Two new Alabama congressional district maps supported by Republicans advanced another step in the Alabama Legislature on Thursday, one day before a deadline set by a federal court to approve a map.

The House of Representatives has passed a plan sponsored by Rep. Chris Pringle, R-Mobile. The Senate has passed a plan sponsored by Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro.

Both plans won approval in committees on Thursday to set up votes in the two chambers on Friday. Lawmakers will have to agree on one of the two plans or a compromise version to meet the court deadline.

Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said he expects that to happen.

“I think we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to do, our job, which is to put all the ideas on the table, both chambers engaged completely, and then we’ll move forward to see where things go,” Reed said Thursday. “Obviously we’re going to come to some agreement between the two chambers and that’s very important for all of us.”

Democrats oppose the plans and have proposed alternatives. But Republicans hold about three-fourths of the seats in both chambers.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a ruling by a three-judge federal district court, which found that Alabama’s current map, with one majority Black district out of seven, most likely violates the Voting Rights Act in a state where one-fourth of the residents are Black.

The three-judge district court said that to fix the violation, Alabama would need to redraw the map to create a second majority Black district or one that is close to majority Black, a district where Black voters would have an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.

Neither Republican plan adds a second majority Black district. Both would leave District 7, which covers much of west Alabama, as the only majority Black district.

Both plans would increase the Black voting age population in District 2, which is represented by Congressman Barry Moore, R-Enterprise.

The district covers southeast Alabama and now has a Black voting age population of 30%. The Pringle plan would increase that to 42%. The Livingston plan would increase it to 38%. Pringle and Livingston said they believe their plans comply with the Voting Rights Act by making District 2 a district where Black voters would have an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice.

Democratic lawmakers have disagreed and voted against the plans.

Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, told Livingston he did not think a 38% Black voting age population created an opportunity district for Black voters.

“So I’ve got an opportunity to lose?” Singleton said.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said lawmakers do not have key information about the plans — an analysis of recent voting history in the proposed new District 2 that tells more than just the Black voting age population. Smitherman said the information, which he called a functionality report, should be available but he has not received it.

Smitherman and Singleton sponsored alternative plans that they said would have made District 6, which would include Jefferson County, an opportunity district for Black voters with a Black voting age population of about 40%. That’s because an analysis going back to 2012 showed that more white voters in Jefferson County will support Democratic candidates than in most other parts of the state, Smitherman said.

“They are willing to look at candidates based on the candidate, and the party doesn’t have anything to do with that, necessarily, or the race,” Smitherman said. “They’re open-minded enough to look at people and say that I think that candidate is the best person that we ought to have.”

Smitherman said lawmakers need the same kind of analysis on the plans they will be voting on Friday. Singleton said he believes that information is available but that it has not been shared with lawmakers.

“These demographers cannot draw a map without a functionality report,” Singleton said. “They know exactly how a district is going to function. They’re not drawing something blind and say, here you go, when they don’t know what the results are going to be.”

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