News Currents
La.’s Gov. Blanco calls special session
Despite calls from some legislators to wait, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco called for a special session of the state legislature to meet Dec. 8 through 17. The focus of the session will be on taxes, roads, insurance costs and wages, the governor’s announcement said. The agenda includes ways to bail out the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., to stop it from passing on the costs of its $1 billion debt for hurricane claims to all homeowners.
The Associated Press reported that many legislators and policy groups wanted Blanco to postpone or scrap the session entirely. The state has an almost $2 billion budget surplus, but those opposing the special session apparently feel the governor’s plan to spend it is vague and lacks sufficient legislative input.
But Blanco pressed on, officially calling for the session on Dec. 2. “Consensus was reached last month regarding dates and session priorities in meetings with legislative leaders,” she said in the announcement. “Both Democrat and Republican delegations were consulted. While it is regrettable that certain individuals feel that they may be inconvenienced by this session, I am convinced that most people will agree that it is important to deliver immediate tax relief to Louisiana businesses and families, refund the LA Citizen’s assessment paid by homeowners across our state, make a real investment to improve our roads and provide fair salaries to teachers, state employees and first responders.”
Several lawmakers had sought a session dealing mainly with insurance issues, looking at comprehensive ways to re-attract insurers after the hurricanes and stop insurance costs from continuing to rise, the AP reported. Legislators said politically popular pay raises and other spending proposals weren’t urgent and could wait until the regular session in April.
Ark. agent pleads guilty
A Pocahontas, Ark., insurance agent entered a negotiated plea of guilty to two counts of Insurance Fraud and one count of Theft by Deception in Randolph County Circuit Court on Oct. 30, 2006, according to Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman.
Carolyn Dixon, the owner of Dixon Insurance in Pocahontas, was sentenced to twelve months probation and ordered to pay $2,336.50 in restitution, a $500 fine, a $250 public defender’s fee and $150 in court costs. The plea was negotiated by Richard Castleman, the Randolph County deputy prosecutor.
Dixon was accused of altering declaration pages, invoices and other documents provided to clients to falsely reflect higher charges than were actually charged by the insurance broker, carriers and finance companies in order to extract higher fees from her clients.
In addition, she was accused of filing an inflated claim with her insurance carrier for repairs to her office and of knowingly employing a person convicted of a felony involving dishonesty in her insurance business without the written consent of the insurance commissioner, as required by law.
The Criminal Investigation Division’s Jacquie Harper investigated Dixon.