Harrison bill creates ‘Eldery Affairs’

Rep. Joe Harrison said he and neighboring local state legislators work together to achieve the best results for the area.
Harrison, (Dist. 51, R-Gray), spoke at a St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce luncheon held Wednesday at the Forest Restaurant in Franklin.
Reporting on the just-concluded legislative session, Harrison said insurance rates have been an issue he’s repeatedly addressed. “I just left one of our local banks complaining about the idea that people are turning their keys in because they’re paying much more for their insurance than their mortgage,” he said. “We are the highest insurance, of any type, in the United States.”
During the session, Harrison and other delegates have fought against flood insurance rate hikes by Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. on the order of 18 percent annually.
Also during the session Harrison was able to pass a bill calling for a constitutional amendment creating a Department of Elderly Affairs to serve the 800,000 seniors in Louisiana. The state was recently ranked 48th in senior care.
“That passed two minutes before cut-off time” on the last day of the session. He complimented Rep. Sam Jones and Sen. Bret Allain as allies in passage of the bill.
That amendment will go to voters for approval.
Another bill Harrison passed closed a loophole in state law “where if you get in an accident and it’s not your fault, but the other driver does not have insurance, you’re not liable for the first $15,000 of injury of $25,000 of property damage.” The law previously left that decision up to the discretion of a judge.
He said he introduced several other bills that were not passed, including a tort reform measure but he said judges will “be more attentive that if a frivolous lawsuit is filed against you and you are successful in that suit, they will attach attorney fees and court costs to the one who sued improperly.”
Harrison said he wrote a bill attempting to control the growth of the TOPS higher education financial aid program.
“Every year we lose $18-20 million on students who do not go to class for 12 hours,” he said. “It’s hurting our universities. When they drop out of these classes the cost factors go up.”
He said the program must be taken “out of an upside-down position.”
That measure did not pass.