle with the smaller bills headed toward the Senate, though he had yet to read them fully.
State Representative Vincent “Vinney” St. Blanc III, said that he had voted for the original omnibus bill, and that he would vote for the alternative bills being re-worked in the House.
St. Blanc said that when he voted to pass the omnibus bill, he was unaware of the last-minute revisions, and that he figured that the governor would veto the bill, “because we’ve got people on both sides that don’t think it’s right, yet.
“I think everybody wants tort reform,” St. Blanc continued, “and everybody wants to do the right thing. And we’re having meetings every day about it to see how we are going to right this ship.
“There isn’t anybody who doesn’t want lower car insurance rates, but it’s how to do it, that’s the thing, but we’re working through the process every day.
“It’s a very, very difficult process to get it right.
We had finally got a bill out of the House and Senate, but the governor had some concerns, so we have some work to do. But, it’s going to get done.
“Once we fix that bill, and the governor doesn’t veto it, Louisiana will be in much better shape.”