Private session set on districts

• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Sep 24, 2009 - Page: 1A

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Legislative committees taking the lead role in redrawing legislative, congressional and other election district lines are planning a closed two-day retreat in central Louisiana.

“We will be limiting the access to our respective committees and staff persons,” House and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rick Gallot said Wednesday.

“It’s an educational training workshop that we are doing,” the Ruston Democrat said.

The House’s top lawyer said Wednesday that the nonpublic session is legal because it is purely educational and no votes will be taken.

“They are getting educated on the law and how redistricting has affected the state since 1970,” House Clerk Alfred “Butch” Speer said. “This is purely presentation of information to members.”

House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown, said he has authorized per diem, travel expenses and hotel costs for the committee members attending the session.

Tucker said it is necessary to have the meeting behind closed doors “so they (legislators) can have open discussions” which could be otherwise inhibited.

The special meeting will be followed in the coming months with public hearings around the state to familiarize those interested in the redistricting process and encourage public participation in the 2010 census, Gallot said.

Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Robert Kostelka, R-Monroe, did not return four telephone messages Wednesday seeking comment. Three calls were placed to his legislative office and one to his cell phone.

Population shifts in the last decade will necessitate the reshaping of election districts throughout the state. The process is dictated by the U.S. Constitution and occurs every 10 years.

Population losses and gains are a key in the drawing of legislative, congressional and other election districts to ensure one-man, one-vote — that one person’s vote doesn’t have more weight than another.

The Louisiana Legislature will tackle the job of redrawing legislative, congressional, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and other district lines in 2011.

Members of the House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees are scheduled to meet Oct. 1-2 at the old England Air Force Base in Alexandria.