Central’s Influence Rides on Senate Reapportionment Plan

March 29, 2011 0 Comments

By Woody Jenkins.

CENTRAL — The Louisiana Legislature called itself into a 25-day Special Session last Sunday to reapportion Louisiana’s Congressional districts, State House, State Senate, Public Service Commission, and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

For Central, district lines for these governmental bodies are expected to remain virtually identical, expect for the State Senate.

In fact, for Central, the Special Session all boils down to one issue: Whether Central will be the population center of a new State Senate district or whether Central will be carved up among other districts and marginalized. (Click here for current version of SB 1 by Sen. Joel Chaisson. Central is included in proposed District 6. See Maps and statistics.)

Sen. Dale Erdey (R-Livingston) is on a mission to make sure Central has at least a fighting chance to have its own senator.

Central, with its growing population and infrastructure needs, has two members of the State House — Reps. Clif Richardson and Bodi White — but has never had its own senator.

At least five major Senate reapportionment plans are under consideration in the State Senate. The plan most likely to pass in some form is the plan introduced by Senate President Joel Chaisson. It was passed out of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday. It would split Central into two parts. The southern part would be in a district overwhelmingly dominated by Livingston Parish. The northern part of Central would be in a district that circles the outskirts of East Baton Rouge Parish all the way to Iberville. It would be almost impossible for Central to elect a Senator in either district for the next 10 years.

Some other plans, such as one introduced by Sen. Elcee Guillory, make Central the base of a new Senate district. Under Guillory’s plan, a new Senate District 3 would include a small part of southeast Baton Rouge, all of Central, Pride, parts of Zachary, and parts of East and West Feliciana. Central would be the dominant population group in the district.

As in the Chaisson plan, Sen. Dale Erdey’s current district includes most of Livingston Parish and the southern part of Central. Now, with Livingston’s explosive population growth, his district needs to shed a lot of population in order to reach the target of 110,000.

Behind the scenes, Erdey worked on changes to the Chaisson plan. He likes an amendment to Chaisson’s plan that would create a district that, like Guillory’s plan, begins in southeast Baton Rouge and includes almost all of Central. But, unlike the Guillory plan, this proposed district goes east through St. Helena, picks up a bit of Livingston, and includes about half of Tangipahoa Parish, all the way to Ponchatoula. The amendments to the Chaisson plan were adopted by the committee Thursday.

“This configuration seems a bit odd but it gives East Baton Rouge a fifth senator, and it gives Central a district that leans conservative,” Erdey said. The demographics of the two plans are as follows:

Guillory Plan

• Includes 97,930 from East Baton Rouge; 10,666 from East Feliciana, and 2,129 from West Feliciana. Voter registration is 75.6 percent white and 20.2 percent black.

Chaisson Plan Amendment

• Includes 66,800 from East Baton Rouge; 1,700 from Livingston; 3,970 from St. Helena, and 47,800 from Tangipahoa. Voter registration is 78.5 percent white and 20 percent black.

The Chaisson bill is scheduled to be considered as Special Order of the Day in the Senate on Tuesday. After passage, the bill will go to the State House. Traditionally, the House defers to the Senate’s reapportionment plan for the Senate, and vice versa.

Photo by Woody Jenkins