Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said building code enhancements for the state’s coastal regions should be on the agenda when lawmakers eventually meet in a regular or special session in 2025.
“We need to have it in the mix,” Temple said on the LaPolitics Report podcast that will be released publicly Monday on Apple and Spotify. “If you look at our neighboring states … they have higher requirements for coastal parishes, [or] coastal counties.”
Temple told LaPolitics Report host Jeremy Alford locations with ocean views have been swamped with new residents over the past couple of decades and that enhancing building techniques to weather Gulf of Mexico storms could mean the difference between staying where they are or migrating north.
The first-term Republican commissioner, who was formerly an insurance executive before assuming elected office, identified Alabama as one of a handful of states that has convinced its most at-risk residents to embrace stronger building codes.
“They require [a] fortified roof-building code standard as a start,” Temple said. “And guess what? They have affordable insurance on their coast.”
Balancing new regulations and listening to the concerns of those who have to carry them out will be key to passage and implementation, he said.
“It’s the right thing to do, you know?” the commissioner asked on the podcast. “If you’re going to live in a coastal parish in Louisiana that is going to be exposed to hurricane-force winds, we need to make sure those homes are built to withstand those the best we can without overly-burdening the builder with excessive costs. You have to afford the house, but you also have to afford the insurance.”
Those who build to code can expect a discount on insurance, Temple said, but the concept provides much more than that for consumers.
“Your contents are going to stay dry,” Temple said. “Your shingles are going to stay on your home. You’ll be able to get back in your home as soon as utilities return.”
Before Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita made landfall in 2005 there were no aggressive, comprehensive building codes for coastal Louisiana and neighboring states like Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.
In Louisiana, the State Uniform Construction Code was actually enacted in the same year and homeowners were offered financial incentives in the form of insurance premium discounts.
“It works,” said Temple, later adding, “Building codes are the way to go.”
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Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1
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