ATLANTA — Georgia’s state Senate adopted a Republican-drawn congressional map on Friday over the objections of Senate Democrats.The Georgia House is expected to follow suit on Monday, ending a months-long partisan battle to decide the state’s political future for the next decade.
The GOP-controlled Senate voted along party lines, 32-21, to approve the map.
The General Assembly has been meeting in special session for two weeks as lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional boundaries to accommodate changes in population reflected in the 2020 U.S. Census.
Lawmakers have already approved new state House and Senate districts during the last two weeks.
The map approved Friday adds more white voters to the 6th Congressional District by extending it north through all of Forsyth and Dawson counties and eastern Cherokee County. As a result, the 6th District’s white voting-age population would increase to 63.7%
That makes the reelection prospects of U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, problematic at best. McBath won the seat representing East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb counties in 2018 after it had been in Republican hands for decades.
Under the new map, the 7th Congressional District would take in most of Gwinnett County and a portion of North Fulton, increasing its concentration of minority voters and, thus, making it safer for freshman Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Lawrenceville.
The map also makes the 2nd Congressional District in Southwest Georgia held by Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, more competitive by slightly lowering its Black voting-age population (VAP) and raising its white VAP.
State Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, who chairs the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, continued stressing, as he has over the past several weeks, that all of the new maps have been drawn in a fair and transparent process.
“This map represents all Georgians, and it has not been gerrymandered,” Kennedy said.
“It’s a pretty map,” he added. “You don’t see funky lines and weirdly drawn lines. It is striking visually.”
After Kennedy spoke, a dozen Senate Democrats went to the well to criticize majority Republicans for drawing a map that likely will give the GOP a 9-5 advantage in Georgia’s congressional delegation, despite wins by Democrats in recent statewide elections that point to a 50-50 partisan split among Peach State voters.
“These gerrymandered maps are an attempt to subvert the will of the people and protect the party in power,” said state Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta.
“There is a driving force behind these changes,” added Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson. “We know that is preserving a Republican majority. That’s the elephant in the room.”
Sen. Gail Davenport, D-Jonesboro, accused Republicans of targeting women of color, while state Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, was critical that the GOP map would essentially destroy McBath’s reelection chances.
Kennedy criticized Democrats and the map’s opponents for not presenting their arguments earlier in the process, instead of on the last day of debate.
“We learned during Thursday’s committee meeting the Georgia Black Legislative Caucus went around the state and gathered all this important information, but no one thought it was good or credible enough to send it to the redistricting committee for inclusion,” Kennedy said.
“Are we talking about real information Democrats want to be included, or are we are just trying to play the game, that our process was insufficient?”
The House redistricting committee will hold a rare Saturday public hearing on the congressional map, with the proposal expected to come before the full chamber on Monday.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A metro Atlanta legislator has prefiled a bill that could lead to the creation of what would become Georgia’s 10th largest city.
State Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, prefiled Senate Bill 324 Thursday to let voters decide whether to create the new municipality of Buckhead City.
The new city would carve about 25 square miles out of Atlanta’s current city limits, about 18% of the city’s land area. It would also include about 20% of the city’s population and cost the city of Atlanta more than $250 million in property, sales and lodging taxes, as well as business license revenues.
Beach’s prefiling means the bill will come up during next year’s regular legislative session. Lawmakers are currently meeting in special session to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries in accordance with new U.S. Census data.
“Since the summer of 2020, the rise in crime throughout the city of Atlanta has been alarming and has caused many citizens to feel for their safety, even in broad daylight,” said Beach. “Over the past few weeks, we have heard testimony first-hand from Buckhead residents who feel their needs are not currently being addressed and what the proposed incorporation would entail.
“Now is the time for citizens in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta to have the ability to determine for themselves whether to form their own city and establish services which would be more responsive to their needs.”
Last month, the House Study Committee on Annexation and Cityhood and the House Governmental Affairs Committee heard testimony from several officials about how a city of Buckhead would impact Atlanta and the state.
Also last month, several Democratic members of the city of Atlanta’s legislative delegation urged Buckhead City supporters to pump the brakes on the proposal.
Bill White, CEO of the Buckhead City Committee, said the new municipality would not financially devastate Atlanta.
“Buckhead City would keep less than 10% of the city of Atlanta’s annual budget, while reducing Atlanta’s population obligations by 20%,” White said.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers took another step Thursday toward determining the state’s political balance of power for the next decade, as a state Senate committee approved a Republican-drawn congressional map.
Voting 9-5 along party lines, the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee approved a map aimed at gaining a seat in Georgia’s congressional delegation by making one metro Atlanta district more friendly to the GOP while leaving another solidly in Democratic hands. Georgia’s U.S. House delegation currently consists of eight Republicans and six Democrats.
The map is now headed toward final approval on the floor of the GOP-controlled Senate. The state House of Representatives is still holding hearings on the map.
The General Assembly has been meeting in special session for two weeks as lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional boundaries to accommodate changes in population reflected in the 2020 U.S. Census.
The map approved Thursday adds more white voters to the 6th Congressional District by extending it north through all of Forsyth and Dawson counties and eastern Cherokee County. As a result, the 6th District’s white voting-age population would increase to 66.63%.
That makes the reelection prospects of U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, problematic at best. McBath won the seat representing East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb counties in 2018 after it had been in Republican hands for decades.
