By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

An Alabaster state senator and a Columbiana state representative said they are pleased with a pair of redistricting plans approved by the Alabama Legislature’s permanent committee on reapportionment May 19.

Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said he was against a state congressional district reapportionment plan proposed by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa. Allen’s plan would have left Shelby County in the 6th Congressional District, but would have divided Bibb County between the 6th and 7th District.

A congressional district determines Alabama’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I opposed that effort,” said Ward, who is a member of the reapportionment committee. “That plan would have divided up the 6th District even more than it already is.”

But the reapportionment committee ruled out Allen’s plan in favor of another plan, which leaves the 6th and 7th districts relatively unchanged. Shelby County will not see any change as a result of the new plan.

Because the 6th District saw no significant changes in the plan recommended by the reapportionment committee, Ward and state Rep. Mike Hill, R-Columbiana, said they supported the committee’s actions.

The plan to redraw the congressional districts likely will be taken up by the Alabama Legislature next week, Ward said.

If the congressional redistricting plan is approved by the Legislature, the plan would give each of the state’s seven congressional districts nearly an equal amount of voters, Hill said.

“It’s pretty close. I think all the districts are within one vote of each other,” said Hill, who is also a member of the reapportionment committee. “We just have to hold it together when it gets to the (Legislature) floor.”

The committee also approved a plan to redraw the state’s eight Board of Education districts. However, the new plan would not bring any changes to Shelby County, Ward said. The Board of Education redistricting plan likely will also be voted on by the Legislature next week.

Next year, the Legislature will redraw the state’s legislative districts, which determine representation on both houses of the Alabama Legislature.

Although the congressional and Board of Education redistricting plans likely will bring no changes to Shelby County, next year’s state Legislature redistricting plans could bring major changes to the county, Ward said.

“There have been some big population shifts in our area over the last 10 years, so Shelby County possibly may get another legislative district,” Ward said.