Louisiana lawmakers to debate new congressional map Thursday
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Louisiana lawmakers will hear testimony Thursday as they consider moving forward with a proposed congressional map that would reduce Black representation in the state.
Why it matters: Gov. Jeff Landry says a new map is needed before U.S. House elections can resume, so the Republican-led Legislature is racing to pass one before the session ends June 1.
The big picture: The bill — SB 121, from Republican Sen. Jay Morris — goes before a House committee at 9am Thursday.
- House Speaker Phillip DeVillier told Alyse Pfeil of The Times-Picayune that he expects the entire meeting to focus on public testimony, which will likely take several hours.
- Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and a former New Orleans mayor, plans to testify against the bill, officials tell Axios.
- Representatives are working on amendments to the map, but they don't expect to broadly change it, committee chair Rep. Beau Beaullieu told Pfeil.
Catch up quick: Landry suspended U.S. House elections April 30 after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Callais case.
- State senators heard hours of testimony earlier this month before advancing Morris' proposal, which would eliminate one of the state's majority Black districts.
- The proposal would return Louisiana closer to its 2022 congressional map, before courts ordered lawmakers to create a second majority Black district.
- That map has one majority Black district, which is anchored in New Orleans and stretches to Baton Rouge. The others would be majority white and would favor Republicans.
Behind the scenes: Cleo Fields — the representative for the majority Black district in Baton Rouge that would likely flip Republican — told The Times-Picayune he won't run against Troy Carter if the new map puts them in the same district.
- Meanwhile, Republicans are tweaking the proposed majority white Baton Rouge district in ways that political watchers say will benefit specific politicians hoping to run for the new seat, Pfeil writes.
How it works: Louisiana gets six voting districts for the U.S. House. See the current map.
- Currently, four are majority white and represented by white Republicans: Steve Scalise, Mike Johnson, Clay Higgins and Julia Letlow.
- Two are majority Black and represented by Black Democrats: Carter and Fields.
- Fields' district was added in 2024 in response to a lawsuit from Black voters arguing they were underrepresented.
What's next: The bill needs to get enough votes to advance out of committee to go to the full House.
- If approved by both chambers, the bills goes to the governor.