Despite a federal court order, a special session of the ¶¶Ņõh Legislature ended Saturday after lawmakers said they were unable to agree on a new congressional map that includes a second majority-Black district.
The Senate spent two hours grappling with the issue, then took an hour-long recess to see how proposed changes to a last-ditch bill would work. But Sen. Rick Ward III, R-Port Allen and sponsor of the bill, said there was no path to the measure attracting 20 votes, the minimum needed for Senate approval.
"When you're dealing with something like this, every time you satisfy four people you lose four people," Ward told the Senate. "When you satisfy six people you lose seven over here. It is a difficult task."
U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick on June 6 struck down the map approved by lawmakers earlier this year, which keeps one majority-minority congressional district held by U. S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans.
Dick ordered the Legislature to come up with a new map by Monday, which was the deadline for the six-day special session called by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
The judge has said she would select a map with two majority-Black districts if the Legislature did not. On Friday, she ordered the attorneys in the case to submit proposed maps for her to consider, with a hearing on the issue set for June 29.
Backers of the order said the Legislature had a duty to comply with the federal court. They argued that, since Black residents make up nearly one-third of the population, they should have a chance to fill two of six congressional seats.
Critics said the issue will ultimately be decided by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and possibly the U. S. Supreme Court. They also noted that the map approved in February, and struck down by Dick, won the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature after Edwards vetoed it.
In a statement, the governor blasted the Legislature for failing to come up with a new plan.
"It is disappointing that after every opportunity to do the right thing and create a second majority African-American congressional district as ordered by the U. S. Court for the Middle District the Legislature has once again failed to do so," Edwards said.
"The current map passed by legislators violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act," he said "That is why I vetoed it."
Lawmakers had said for days that any hopes for agreement in the GOP-controlled Legislature appeared futile.
On Friday, a House committee rejected three bills that would add a second majority-Black congressional district. A Senate committee Friday voted 6-3 against a plan by Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, to do the same after testimony that spanned two days.
"There was no will from the Legislature," Fields said after the session ended. "That is why we are where we are in ¶¶Ņõh."
Ward's proposal, Senate Bill 3, would narrowly make the 6th District, held by U. S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, the state's second majority-minority district.
It would be in addition to the 2nd District, which is held by Carter, a former state senator.
However, it also made sweeping changes to other districts statewide, and made the bill a target of massive criticism Saturday.
The legislation would split the Baton Rouge area, which is now largely in Graves' 6th district, into three congressional districts:Ā 6th, 1st and 3rd.
The coast of south ¶¶Ņõh, which is now split between the 1st and 3rd congressional districts, would all be in the 3rd district.
The 5th District, which now encompasses northeast ¶¶Ņõh, would stretch across the state from Caddo Parish in the northwest section to Concordia Parish on the eastern end.
Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, said splitting the Baton Rouge area into three districts would diminish the influence of the region.
"I don't like it because it cuts the parish in three pieces," White said.
Ward, who is leaving the Senate, repeatedly told colleagues he would gladly consider changes in hopes of forging a consensus that could win final approval.
Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, said Ward's map would unfairly lump the coast of Louisiana into a single district despite huge differences between the east and west sides.
"It is going to be tough to come up with a consensus," Allain said.
Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, said the bill could cost ¶¶Ņõh's its sole female member of CongressĀ ā U. S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start.
Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, said Chalmette embodies the definition of one community of interest but it would be split between the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts.
"I absolutely would not be able to support a map that breaks them up like this," Hewitt said.
Edwards said it is ironic that the end of the session occurred one day after the state, for the first time, celebrated Juneteenth as an official state holiday to mark the time when former slaves were told they were free.
He said "it is clear that our African-American brothers and sisters are still fighting for fair representation. ¶¶Ņõh, we can and should do better than this."
Rep. Sam Jenkins, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement that a majority of the Legislature "displayed a flippant attitude toward the court's order."
The sudden end of the session finished a six-day roller coaster on the issue.
On June 12 the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay on Dick's order, which surprised lawmakers after they hoped the special session could be postponed while the issue played out in the courts.
Dick on Thursday rejected a request by Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, to extend her deadline for action until at least June 30.
The judge blasted the House for only devoting 90 minutes to the issue on the first day of the special session, and stopped just short of accusing Schexnayder of ignoring a federal court order.