As Low as it Goes

The gerrymander is final and the playing field has been set for the next decade.

But what is at stake is no game. On behalf of all the voices the gerrymandered maps silence, we must get back to work. Georgia simply cannot afford another lost decade.

Students need to learn, gaps in healthcare must be closed, seniors and people living with disabilities need respectable care, the workforce needs training, mental health must be made available, the Department of Public Health and the Environment Protection Division need adequate staffing, and our prisons need humane reform.

With redistricting behind us, I look forward to pushing forward with policies that support Georgians. The core of my district, Senate 40, remains intact. (Click here to see the map) 

 

The Long Game

Prior to Sen. Jen Jordan winning her State Senate seat in 2017, the Senate consisted of 18 Democrats and 38 Republicans. That’s a gap of 20, enough for a Republican supermajority. Since 2017, we have closed that gap to 12. If we win three State Senate seats in 2022, the gap will be narrowed to 6. Do you see the trajectory? If we succeed in 2022, we will only need a mere three additional seats to gain the majority in the Senate. As long as we stay the course in promoting policies that help Georgians succeed, the finish line is within our reach. 

 

Time to Line Up!

Following redistricting in 2011 we lost elections before Election Day simply because we didn’t have candidates on the ballot. This is no longer the case! Over the last few years, progressive candidates have won at all levels of Georgia government, which means where there are openings, we have experienced candidates ready to run. We now have a little over three months before the date when candidates “qualify” to have their name printed on the election ballot. Now is the time to get them lined up.

 

Level Up!

Friday morning it was my pleasure to introduce to my Democratic Senate colleagues two candidates who have already announced they will run for the newly created State Senate seats — Rep. Josh McLaurin will run for Senate 14 in North Fulton and Rep. Beth Moore will run for Senate 7 in Gwinnett. Both their current House districts overlap the new Senate districts, so they are ahead of the game. In addition, we will do everything we can to help my colleague Sen. Michelle Au keep the 48thSenate district, which was pushed north into Forsyth county. Michelle is the perfect match for this district, as the newly created 48th has an Asian population of almost 30%.

 

A Win at the Local Level

Last week I told you how the lone Republican Senator in the Gwinnett county legislative delegation, Sen. Clint Dixon, attempted to thwart local control by undermining the recent Democratic electoral gains on the Gwinnett School Board and County Commission. I am pleased to report that the collective uprising of Gwinnett citizens and their allies brought his effort to a temporary halt. Sen. Dixon is the Governor’s floor leader. His proposal was to double the size of the Gwinnett County Commission and make Gwinnett school board elections non-partisan. 

Nationally, as well as here in Georgia, Republicans are targeting their efforts at the local level of governance. I first recognized this in 2021 when I noticed a dozen local bills filed that changed the local election board appointment process from bipartisan appointments made by local political parties, to appointments made by all-Republican county commissions.

Sen. Dixon’s Democratic opponent in 2020, Madielyn Jones, said it best: 

“In 2018, after 200 years of our county’s existence,  voters elected our first Black school board member.  This proposed legislation draws him, the board chair, out of his district.

In 2020, after 202 years of our county’s existence, voters elected our first Black county commission chair.  This legislation takes her voting power away, except to break a tie.

Why would someone do that?

I’m not sure if it even matters because we can never fully know what’s in someone else’s heart. 

What I do know is that we must shift these conversations from intention to impact.

What is the impact of these decisions on communities of people who have been underrepresented in government leadership for over 200 years? 

What is the impact of these decisions on communities of people who turned out in record numbers to make their voices heard?

What is the impact of these decisions on communities of people who voted for change?

To have it all reduced to legislation that would erase their collective efforts is sad.

My prayer today is that anyone involved in trying to pass this legislation would be convicted in their spirit and good conscience.”

 

Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan has now created a Study Committee on Non-partisan School Board Elections, and has appointed Sen. Dixon as chair. The Study Committee is made up of four members, including one Democrat from Savannah. 

