BATON ROUGE — After weeks of marathon debates and discussions on Louisiana’s congressional maps, the state senate approved the final version of Senate Bill 121 on Friday with little further discussion.

State Senators voted within 45 minutes of the discussion starting. Sen. Jay Morris, the bill's author, said the outcome reflected the democratic process."Their voice was heard. The majority rules. That's democracy. The Greeks invented it," Morris said.

Democratic lawmakers say the map cuts out minority representation. "Louisiana has decided once again that in this race to the bottom that we are on as a nation, Louisiana has decided to lead the charge," Sen. Royce Duplessis said.

Morris insisted race was not a factor in creating SB 121. "You can look at party and not look at race," Morris said.

Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. United States, multiple Republican-led states have redrawn congressional maps ahead of elections. A lower court rejected Alabama's new maps for being intentionally discriminatory. When asked if the same could happen in Louisiana, Duplessis pointed to other states that held off.

"I just want to say not all southern states have chosen to do it in this way. South Carolina pumped the brakes. Even Mississippi said they were not going to do it at this time while congressional races were going on," Duplessis said.

Meanwhile, the bill’s author acknowledged that legal challenges were likely, no matter the outcome. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill on Friday afternoon.

While attention has been focused on the maps, other budget-related bills have moved along with less attention.  Gov. Landry said this week he wants teachers to be paid more, potentially through a stipend, which would require changes to the state's $47 billion budget.

Duplessis said the focus on maps has come at a cost.

"We don't give that kind of debate and focus to the issues that really matter, which is paying our teachers," Duplessis said.

Friday HB 1, the state budget passed the House of Representatives unanimously, but stipends were not included for teachers. That decision could be up to the governor.