| Good Morning, The Louisiana Legislature has entered the final week of a special session aimed at redrawing district lines of elected officials to fit shifts in the population. Lawmakers must complete their work by 6 p.m. Sunday. They finished their most onerous task Monday night with the passage in the state Senate of 39 reapportioned seats for the upper chamber and 105 new maps in the Louisiana House. Though Black senators and representatives chafed at maps that created seats likely to elect two-thirds Republican majorities in both chambers for the next decade, they were ignored and both bills passed with overwhelming majorities. The Senate bill and the House measure have to be cleared by the other chamber, but traditionally representatives and senators accept each other’s new districts, unless some minor problems are discovered. Thinking is that now that their seats are safe, legislators will make quick work of passing, basically, status quo maps that preserve Republican strength on the Board of Elementary & Secondary Education and in the U.S. Congress. The Louisiana Supreme Court districts haven’t been redrawn since the 1990s but passing anything at all would require two-thirds of both chambers to agree. For the elected officials whose district lines require a simple majority to pass, the growth of minority populations and the decline in the numbers of White people suggested that BESE could pick up a third Black majority seat and the U.S. Congress could have a second district drawn in ways that would give Black candidates a fighting chance to be elected. Indeed, almost two dozen alternatives were floated and shot down in committee or on the floors of one of the chambers. That leaves only maps that can be passed with only Republican votes. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards could veto the bills. He has said he’d like to see a second minority-majority congressional district but has indicated that under certain circumstances he’d be okay with maps without one. Other Democratic executives governing states with GOP majorities in their general assemblies had their vetoes overridden. If Edwards vetoes the maps, and whether or not that veto is sustained, the whole matter likely will be sorted out in federal courts. Redistricting may be the biggest political story right now but it’s not the only one. Louisiana House leaders announced a committee has been formed to investigate the death of Black motorist Ronald Greene at the hands of State Police and the Department of Education is chafing that required criminal background checks for teachers are taking so long. As always, check throughout the day for the latest Louisiana political news at theadvocate.com/politics or NOLA.com/politics and on Twitter at @MarkBallardCNB, @tegbridges, @samkarlin, @blakepater, @WillSentell. Here are a dozen articles, commentaries and editorials that will catch you up for the week to come. One last item: Thank you to our subscribers. Your support means a great deal to us. If you're not yet a subscriber, we’ve got a special offer you can check out here. – Mark Ballard | 