BATON ROUGE - After nine hours of committee hearings stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning, Louisiana State Senators passed a congressional map through the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.

According to political consultant Mary-Patricia Wray, the map is similar to a previous district map, which was contested in court in 2022, and a previous iteration that was passed after the 2010 census.

"This is pretty much a rewind, and it looks a lot like a 20-22 map," Wray said.

Activist George Jarrett, Jr., said he watched as speakers gave their testimony and was ultimately surprised by the final vote. Jarret said the majority of speakers supported a map by State Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales, that would have made it more likely to elect two African-American members of the House.

The bill passed by State Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, has one majority-Black district, one fewer than the map struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

Ultimately, Wray says, the effects of this map will be felt in individual communities across the state.

"Communities in Shreveport are impacted by the fact that they're now lumped in solely with communities east and west of there, in parishes that are homogenous and really don't have the same types of problems and needs," Wray said.

The map is headed to the full Senate for consideration, and the legislative session is scheduled to end on June 1.