Congressman Clay Higgins (R) represents Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District
District 3 Congressman Clay Higgins introduces a bill to protect the availability of property insurance for Louisiana homeowners. In the past two years, nearly a dozen insurance companies have either failed or left the state, leaving tens of thousand no choice but the state-run Louisiana Citizens coverage at much higher cost. Higgins says his proposed legislation would affect all states; not just Louisiana…and do so by incenting insurers to stay put via tax breaks…
“We can put together some pretty complex tax code reform that would reward existing insurance providers to stay in that impacted region of the country,” Higgins says.
Higgins’ bill would amend the federal tax code to allow insurance companies to deduct their cost of settlement payouts following a federally declared disaster. Higgins says this would be limited to policies within the impacted area. He says he had the idea to make a permanent solution to insurers leaving that didn’t involve raising taxes or enacting more federal regulation…:
“If you can create an environment that would help to balance the financial impact, you could perhaps eliminate the ongoing problem of these insurance companies running, you know, after disasters”
In a written statement, Holden Hoggatt – who is challenging Higgins re-election – says the bill will just mean “big tax breaks for companies that have refused to pay claims to Louisiana families.” Higgins says he hopes to see companion state legislation filed next spring in Baton Rouge. He says something needs to be done, rather than just sit and let property coverage pack up and leave…
“If our money is good enough for the insurance companies before a disaster, then it should be good enough for the insurance companies AFTER the disaster.”
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