Redistricting Session To Be Held In March

House Speaker Jim Tucker says the special legislative session to redraw the state's political district lines is expected to be scheduled for late March.

Tucker said Monday that three weeks will be set aside for the redistricting session. The session is required to rework congressional, legislative, Public Service Commission and state education board districts to account for population shifts over the last decade.

The session is expected to be a contentious one because post-Hurricane Katrina population shifts will force significant changes in the political maps, and Louisiana is predicted to lose a congressional seat due to population declines.

The redistricting is tied to the release of the 2010 Census data, which lawmakers expect to receive in early February. The U.S. Justice Department must approve the redrawn districts before they can be used in the fall 2011 elections.