Under the new map, the 7th Congressional District would take in most of Gwinnett County and a portion of North Fulton, increasing its concentration of minority voters and, thus, making it safer for freshman Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Lawrenceville.
The Republican map also makes the 2nd Congressional District in Southwest Georgia held by Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, more competitive by slightly lowering its Black voting-age population (VAP) and raising its white VAP.
Before approving the GOP map, the committee rejected — again, along party lines — a Democrat-authored map introduced by Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain.
The Democratic map made little change to McBath’s district while keeping Bourdeaux’s majority-minority district wholly inside Gwinnett County.
“[The 6th District] will continue to be one of the most competitive in the state under our map,” Butler said.
The Democrats also sought to create an additional majority-minority district by shifting the 10th Congressional District from east Georgia to the western portions of metro Atlanta, reflecting the metro region’s rapid growth during the last decade.
Sen. Michael Rhett, D-Marietta, complained that the Republican map moves the Northwest Georgia district of controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, south into some of the most heavily Black areas of Cobb County.
“That’s not sitting well with my constituents,” he said.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, the committee’s chairman, said the change was made to meet the legal requirements that all congressional districts be virtually even in population. He said the map has to be viewed as a whole, with populations shifts in each district affecting others.
“None of this is done in a vacuum,” he said.
Late last week and early this week, lawmakers passed new state House and Senate maps amid protests from Democrats that the maps were drawn in secret and without enough time for public comment.
Legislative Democrats and civil and voting rights advocates criticized the Republican congressional map at House and Senate committee hearings Wednesday as ignoring communities of interest in favor of giving the GOP a partisan advantage.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Republican lawmakers on Wednesday released a new congressional map that would make one metro Atlanta district more friendly to the GOP while leaving another solidly in Democratic hands.
The General Assembly has been meeting in special session for two weeks as lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional boundaries in accordance with new U.S. Census data.
The new congressional map adds more white voters to Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s 6th Congressional District by extending it north through all of Forsyth and Dawson counties and eastern Cherokee County. As a result, the 6th District’s white voting-age population would increase to 66.63%.
On the other hand, Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux’s 7th District taking in most of Gwinnett County and a portion of North Fulton County would remain a majority-minority district.
An alternative map introduced by the state House and Senate Democratic caucuses would make little change to McBath’s district, leaving it competitive, while keeping Bourdeaux’s majority-minority district wholly inside Gwinnett County.
Legislative Democrats and civil and voting rights advocates criticized the Republican congressional map at House and Senate committee hearings Wednesday as ignoring communities of interest in favor of giving the GOP a partisan advantage.
Maggie Goldman, a Democrat from Johns Creek, complained that moving McBath’s district north through Forsyth and Dawson counties was politically motivated.
“Dawson and Forsyth have nothing to do with Sandy Springs except to create a majority white district,” Goldman told members of the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee.
Others complained that the Republican map packs Black voters into certain districts to dilute their voting strength while spreading out GOP voters to maximize their power.
Rep. Bonnie Rich, R-Suwanee, chairman of the House Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committee, denied the accusations. She said Georgia’s rapid population growth in metro Atlanta during the last decade coupled with population losses in rural South Georgia made it necessary to move districts to the north.
“We drew our maps based on population shifts,” Rich said.
“We think this map fairly represents all Georgians,” added Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, chairman of the Senate redistricting panel. “It is not gerrymandered.’
The two committees will continue discussing the competing congressional maps on Thursday.
Late last week and early this week, lawmakers passed new state House and Senate maps amid protests from Democrats that the maps were drawn in secret and without enough time for public comment.
Capitol Beat Bureau Chief Dave Williams contributed to this report.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia filed another lawsuit Tuesday over President Joe Biden’s controversial OVID vaccine mandates, this time for health care workers.
Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr are seeking to prevent the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing the mandate on workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities.
Like previous court challenges filed by Kemp and Camp, the new lawsuit asserts the vaccine mandate is unlawful and unconstitutional.
According to the lawsuit, the mandate:
Exceeds CMS’ statutory authority under the Social Security Act.
Involves an unlawful attempt to supervise or control the practice of medicine in violation of federal law.
Was issued without statutorily required public notice and comment, violates the Congressional Review Act and is arbitrary and capricious.
Was issued without consulting the appropriate state and local agencies in violation of federal law.
Was issued without public notice and comment for all new rules that will have a significant impact on rural hospitals.
Violates the Spending Clause by placing an unconstitutional condition on receipt of federal funds.
Violates the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine by directing state officers to administer federal law.
Violates the 10th Amendment because the federal government lacks the power to mandate vaccines.
“After health-care heroes went above and beyond the call of duty to keep Americans safe and healthy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Biden is now threatening their livelihood if they refuse COVID-19 vaccination,” said Kemp.
“Yet another unlawful mandate from this administration will only worsen worker shortages in a critical-need area as we continue to balance the everyday healthcare needs of hardworking Georgians and fighting COVID-19.”
“President Biden’s reckless ‘one-size-fits-most’ approach to governing continues to create immense disruption and uncertainty for Georgia businesses and employees,” Carr added. “Georgia health-care providers, particularly those located in our rural areas, cannot afford to lose workers or lessen care services due to the unlawful actions of the federal government.”
Georgia has joined 11 other Republican-led states in filing the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Last month, Kemp and Carr filed suit in the Southern District of Georgia challenging the vaccine mandate for federal contractors. A hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 7.
Earlier this month, Kemp and Carr also filed suit in the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge a vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more workers.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
