Mo. Senate panel approves new congressional districts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis would lose a congressman and most of northern Missouri would be wrapped into a single U.S. House district under a plan unveiled and approved Monday by a Senate committee.

The map, endorsed without dissent by the bipartisan Senate Committee on Redistricting, resembles a plan being considered in the House as state lawmakers try to redraw the boundaries of the state's congressional districts. Missouri lost one of its nine U.S. House seats after the 2010 census found that the state's 7 percent population growth over the past decade did not keep pace with the nation.

The Senate map groups two congressional districts that currently cover St. Louis city -- held by Democratic U.S. Reps. William Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan -- into the 1st Congressional District that also would cover part of St. Louis County. Elsewhere in the St. Louis-area, the 2nd Congressional District would take the rest of St. Louis County and parts of St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson counties.

Sen. Scott Rupp, chairman of the Senate redistricting panel, said population changes and not politics dictated the proposed map. The new census data shows that the population over the past decade has increased in southwestern Missouri and several of the outer suburbs around St. Louis, while the population of St. Louis city declined by about 8 percent and St. Louis County also lost people.

"We just looked at it as a big math problem in trying to redraw these lines and make them all equal and as compact as possible," said Rupp, R-Wentzville.

The congressional districts that were proposed last week by a GOP House leader also consolidate St. Louis city into one district. The Senate and House plans have some differences but largely outline similar changes.

Away from St. Louis, both maps extend Republican Rep. Sam Graves' 6th Congressional District from northwestern Missouri east to the Mississippi River. The 5th Congressional District in Kansas City would gain parts of Clay County and go east to several largely rural counties.

The House and Senate plans have taken different approaches for the 8th Congressional District in Southeast Missouri.

The Senate version would extend that district north to pick up part of Jefferson County near St. Louis. The House map would give the district a greater share of Jefferson County -- though that has prompted criticism from some Southeast Missouri lawmakers.

House Speaker Steven Tilley said Monday that his chamber's map was better and that it should not matter how much of Jefferson County the 8th District includes.

Rep. John Diehl, the chairman of the House committee responsible for redistricting, said the proposals are largely identical.

"There's certainly a consensus that's starting to build," said Diehl, R-Town and Country.

The new congressional districts would be approved as legislation. Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon could veto the final proposal, which would force lawmakers to decide whether to try to override it with a two-thirds vote.

Republicans control more than two-thirds of the state Senate and are just shy of that in the House.

Online:

Proposed Redistricting Maps: http://apne.ws/fmHMVv

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov