Well, once again, all the major insurance reform bills died in committees in the state Legislature without even being taken up for a vote or discussion.
For concerned Coast citizen Kevin Buckel this was, apparently, the last straw. He says he’s calling it quits on trying to get some consumer-friendly insurance reform, going to do something less painful and stressful. (I dunno, like maybe hitting himself in the foot with a hammer?)
I’d like to give Buckel a thank you. He tried. And tried. He has pushed for a policyholder “bill of rights” since not long after Katrina. He’s spent untold hours on research, working with Coast lawmakers, and has made many trips to Jackson and no doubt spent a lot of his own money trying to get some improvements for homeowners.
But the state Legislature hasn’t passed any major insurance reform bills since Katrina. Lawmakers have been more concerned, it would appear, with deer baiting, cigarettes, dangerous toys, and beaver population control — you know, the things we really look to state government for — than insurance issues in the part of the state still struggling to rebuild from the worst natural disaster in the state’s history.