Lawmakers To Have Special Session In March

House Speaker Jim Tucker says lawmakers will return to Baton Rouge in late March for a special session on redrawing political lines in Louisiana. Tucker estimates the redistricting session will take three weeks and it will require the redrawing of Congressional, legislative and Public Service Commission district lines. The session is expected to be contentious as Louisiana is predicted to lose a Congressional seat. Tucker says post-Katrina population shifts will also force significant changes in the political maps. Lawmakers are expected to receive the necessary Census data to draw up the new lines early next year. (The US Justice Department must approve Louisiana's redrawn districts.)