(Wednesday September 7, 2011) In 2001, the Democratic Party in Georgia barely clung to power. The state, at that time, was moving ever closer toward a Republican majority. When the Democrats began the redistricting process, they knew the only way they could attempt to retain power was to gerrymander the districts in such a way that Republicans would have a difficult time getting elected to office.
Well, it didn’t work. After weeks of work during a special session – a session where secret maps were drawn and unreleased until well into the process – the new districts looked outrageous. Lawsuits followed and the process began again a couple of years later to repair the damage. Ultimately, the Democrats did not succeed in their goal and Georgia followed its path toward a Republican majority.
Over the summer, the Republicans were required to perform the 10-year redistricting process. Lucky for us, we were not under the same predicament as the 2001 Democrats. As Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, the chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, said from the well of the Senate, this was an open process from the beginning. We had promised, before we ever started this endeavor, we would make the process open and fair. We held meetings all across the state to receive public input; we presented the maps to the public several days before they were to be debated in open committee meetings; and the redistricting committees received input from all Senators and Representatives who wanted to provide their guidance.
Many Georgians told us they were worried about splitting counties, precincts and neighborhoods between more than one voting district. We significantly limited the number of split counties. The results of our work are House, Senate and Congressional maps with contiguous districts that meet Constitutional standards.
In yet another beneficial accomplishment, we managed to approve these maps in a few short weeks, which saved much time and taxpayer dollars.
There is one more step in the process. To comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the final signed maps must be sent to Washington , D.C. to be pre-cleared by thefederal government. I expect the open nature of our process and the care wetook to make sure the new districts are fair will ensure that the maps willhave no problem receiving pre-clearance from Washington . Once they are approved, the new districts will be effective for the next election cycle.
As a final note, I would like to point out that your Senators voted unanimously to save you some money at the gas pumps.
On top of local and federal gas taxes, Georgia has a gas tax that comes in several parts. First, a 7.5 percent excise tax is charged at the wholesale level and is passed to consumers at the pump. Georgia also charges a 4-percent tax at the pump. That 4-percent tax is calculated twice a year – once on January 1 and once on July 1 – based on average gas prices near those dates.
There is, however, another component at work here. If the price of gas goes up or down by more than 25 percent, the at-the-pump gas tax is automatically re-adjusted. Between January and June, the price of gas rose by more than 25 percent – meaning the gas tax was supposed to rise accordingly. Instead, Gov. Nathan Deal put a hold on that increase until December 31, 2011. For his executive order to stand, however, the General Assembly needed to give its approval, which it did during the special session.
As always, I am open to input from all my constituents. Please feelfree to contact my office at any time with your concerns. I look forward to the regular session in January where we can continue to provide Georgians valuable services from a limited state government.
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Sen. Cecil Staton serves as Senate Majority Whip. He represents the 18th Senate District, which includes portions of Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jones, and Monroe counties. He may be reached at 404.656.5039 or by email at cecil.staton@senate.state.gov.
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