LaPolitics: Is your membership pleased with the progress so far of legislation meant to address the legal climate and insurance costs experienced by the trucking industry?
LMTA Executive Director Renee Amar: We are very pleased thus far with the progress made to address the legal climate. I have been incredibly impressed with the leadership of both chambers, especially Speaker [Phillip] DeVillier and the freshman lawmakers in the House. I feel cautiously optimistic. We just need the Senate to finish what the House started. And make no mistake, this is just the beginning. We have years of work to do to make trucking insurance accessible and affordable.
How would you describe the level of support from Gov. Jeff Landry and his team for your agenda?
Truckers need help with decades old burdensome regulatory structures that are solely invested in maintaining the status quo in Louisiana. The newly appointed leaders of [the Department of Transportation and Development] and the Louisiana State Police are a breath of fresh air for truckers. Those leaders will go a long way in implementing the governor’s vision of our state being open for business.
What are the LMTA’s other biggest priorities for this session and the rest of this term?
Insurance. Insurance. Insurance. Even if everything passed on our agenda for this year, there is still more work to do to level the playing field. I also have unique issues with different segments of the membership, and we are working on some of those issues this session. Lastly, I want truckers to be able to operate in the state with ease, but the regulatory burden here is heavy handed. As everyone is looking to align Louisiana with other states who are successfully growing jobs and their economy, truckers look to do the same things.
Under what circumstances, if any, can the Louisiana Motor Transport Association support tolls for roads and bridges?
I’m not sure that there is a world where truckers would support tolls. There might be a situation where we didn’t oppose them. Broadly, truckers support a modest increase in the gas tax to fund highways. I’m not going to bore you with all of the details around our opposition to tolls, but essentially, it’s a tax increase that some folks like to call a user fee.
THEY SAID IT: “Charge his ass with extortion.” —Acadiana Congressman Clay Higgins, on Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and planned regulations for the Baton Rouge-to-New Orleans industrial corridor, via Twitter
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