The 2026 regular legislative session began Monday (March 9), and lawmakers will consider more than 1,300 pieces of legislation from now until June 1.
Among the issues lawmakers will consider are bills to help lower insurance rates, the right to carry a gun on a college campus and making it a crime to disturb a worship service.
Gov. Jeff Landry opened the session with his State of the State Address and boasted of the previous accomplishments the legislature achieved last year, including tax reforms that lowered the state income tax to 3%.
“Now we should renew our commitment to further tax reform in a quest, which I hope, to totally eliminate the income tax in the state of Louisiana,” said Landry.
Landry also touted previous insurance reforms, which he says are working to lower auto rates, and told lawmakers to share the news.
“ If you find anyone in your district that has not gotten a reduction in their automobile rates, you tell ’em to shop the market,” said Landry.
For this session, the governor proposed a $47 billion state budget for lawmakers to consider.
He also asked the public to approve Amendment 3, which he says would give teachers a permanent pay raise and strengthen the retirement system.
Other issues he touched on include asking the legislature to hold judges more accountable when they release individuals who continue to commit crimes, and retiring inspection stickers and replacing them with a $6 QR code for law enforcement to quickly check for auto insurance status and vehicle ownership.
Overall, Landry called for lawmakers to continue to work together to improve the state
“And if we do, there really is no limit for what we can do for Louisiana,” said Landry.
Speaker of the House Phillip DeVillier echoed Landry’s remarks, touting the “great strides” lawmakers made during the first two years of Landry’s term.
“This year we want to build on those successes to encourage even more economic investment in our state and better prepare our workforce to take advantage of those opportunities,” DeVillier said.
On Landry’s budget proposal, Senate President Cameron Henry stressed carefully considering it to “fund the priorities that are important to Louisianans without committing our state to spending we can’t afford in the years ahead.”
“As we look ahead to next year, when we want to bring down our state income tax rate even further, we’ll be looking to strengthen our long-term revenue sources — so that whether it’s education, energy or public safety, we build revenue sources that our state can depend on going forward,” said Henry.
The House of Representatives also welcomed four new members on Monday. Chasity Martinez will serve District 60 in the parishes of Assumption and Iberville and has been named to the Education, Labor and Transportation committees.
Ed Murray will serve District 97 in Orleans Parish and has been named to the Insurance, Municipal, and Transportation committees.
Reese “Skip” Broussard will serve District 37 in the parishes of Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis and has been named to the Agriculture, Education and Transportation committees.
Doyle Boudreaux will serve District 39 in Lafayette Parish and has been named to the Transportation, Administration of Criminal Justice and Retirement committees.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.