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MAN CHARGED IN KILLING OF TWO ISRAELI EMBASSY STAFFERS 2A THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
2025 LEGISLATURE
Senate passes car insurance bills
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F r i d ay, M ay 23, 2025
$2.00X
2025 HURRICANE SE ASON
Above average activity predicted
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, announces the final vote total after the House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump’s budget bill on Thursday.
Contentious legislation backed by governor
House passes ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill Act’
BY TYLER BRIDGES
Staff writer
Gov. Jeff Landry showed who’s the boss at the State Capitol when he rammed a car insurance bill through the Senate late Wednesday night over the vehement objections of Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple and business trade groups. House Bill 148 would grant the insurance commissioner greater authority to reject “excessive” rate increases, which Landry has said several times would prompt him to blame Temple if rates remain high. With a last-minute amendment sought by the governor, HB148 also would require insurance companies to make their rate filing requests public. They say this could force them to expose trade secrets. But balancing out the scales, the Senate also passed five bills that affect who can sue and how much they can collect — measures that Temple, the insurance industry and their business allies say would reduce payouts and thus reduce rates. The Senate passed the bills over the opposition of trial lawyers and their Democratic allies. “What just passed out of the Senate, and if passed into law, would be the most comprehensive insurance reform in Louisiana’s history,” said Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington. “These changes are geared toward addressing the unaffordable car insurance crisis in Louisiana.” Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, offered a different take. “We’re just taking away more people’s rights, and rates won’t go down,” he said, adding that the Senate’s rush to approve bills with late changes “leads to bad legislation.” Te m p l e s u p p o r t e d t h e
ä See SENATE, page 7A
NOAA’S HURRICANE SEASON FORECAST
13-19
Named storms
Extension of tax breaks, cuts to Medicaid, GOMESA cap increase included
6-10 Hurricanes
3-5 Major
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
hurricanes
anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. They touched on lessons learned since the devastating 2005 storm, and praised Jefferson Parish in particular for its storm preparations. NOAA is predicting 13 to 19 named storms
WASHINGTON — Louisiana’s four House Republicans helped pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” early Thursday morning by one vote, while the state’s two Democratic members voted no. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, held the voting machine open for a few minutes and the bill passed on a 215-214 vote. The bill cuts Medicaid and food stamp spending, as well as phasing out Biden-era clean energy incentives. It includes much of President Donald Trump’s domestic legislative agenda, including extending tax cuts from his first term and funds for building the wall along the Mexican border. Officially titled the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” the measure now heads to the U.S. Senate, where some senators already have said they plan a
ä See ACTIVITY, page 5A
ä See HOUSE, page 7A
NOAA says warm surface temperatures in Atlantic biggest factor in forecast ä Lafayette Parish agencies work out storm plan for hurricane season. PAGE 1B
BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writers
Another above-average hurricane season is in store for the U.S., federal hurricane forecasters announced Thursday from the New Orleans area, but the outlook isn’t quite as grim as it was this time last year. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association officials presented their 2025 outlook from the Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations Center in Gretna, ahead of the 20th
Indictment of Montoucet details wildlife agency kickback scheme BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
tary Jack Montoucet of Scott, former LDWF Commissioner Dusty Guidry of Youngsville More details emerged Thurs- and Lafayette businessman day about a kickback scheme Leonard Franques. Montoucet, a former state allegedly involving former Louisiana Department of representative, was indicted Wildlife and Fisheries Secre- Wednesday by a federal grand Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 88 LOW 72 PAGE 10C
jury in Lafayette on five felony counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to appear for
arraignment June 12 in federal court in Lafayette. Don Cazayoux, an attorney representing Montoucet, did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Guidry and Franques previously pleaded guilty in connec-
tion with the scheme. They face sentencing in October. Under the scheme, Montoucet and Guidry allegedly gave Franques’ company, DGL1, the upper hand in competing for a
ä See KICKBACK, page 7A Montoucet
Business ......................6A Commentary ................3B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................4B Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
100TH yEAR, NO. 327