Insurance license fees rejected

Lawmakers rejected plans today for the Louisiana Department of Insurance to allow credit card payments for licenses because they objected to the sliding scale of fees tacked onto card payments. The department had proposed the use of credit cards and debit cards for insurance agents, claims adjusters and others who currently can’t use a charge card to pay for their licenses. The “convenience fees” would have ranged from $2 to $6 in those instances. But the fee scale extended much higher if the department decided to allow card payments for other items, and lawmakers on two money panels say the fee range was too high to support. Insurance officials say the money would be passed to the vendor processing the transactions and wouldn’t be given to the Insurance Department. Senators on the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee voted 5-4 against approving the fee proposal. Members of the House Ways and Means Committee didn’t vote because the proposal had already failed to get Senate support.