[StBernard] McCrery, McCollister Join Campaign Team

[Westley Annis]

February 13, 2007	 
 	 
Dear friends,

McCrery, McCollister Join Campaign Team

Last week I was honored to announce that Northwest Louisiana Congressman Jim
McCrery will serve as my campaign chair, with Baton Rouge publisher Rolfe
McCollister serving as treasurer.

As we prepare for the race for Governor later this year, both Jim and Rolfe
offer invaluable experience and will play important and active roles in the
campaign to ensure we are successful in October. Jim represents the Fourth
Congressional District in Louisiana and serves on the powerful Ways and
Means Committee. His expertise in fundamental tax reform, economic growth
and making health care more available and affordable will be important in
our campaign as we discuss these issues and develop an aggressive plan to
move Louisiana forward.

Rolfe, who is president and publisher of Louisiana Business, Inc., which
publishes the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, has been a leader in the
business community for years and has a passion for the economic development
of our state.

I thought you might enjoy reading an article that was published in the
Shreveport Times about the announcement. You can read the article here
<http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070208/BREAKING
NEWS/70208021> .

This great announcement came just two days after I let you know of the
letter Senator David Vitter released announcing his support for our
campaign. These announcements are representative of the growing support we
continue to see as we travel across the state. To get involved in our
campaign you can sign up to volunteer here.
<http://www.bobbyjindal.com/volunteer.php> 

Tackling our Insurance Crisis

As the rebuilding process following the landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita now hits the 18 month mark, it is becoming increasingly obvious that
our current insurance system is incapable of handling catastrophic disasters
like the hurricanes of 2005. Too many homeowners and business owners either
cannot find insurance coverage or cannot afford the coverage that is
available.

In order to fight this disturbing trend, I have worked with my colleagues in
Congress in a bipartisan way to introduce two bills that will help insure
people from wind and flood damage in future disasters, as well as protect
against artificially inflated insurance prices.

The first bill, the Multiple Peril Insurance Act, will create a multiple
peril reinsurance program within the National Flood Insurance Program. The
new optional program would offer coverage of wind and flood damage in one
policy, without requiring policyholders to distinguish wind damage from
flood damage. This would not just be limited to hurricanes, but would also
offer protection for others around the state if a destructive tornado, like
the F3 tornado that hit Olla in North Louisiana back in 2004, were to
unexpectedly hit. Louisiana ranks fifth in the nation per square mile on the
frequency of tornadoes that hit our state. The federal government aided
businesses and individuals struggling to purchase terrorism insurance after
September 11th, 2001, and the people along the Gulf Coast deserve the same
help.

The second bill will remove the existing exemption from antitrust laws that
has frustrated state attempts to regulate the insurance industry and to
protect consumers through lower premiums.

With the current antitrust laws, the possibility remains that insurance
companies can collude to set prices. The last thing our residents need is
for insurance companies to set rates artificially high, and by giving the
state more oversight, we can remove this as a possibility.

Meeting with Ouachita Delegation

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with delegation members from
Ouachita Parish who were on Capitol Hill to reaffirm support for some
important projects, such as the Greater Ouachita Port and the ULM School of
Pharmacy.

Our meeting allowed me the chance to sit down with these area leaders and
share ideas on what we can do to bring economic opportunities not just to
Northeast Louisiana, but for the rest of the state as well. I look forward
to sharing some of these ideas later as the campaign gets started.

I hope you have a wonderful week, and please feel free to contact my office
if we can be of any assistance to you.

Sincerely,
Bobby Jindal