The Department of Insurance told the House Appropriations Committee it is seeking a $56.8 million FY26 appropriation while continuing work on market regulation, fraud prevention, and the Louisiana Fortified Homes program.

House Fiscal presented the budget overview: the department's FY26 recommendation is about $56.8 million, with fees and self-generated revenue (insurer assessments, licenses and fees) expected to cover roughly 72 percent of the total. Statutory dedications include the Fortified Homes Fund; House Fiscal noted a $19.7 million decrease in other charges to align authority with the Fortified Homes Fund's projected balance and expected expenditures.

Commissioner (unnamed in the transcript) told members the department will continue consumer-outreach and 'insurance ready' education work and said the agency is collecting more and better data from the market to identify what is working and what is not. He said the department has prioritized anti-fraud work and consumer education as part of its FY26 resource allocation.

Fraud and Fortified Homes: department staff said the fraud unit budget was increased by $1.9 million and that the fraud unit now has 13 employees and a $2.8 million budget to investigate insurance fraud and coordinate with state police and the attorney general where appropriate. Officials said the department added anti-fraud IT and investigative capacity in the FY26 request.

On the Fortified Homes program, officials said: $21.9 million has been paid out to date, approximately $23 million remains in the fund, and about $18.8 million of applications are pending. Department staff noted that the program has completed roughly 2,100'2,200 fortified roofs in about 18 months and that the program is being observed by other states as a scalable model.

Committee members asked about rate trends, the department's regulatory role on rates, the effect of federal flood mapping and NFIP changes on premiums, and how the department can improve plain-language policy documents for consumers. Deputy undersecretary Lance Herring explained a recent federal grant change (Ship/SHIP) to align FY26 authority with the incoming five-year grant award and said the department reduced its FY26 federal request accordingly.

No formal vote was taken. Members asked for follow-up data: the department agreed to provide more detail on fraud caseloads and outcomes, Fortified Homes payout status and geographic distribution, and any analyses that link fortified upgrades to premium reductions.

Quotation examples from the hearing: House Fiscal presented the budget and the commissioner described education and fraud priorities; deputy undersecretary Lance Herring said the department's SHIP federal decrease reflected aligning the budget to a new five-year grant amount.