“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” That’s what happened to Rep. Jeff Wiley’s HB148. It started as a simple, consumer-friendly insurance bill. Then it was hijacked, rewritten, and weaponized into a tool for government price setting. What began as a push for transparency now threatens to undermine reform and concentrate power in bureaucratic hands.
Wiley Wanted Transparency
When State Representative Jeff “Sheriff” Wiley (R 6/10) introduced HB148 during the 2025 Regular Session, he obviously had only one thing in mind – transparency. Wiley’s bill consisted of a single sentence:
If an insurer issues a renewal policy of homeowners’ or private passenger motor vehicle insurance in this state, the insurer shall provide the premium for the policy last issued by the insurer with the respective renewal policy, and shall ensure the prior premium is prominently displayed in close proximity to the renewal premium.
That’s it! No new government power, no elaborate wasteful spending schemes, and no bureaucratic red tape! A simple mandate that insurance carriers provide their customer, the insured, with a comparison of the new premium and the last policy premium when a renewal policy is issued.
Wiley may have started with good intentions, but he stood by silently in the end as others hijacked his bill. He could have withdrawn HB148 after it was amended beyond recognition. He didn’t. In fact, when it came time to defend the final version on the House floor, he didn’t even take the podium — Brian Glorioso did.
Carter’s “New Deal” Bill
At the session’s opening, Governor Jeff Landry repackaged a Huey P. Long quote stating, ‘The only difference between the trial lawyers and the insurance companies is that one wants to skin you from the ankle up and the other wants to skin you from the ear down.’ Long’s quote originally referred to the two-party political system, criticizing both the Democratic and the Republican parties for profiting off the backs of hard-working people. If Landry’s quote didn’t send chills of the New Deal era up everyone’s spine, Robby Carter’s (D 1/10) HB576 should have.
Carter’s bill sought to increase and concentrate more power in the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. That additional authority would allow the Insurance Commissioner to set rates unilaterally, effectively enabling state-sanctioned price fixing. It would also deliver a substantial blow to the long-standing legal distinction between competitive and non-competitive insurance markets. Under this bill, the insurance companies assume all risks, but the government sets your insurance premiums.
The Glorioso Revolution
With Carter’s bill stalling in the House, some folks had to figure out how to revive it. On April 30, 2025, during the debate of Wiley’s bill, Representative Brian Glorioso (R 7/10) offered an amendment using much of the language contained in Carter’s “New Deal” bill. Glorioso’s single amendment fundamentally changed the Wiley bill. It passed both chambers and was sent to the Governor on May 28, 2025.
The Glorious Revolution in England marked the peaceful transfer of concentrated power from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with Parliament as the sovereign power. The Glorioso Revolution, on the other hand, came as an unrelated amendment to the Wiley bill and sought to concentrate government power, undermine free markets, disrupt tort reform, and ultimately set the stage for an important political battle.
Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Since being elected, Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple has been an outspoken supporter of free markets and the reduction of government regulation. Temple never asked for the price-control powers the Legislature is now forcing on him. He even said he wouldn’t use the authority if this incredibly unpopular bill passed. By all appearances, someone in the legislature is looking for a fall guy, and Temple seems to fit the bill.
The citizens are fed up with this state’s political theatrics and climate. To quote Governor Jeff Landry again, ‘The people of this state are conditioned for failure.’ Yes, we are! We are conditioned for failure… of our legislature. We consistently receive only one thing from our ‘elected’ rulers – Disappointment!
But make no mistake, if you think the people are dumb enough to fall for this latest ploy, you are sadly mistaken. Carter, Glorioso, and Wiley may have set a snare for Temple. However, it won’t be Temple’s fault if rates go up. Temple certainly will stick to his free-market principles rather than employ a ‘price fixing’ scheme forced on him by the Legislature. If he did, it would only invite a crash in a market that’s already unstable due to prolonged government interference favoring our state’s largest sacred cow – lawyers.
Economics in One Easy Lesson
Henry Hazlitt wrote “Economics in One Lesson” in 1946. Hazlitt opposed price controls because they distort the natural role of price in balancing supply and demand. Artificially driving down premiums through regulation will likely have an adverse effect on the insurance market, resulting in insurance companies refusing to conduct business in Louisiana and leading to less competition, higher demand, and further instability.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association issued a statement following the bill’s passage. The APCIA indicates it supports HB431, HB434, and HB450, which aim to reduce legal system abuse and will assist with reducing risk and controlling cost. On the other hand, the APCIA was critical of HB148 and its government rate-setting scheme, which will politicize what it believes should be a “fact-based, actuarial science-driven process.”
Hazlitt wrote about the unseen consequences of such laws. While the law may seem to some to be a well-intentioned way to protect consumers from rising premiums, unseen outcomes could include driving insurers out of the state, reducing competition, and increasing costs long-term.
That is why other notable organizations and individuals aligned with APCIA’s opposition to the bill. Citizens for a New Louisiana, Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple, the Pelican Institute, the Louisiana Freedom Caucus, and the Louisiana Motor Transport Association all feel this is a bad move.
Moving in the Wrong Direction
Higher taxes, unchecked spending, growing central power, and broken tort reform… No wonder people feel we’re headed in the wrong direction. Legislative power is supposed to be the strongest, but it is controlled by special interests and led like donkeys. Perhaps jackasses would be a more appropriate term, chasing a dangling carrot.
In Louisiana, both chambers are controlled by Republican supermajorities, the so-called and self-professed party of “conservatives.” During this session, Republican Governor Jeff Landry indicated that he ‘would sign any bill that crossed his desk.’ Once again, our Legislature has failed to deliver. Instead of voting for concurrence, they should have used their last chance to fix this. They could have rejected it and sent HB148 to conference to restore sanity. Instead, they chose not to.
They have failed to cut taxes, failed to reduce spending, and they have failed to curtail the growth of government. That is the failure for which the people of Louisiana are conditioned. We really didn’t need to be reminded of it yet again.
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The DOGE Effect: What If We Cut Waste in Louisiana?
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are slashing waste in Washington, and the whole world is watching. Many have said, “That’s great—but we need to do the same thing in Louisiana!”
What most don’t realize is that Citizens for a New Louisiana has been ‘DOGE before DOGE was cool.’ Our investigatory work exposes government waste, backroom deals, and left-wing slush funds. And when people know what their government is really doing, it stops.
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We’ve covered transparency issues for almost seven years. No one else in Louisiana is looking this closely at where your tax dollars are going. Are you fed up with the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing from Louisiana's treasury into the pockets of NGOs and left-wing activists? If so, you’re not alone. But exposing it isn’t enough—we need your help to stop it.
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