Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023
Good morning and welcome back. This week, we look at the fate of the battle over state’s electoral maps and how resourceful local lawmakers are taking advantage of the General Assembly’s special session to advance economic development proposals in Coastal Georgia. And in case you missed it, there’s plenty to ponder in a story about the state’s bulging coffers and a report about how Georgia’s county governing structures have been slow to reflect the state’s changing demographic and political makeup. Questions, comments, story ideas? Email me at craig.thecurrent@gmail.com.
Let the courts decide
With just four days remaining until the deadline for Georgia’s legislature to submit new voting maps to a federal judge, Republican and Democratic lawmakers meeting in Atlanta traded accusations over whether the GOP plans will pass legal muster.
Speaking on the House floor on Friday, Republican Rep. Rob Leverett of Elberton, chairman of the reapportionment and redistricting committee, said the House’s plan “fully complies” with the order by U.S. District Steve Jones to draw five additional Black-majority districts in the House and two additional Black-majority districts in the Senate to mirror increases in Georgia’s Black population in the last decade.
Rep. Sam Park of Lawrenceville, whip of the House Democratic caucus, disagreed.
He said that the House Republican map proposes five new majority Black districts but takes away two other majority minority ones, for a net of only three additional majority minority districts.
That House proposal “violates the spirit of the Voting Rights Act, and we believe it probably violates the letter of the law, as well,” Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook of Savannah later said.
As the clock winds down towards the deadline, there appears to be little incentive for either side to bend, especially with members of both the state House and Senate all up for reelection next November, The Current’s Craig Nelson writes.
Instead, lawmakers from both parties appear to be betting that the courts will do their work for them. In the case of the Democrats, that means that Jones will rule the maps inadequate and appoint a special master to do the job. “It is a map that Judge Jones can and should reject,” Park said.
As for Republicans, reliance on the courts means trusting that any maps produced by Jones and his special master won’t survive a challenge in 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where conservative judges appointed by former President Donald Trump hold sway.
An opportune moment
When Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the state legislature in late October to convene in a special session to redraw Georgia’s voting maps, he was careful to limit its agenda.
But tucked into the proclamation summoning lawmakers to Atlanta was a provision allowing lawmakers to “enact, revise, repeal or amend local laws” that if delayed until the regularly scheduled session in January, would cause “undue hardship” or “undue impairment” of “public functions.”
A group of state lawmakers from Coastal Georgia — Reps. Ron Stephens, Edna Jackson, and Anne Allen Westbrook of Savannah and Bill Hitchens of Rincon — wasted no time of in taking advantage of that clause in the governor’s summons to Atlanta, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
Instead of waiting for the regular legislative session to begin the second week of January, they introduced a bill last week that would advance the creation of a special development zone on Savannah’s waterfront.
They also proposed legislation that would stage for the expansion of Garden City into unincorporated sections of Chatham County — a measure that, if approved, could expand the city’s area and population by as much as half, according to Gilliard.
It was an opportune moment to introduce the bills because “we knew the governor was looking at ways” like extension of the moratorium on the state fuel tax to bring economic relief and encourage development, he said.
ICYMI
- “Gov. Kemp Proposes Acceleration of Largest Income Tax Cut in State History” (Office of Gov. Brian Kemp, Nov. 4, 2023) “This legislation will amend HB 1437, which provides for a step down of 10 basis points in the income tax rate, starting in 2025 and for each taxable year thereafter until the rate reaches 4.99 percent. By accelerating the reduction, the rate for Tax Year 2024 will be 5.39 percent, rather than the 5.49 percent set by HB 1437. This will mark a cut of 36 basis points from the Tax Year 2023 rate of 5.75 percent.”
- “From nearly zero to $16 billion: How the state of Georgia’s reserves surged” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 3, 2023) “With $16 billion banked, another big tax cut, higher salaries in at least some high-turnover areas — such as the prisons and juvenile justice system — and an increase in spending in some agencies is likely to be on the table during the upcoming 2024 General Assembly session, even though the growth in tax collections has slowed most of this year.”
- “Local Lockout in Georgia” (Brennan Center for Justice, Nov. 28, 2023) “County electoral structures block growing communities of color from achieving fair representation. Interference by the state legislature has exacerbated the problem.”
- “Other cities take note as New York City tells Airbnb: Fuhgeddaboudit”(Route Fifty, Dec. 1, 2023) “The aim of the crackdown is to return thousands of possible long-term rental units to the city’s housing market, which is short on available and affordable options. If New York City’s approach is successful, policy experts think other cities might emulate the city’s restrictions.”
Savannah lawmakers push River Street, Garden City during special session
By Craig Nelson
Instead of waiting for the regular legislative session, they introduced bills that would advance the creation of a special development zone on Savannah’s waterfront, start Garden City expansion effort.
Georgia lawmakers rush toward deadline for new voting maps
By Craig Nelson
Georgia House and Senate swapped maps Monday in preparation for a vote to accept them later this week.
A bigger Garden City? Bill would OK vote to expand to south
By The Current
The expansion would add areas in unincorporated Chatham including parts of Berwick, Georgetown, extending from its current boundaries on U.S. 17/Ogeechee Road south to Abercorn Extension.
Money crunch, new law force Walthourville early voters to cast ballots miles from city
By Robin Kemp
Because the early voting sites are part of the countywide election plan, any changes would have to go through state elections officials at the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. Such changes, like adding an early voting location within Walthourville city limits, would cost the city money it doesn’t have.
Georgia lawmakers exchange sharp words as GOP-drawn political maps clear key vote Friday
By Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder and Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Republicans say maps meet judge’s specifications; Democrats say moves are a game to move Black voters around without fixing problem.
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