Stay tuned, stay involved, and thank you for all the calls and emails you sent to the Lt. Governor as well as other state leaders. You were heard.

 

It’s a Marathon, not a Sprint

Enjoy time with family and friends during the next few holiday weeks and take some time to rest. We’ve been in high gear defending democracy for about five years now. If you need a deeper rest, feel free to pass the baton to the next runner to allow yourself to catch your breath. We’ve got a few more years ahead of us before we hit the finish line. But it’s not a matter of “if,” it’s a matter of when. 

We got this!

 

Links

Zoomable maps of all the new districts: https://georgia.redistrictingandyou.org/

Map of the new Senate 40 District: https://georgia.redistrictingandyou.org/?districtType=sd&propA=current_2012&propB=genassm_20211104&selected=-84.302,33.914#%26map=11.04/33.9458/-84.2808

Madielyn Jones: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1322082188307494&id=100015171757764

 

 

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Everything was going just as expected. Until it wasn’t

Everything was going just as expected. Until it wasn’t . . .

We have hit the halfpoint for Georgia’s once-in-a-decade Special Session on Redistricting and everything is going as expected. The Senate map has passed the Senate (but not the House) and the House map has passed both chambers, awaiting signature by the Governor. Work on the Congressional map should start next week.

Approximately one million new residents have made Georgia their home over the last decade — almost all from minority populations. Yet these new residents have gotten lost in these maps. Georgia’s Senate map adds only one Democratic seat, consisting of approximately 191,000 people, and Georgia’s State House map adds five Democratic seats, consisting of about 300,000 people.  Where have all the new people gone? This is what gerrymandering looks like in Georgia in 2021.

We may not have the votes to stop these maps, but your elected officials have engaged in the struggle! The fight we’ve started at the State Capitol will finish in the courts.

 

Look what the cat dragged in . . . 

Tuesday morning I walked into my Senate Democratic Caucus meeting only to find out from my colleague Sen. Nikki Merritt of Gwinnett county, that the sole Republican in the Gwinnett Senate delegation filed two local bills. 

Before I tell you what those bills are, let me explain to you that there is a rule in the Senate that local bills must be signed by four out of seven members of the local Senate delegation before they are filed. None of the other members of the delegation knew anything about these bills — none of us. There were no signatures. This was a unilateral act by the lone Republican member of the Gwinnett delegation — Georgia’s most diverse and fastest growing county.

The first bill, Senate Bill 5EX, changes the Gwinnett County school board elections to non-partisan, and redraws the district lines. Gwinnett county is majority non-white county, and the new map includes zero majority-minority districts.

The second bill, SB 6EX, doubles the size of the Gwinnett County Commission and sets new district lines.

As a bit of background, during the last couple of election cycles, these two governing bodies — the Gwinnett School Board and the Gwinnett County Commission, have flipped from all white to majority representation by people-of-color.

I was sad but not terribly shocked that the Senate Rules were being bypassed to ram these bills through because the Republican majority has done this in the past, but I was shocked that this bill was moving forward during Special Session because according to the Governor’s set agenda, local bills are only allowed during Special Session if they (in the words of the Governor’s convening proclamation) “avoid unreasonable hardship or to avoid undue impairment of public functions if consideration and enactment thereof are postponed.”  County-level redistricting is set to be done during the regular session in January, and there is no legitimate reason for an exception in Gwinnett.

I was so floored by this blatant disregard for the legislative process that I decided to formally address my colleagues in the Senate Chamber Tuesday by taking a Point of Personal Privilege on the matter. This is the first time I have ever gone to the well without prepared and well thought out remarks, because anything you say from the well could end up in news outlets — which it did, and it was well worth it. Honestly, I didn’t get every technical detail perfect in my speech, but it still got the point across and brought needed attention to the matter.

