HB 418 by Rep. Stuart Bishop and SB 204 by Sen. Danny Martiny will prohibit the automatic deduction of union dues by state and local government.  

Government resources should be used solely for activities leading to the proper and efficient execution of governmental functions. Collecting union dues is not such an activity. These dues are collected and remitted at taxpayer expense for unions to engage in what many believe to be anti-taxpayer activities.

Position:  LHBA supports this bill

 Status:  Passed House Labor Committee 9 yeas to 6 nays. 

 Will flood rate hikes hurt small business? 

 Sen. David Vitter and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials gathered in New Orleans Friday morning (May 1) to discuss how rising flood insurance rates are expected to impact small businesses and economic growth in south Louisiana and other flood-prone regions.

The hearing comes after a hard-fought battle in Congress last year to curb increases that would have resulted in rates double, triple and, in some cases, 10 times the amount Louisiana residents currently pay for coverage.

 The hearing, set up by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which Vitter chairs, was held at 10 a.m. Friday at the Homer L. Hitt Alumni and Visitors Center at the University of New Orleans.

 President Barack Obama signed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act into law last March. Among other provisions, the law caps flood insurance premium increases at no more than 18 percent per year.

 The legislation made changes to the Biggert-Waters Act, a 2012 law intended to make the FEMA-run National Flood Insurance Program solvent.

Though the changes slow the pace of rate increases, it keeps in place a provision that requires the flood program to eventually become self-sufficient through rate increases.

 Speakers with FEMA, the Louisiana Home Builders Association and Coldwell Banker spoke about how the new legislation is expected to affect businesses.

Sen. Bill Cassidy also joined the field hearing as a guest member of the Senate committee.

Speakers at the hearing included:

• Brad Kieserman, FEMA deputy associate administrator for federal insurance;
• Roy Wright, FEMA deputy associate administrator for mitigation;
• Dwayne Bourgeois, executive director for the North Lafourche Conservation, Levee and Drainage District;
• Jerry Passman, immediate past president of the Louisiana Home Builders Association and owner of Passman Homes Inc.; and
• David McKey, broker and owner for Coldwell Banker One