Chamber President and CEO Rob Guidry is set to testify before the Louisiana Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which is charged with redrawing congressional districts. Guidry was on hand last week to lobby the committee by urging it to keep the two parishes in the same district with Lafayette and Lake Charles.

At least two bills which retained the two parishes did not make it out of committee. Other bills under consideration have excluded the two parishes. Instead, they have been redrawn into a district with Shreveport in north Louisiana.

"We're stressing that historically Jeff Davis and Acadia parishes are similar culturally, economically and politically,” said Guidry. "One example is that our four-year-old Acadiana Regional Alliance includes both.”

Chamber representatives have previously testified at public hearings to keep the contiguous I-10 corridor parishes in southwestern Louisiana intact.

The state legislature is currently in special session because of its responsibility to reapportion the state's congressional districts to reflect population shifts as identified by the recent U.S. Census.