So what’s the emergency? According to the bill’s author, in regards to the school board, it’s something his constituents have requested. Here’s what Sen. Clint Dixon, Governor Kemp’s floor leader, had to say: 

“Currently in my district it is the number one issue I have with concerns from my constituents with the unreasonable firing of our long-term superintendent . . . is what started some of the issues with our school board. Moving on from that, certain board members have indicated that they would be in favor of introducing CRT along with other, in my mind, radical agendas on their part.”

He went on to state that a new nonpartisan election must be held as soon as May 2022.

What we are seeing here, and what we are seeing over and over again, is made-up narratives that are then used to justify bad laws, or in this case, to change the structure of government.  The result is the cancelling of elected minority voices and the voters who elect them.

What can we do? I believe that in the Senate, our hope lies with the Lt. Governor. I have personally shared with him my concerns about ignoring rules and the need for him to protect the deliberative nature of the Senate body. Contact his office and tell him that if he wants to remake the Republican Party, he needs to start by putting an end to this kind of abuse of the legislative process. You can call his office at 404-656-5030, email him at geoff.duncan@ltgov.ga.gov or fill out this form. If you can do more, contact the following people:

Bill Sponsors:

  • Gov. Brian Kemp: 404-656-1776 | brian.kemp@georgia.gov
  • Sen. Clint Dixon: 404-656-7454 | clint.dixon@senate.ga.gov
  • Sen. Lee Anderson: 404-656-5114 | lee.anderson@senate.ga.gov

Senate Leadership:

  • Sen. Butch Miller: 404-656-6578 | butch.miller@senate.ga.gov
  • Sen. Mike Dugan: 404-656-7872 | mike.dugan@senate.ga.gov
  • Sen. Jeff Mullis: 404-656-0057 | jeff.mullis@senate.ga.gov
  • Sen. Bill Cowsert: 404-463-1366 | bill.cowsert@senate.ga.gov

House Republican Members from Gwinnett:

  • Rep. Chuck Efstration: 404-656-5125 | chuck.efstration@house.ga.gov
  • Rep. Bonnie Rich: 404-656-5087 | bonnie.rich@house.ga.gov
  • Rep. Timothy Barr: 404-656-7857 | timothy.barr@house.ga.gov
  • Rep. Tom Kirby: 404-656-0178 | tom.kirby@house.ga.gov

 

Other News from the Capitol

These political shenanigans suck the energy out of the room and distract from all the positive work being done by our community leaders. But I did still find time this week to stand up for mental health services, advocate for “Full Funding in Five” for people living with disabilities who are waiting for Home & Community Based Services Medicaid slots. Also, my Senate Resolution 300 University Fees Study Committee met to hear comments from the public.

While Republicans complain about “cancel culture,” let us stay firm to ensure they don’t cancel democracy. I often say that our efforts are not a sprint, but a marathon. An even better metaphor may be a relay marathon — so grab the baton and make some calls —  “Be LOUD” on behalf of all the people in Gwinnett county who have worked so hard to get their people elected.

 

Links

 

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Under Cover of the World Series

Under Cover of the World Series

If you want to sneak something through the legislature with no one noticing, do it while the Braves are playing in the World Series. That’s exactly what the Senate Republicans did Tuesday night when they quietly published their proposed Senate district map on the Georgia General Assembly Redistricting Office website, figuring most people were watching the game and wouldn’t notice. Three days later, with metro area schools closed for the Braves Parade, and Georgians lining downtown streets, the Senate Redistricting Committee voted their map out of committee along party lines, readying it for a Senate floor vote early next week. News about redistricting may have gotten relegated to a back page story, but the impact of these new district lines on State Government are set to make headlines for the next decade. 

