With the special legislative session for reapportionment to convene on Sunday, the congressional delegation’s consensus plan for two north Louisiana districts is meeting with growing resistance from state legislators. At Thursday’s House & Governmental Affairs Committee meeting, Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, unveiled his plan for a single north Louisiana district merging the 4th and 5th, held by Congressmen John Fleming and Rodney Alexander, respectively. In his plan, the south Louisiana districts of Congressmen Charles Boustany, Jeff Landry and Bill Cassidy would reach well into central and north Louisiana. Sources say Harrison’s plan has the backing of House Speaker Jim Tucker. Maps of two of the plans can be viewed at Lapolitics.com.
—Sen. Jody Amedee of Gonzales is the latest Democratic legislator to switch to the Republican Party. There are now 21 Republicans in the upper chamber to 18 Democrats. “I already have a conservative district and my voting record reflects that,” Amedee says. It may get more conservative with redistricting if a new minority seat is drawn in the River Parishes, as expected.
They said it: “This thing is scaring me. Did Stephen King write it?” —Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, on the proposed budget for fiscal 2012
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
