Mo. Senate, House to negotiate on redistricting

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- State senators have agreed to negotiate with House members to settle a stalemate over how to redraw Missouri's congressional districts.

The Senate and House have each passed their own plans about how to consolidate Missouri's nine current districts into eight based on the 2010 Census. The changes are necessary because of population shifts within the state and because Missouri's population growth has lagged behind that of the nation's.

Both the House and Senate maps would place St. Louis into a single district instead of the two current districts represented by Democrats William Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan. But they differ in how to draw boundaries in the St. Louis suburbs and central and southern Missouri.

Republican senators met behind closed doors Wednesday before finally agreeing to negotiate with the House.