Though it’s hard to compete with the news cycle of the Braves winning the World Series, it was heartening to see the halls of the Georgia Capitol once again bustling with citizen advocates who ARE paying attention (to stay up-to-date, sign up for these emails). One after another, they stepped up to the microphone to address the members of the Redistricting Committee, begging for more time to analyze the impact of these newly released maps. Not everyone was a seasoned expert — speakers included a 13-year old student, as well as a citizen who asked me after the hearing, “Okay, what comes next, once it passes Committee?” (I gave her a little lesson.) But the Committee stuck to their pre-determined schedule, checked off the box marked “take public comment,” and passed the bill out along party lines: 9 Republicans “yea,” 4 Democrats “nay.” It was an insult to all the people who made the trek to the Capitol to speak. If you are unable to travel to the Capitol to make public comments, please submit your comments here.

This is just the beginning of the process. Redistricting happens through the passage of bills, the Senate map being Senate Bill 1EX. Once this bill passes the Senate, it goes to the House, where representatives traditionally honor the Senate’s wishes, passing their bill with no changes. In the meantime, the House released their redistricting map one week before the special session started and has yet to pass it through the House committee. Neither chamber has filed their U.S. Congressional bills, though the Senate released a proposed map several weeks ago. The congressional maps will be fraught with more controversy, with more traditional disagreements between the House and Senate versions, and more public scrutiny.

Over the last ten years, Georgia’s population has increased by about one million people and about 99% of that growth has been made up of people from various minority groups. Yet the Senate map moving through the legislature adds only one solidly Democratic seat, bringing the make up of the Senate to 33 Republican seats and 23 Democratic seats. It doesn’t take much analysis to see the partisan gerrymander in these numbers. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project agrees, giving the Democratic Senate Map a “A” and the Republican map an “F” for partisan fairness.

This is the first redistricting session since the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court removed the Federal pre-clearance requirement under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. But Section 2, which prohibits discrimination based on race, is still in place. Since the Republican map does not reflect the growth in minority population in Georgia, the courts will be an effective place to challenge these maps.

On a personal note, I am pleased that my district, Senate 40, has remained basically intact. Due to growth, the district needed to downsize by about 4000 people. The proposed map does this by eliminating the two Sandy Springs precincts in North Fulton county, and three Peachtree Corners precincts in Gwinnett county. In addition, the district swapped out a few precincts in Tucker to pick up a couple of new precincts at the southern end of the district in unincorporated DeKalb county. To my supporters who are no longer in Senate 40, please know that I will adopt you back!

 

The Secession of Buckhead

In the midst of the redistricting drama there’s another concerning issue percolating at the Gold Dome —  the secession of the wealthy Buckhead neighborhood from the city of Atlanta. This effort is gaining momentum among Republicans of the Senate. If enacted, it would have devastating impacts on the city of Atlanta, which could reverberate throughout the entire state.

It’s important to understand that creating the city of Buckhead is completely different from the recent incorporation of cities such as Brookhaven and Dunwoody, because it is a secession from an existing city (Atlanta) rather than a city formed from still unincorporated areas. Atlanta is also a city with its own school system, which further complicates matters.

A public hearing held at the Capitol this week brought to light a number of yet unaddressed issues. Since the Georgia constitution does not allow for the creation of new school districts, would Atlanta Public School continue to serve Buckhead families, or would they become part of Fulton County Schools? What are the financial implications for these decisions? Does the Fulton County School system have the infrastructure to absorb the Buckhead area? What would happen to parks like Chastain Park, which is currently owned by the city of Atlanta? What would happen to Atlanta’s bond rating should Buckhead secede? Would taxes go up in both Atlanta and Buckhead to support two separate police departments? If this secession passed, would it set the precedent for other wealthy, white neighborhoods to do the same — reminiscent of the city of Eagles Landing separating from Stockbridge, which voters fortunately voted down in a referendum?

In the past, Republicans have used their majority power to ram through cityhood bills without getting the consent of local elected legislators. They have done this by passing a “general bill.” I expect the same for the City of Buckhead. The proper way to pass these kinds of bills is to utilize the “local bill” process, which requires the support of the majority of legislators in the local county delegation for passage. This process ensures that residents of the whole county have a voice in what is decided.

This is an issue to watch very closely during the special session and going into the regular session in January.

Links

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