Senate gives final passage to first redistricting map of special session
ATLANTA - The first redistricting map of 2021 has officially made its way through the Georgia General Assembly.
Friday, the Senate approved legislation 32 to 21 that redraws the lines for House of Representatives districts in Georgia.
The vote fell largely along party lines with Republicans voting for the measure and Democrats voting against it. Though one Republican cast a "no" vote, Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan.
"Drawing maps is not easy," Sen. Brass said on the Senate floor. "When you've had population shifts like we've had in this state, lines move and as we know, once lines move it makes it very difficult and sometimes we end up with things we don't like."
GEORGIA SENATE APPROVES REDISTRICTING MAP ALONG PARTY LINES
Sen. Brass represents Coweta County where many residents have expressed concerns that they will no longer be represented because of changes to the House districts.
Currently, a majority of the county falls in District 81, which is represented by state Rep. Philip Singleton, R-Sharpsburg. The new map divides the same area into several districts, grouping Coweta County residents with residents in parts of Douglas, Fulton, and Fayette counties.
"One of my people back home in that part of the area that doesn't like what he thinks is going to be his new representation he told me the other day, "sometimes you have to lose it all to gain something worth having,'" shared Sen. Brass. "They think they're going to lose conservative values. They think they're going to lose conservative leadership in that part of the area, but they're not. They're going to gain more and we're [going to] fight and we're [going to] win it."
Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, also expressed concerns about the map and its impact on the city of Decatur.
Currently, the city is represented by four members of the House of Representatives. Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett said they had hoped the small city of 25,000 residents could reduce its legislative delegation to three.
GEORGIA REDISTRICTING TO DIMINISH RURAL LAWMAKERS, INFLUENCE
Speaking to the Senate Redistricting and Reapportionment Committee Thursday, Mayor Garrett said she thought that was the case until she reviewed the map more closely.
"There are three parcels of land that were recently annexed into the city of Decatur--I believe in 2018--that have, we think, been inadvertently drawn into a different district," Mayor Garrett explained.
Mayor Garrett requested the committee revise the map because of the costs associated with printing ballots and other administrative functions.
RESIDENTS PUSH FOR CHANGES TO PROPOSED GEORGIA HOUSE MAP
The committee instead voted to approve the map as-is.
Sen. Parent again asked her colleagues to make a change before voting Friday.
"The truth is we just don't want to bother. We just want to rush this process through so fast that we won't even slow down to take reasonable, technical changes from communities and listen to their feedback," said Sen. Parent.
"There's no reason to further delay this process over a change like this, especially when the city waited until the very last moment when there was no practical way to make any changes," said Sen. John F. Kennedy, R-Macon.
The bill now goes to the governor's desk for his approval.
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