All I can say is thank goodness for these AJC maps.

Sure, the Georgia legislature released their proposed new district maps last week, but it took a while before anyone really understood the implications.  I thought about just throwing up the map and letting the more geo-politically minded explain the changes, but I figured someone would give me a nice, sweet little summary for Decatur/DeKalb that I could point to.  Well, now it’s days later, and here’s the best thing I’ve found thus far - interactive AJC maps, where RED represents a “contested district” (two incumbents now represent the same district), yellow notes “new representation”, and green means the district remains unchanged.

Not a lot of green in ol’ Decatur when it comes to the House maps, as you can see from the above.  The “contested” area in red is a new vertical district, where Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield’s district has been combined with Howard Mosby’s district to the south.  Stuckey-Benfield said last week that her district had been “targeted by the Republican redistricting process” and that seems to have played out.

Elsewhere around Decatur, Mary Margaret Oliver would soon only represent a portion of the northwest part of the city (when before she represented most of the northside), while Rahn Mayo, who’s current district (PDF) is almost all south of I-20 would represent the largest % of Decatur voters, taking over the entire east side of the city.  Rep. Stacey Abrams’ 84th district, who currently represents the southeast corner of the city would be shifted to the west and out of the city entirely.

Of course, all of this is pending a federal court battle, due to the Voting Rights Act, but unless the Obama Justice Department decides to reject the maps, this seems to be the new political reality.

Oh!  And here are the Senate maps in case you’re interested, though for Decatur residents, Jason Carter’s District 42 continues to represent all of of the City of Decatur.

Last night the Georgia House passed the Sunday alcohol sales bill 127 to 44.  The bill now goes to Gov. Nathan Deal, who has stated publicly many times that he would not veto such a measure.

But what now?  Luckily the AJC detailed the necessary moves of local municipalities back on April 4th, in preparation for just such an outcome.

The next step would be for some city council member, county commissioner of government official to put a call for a referendum on a meeting agenda. Then a majority of the board would have to vote for it, giving elections offices ample time to run legal ads, hire poll workers and assemble ballots.

Under state election law, questions can only be put to voters on certain dates. The next chance will be Nov. 8, and this being an odd-numbered year, not everyone has elections scheduled that day. Among them: Atlanta, Marietta, Sandy Springs, Cobb County and Fulton County.

Among those opening polls: every other city in Cobb, every other city in Fulton, all cities in DeKalb County and Lawerenceville, Lilburn, Norcross, Snellville and Suwanee.

Decatur’s got three commissioners up for re-election in the fall, so Decatur will certainly have an opportunity to put it on the ballot this year if they so choose.  When (or) will this be brought up?  Looks like I need to do a little digging.

Smalltowngal points out a call-to-action on the Oakhurst Message Board urging area residents to contact their local legislators about Georgia House Bill 274, which would lift the statewide ban on yard waste in landfills (with “linings”) under the premise that the additional garbage would increase methane captured as a renewable energy source.

The AJC actually wrote an extensive article on the bill back on March 12th…

If approved, the bill would end a state ban on yard trimmings in landfills that was imposed in 1996 with the stated goals of conserving landfill capacity and promoting recycling. Delaware this year became the 23rd state to impose such a ban.

The city of Atlanta and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are on the side of environmental lobbyists who are working to kill the bill. On the other side, the waste management companies have lobbyists, attorneys and what some would argue is a distinct advantage: They wrote the bill.

 

From the AJC’s low-hanging fruit “ACK! MORE TAXES?” article this morning…

As gasoline prices climb rapidly past $3.30 a gallon, the Legislature is considering a change in the state’s gas taxes that could well push the price even higher.

The change, part of a sweeping proposal to overhaul the state’s taxation system, would address a huge problem in Georgia transportation funding: Much of the state’s gas tax does not rise with inflation. Under the bill introduced last week, that would change.

The complex proposal does have a possible upside for drivers’ pocketbooks, sort of. If the price of gas went really high, although the total revamped gas tax may still go up, it could go up less than if legislators make no change.

According to the article, currently the gas tax is 50% a flat 7.5 cents/gallon and 50% a “per-gallon charge that changes according to the price of gas”.  The proposed tax currently before the legislature would line up both portions of the tax with the annual cost of road construction.  As of 2011, that would equate to a 6 cent increase in the tax.

Arguments against include…

“I really don’t want to pay more than what I’m paying now,” especially considering the rising price of gas, said Marc Cain, 36, of Conyers. “It comes off as 5 cents but that adds up over everyday travel.”

Ahh…OK.  Well, then sir, can you choose which roads and/or bridges we’ll be shutting down or neglecting in the coming year?  Yeah.  But seriously, this sounds like a pretty decent proposal, if it operates as intended.  Tie the cost of roads to the tax annually.  If people want to push the tax down, they’ll be faced with the immediate result of less road maintenance.

Nothing’s ever as easy in politics as it first appears, but I’m having trouble finding reasons not to really like this idea (which usually means it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of being passed).

The AJC reports unprecedented optimism surrounding legislation that would allow the Sunday sale of liquor in the state of Georgia…

The chances of success for legislation letting voters legalize Sunday alcohol sales at stores got a lot better Wednesday when it easily zipped through a Senate committee.

In a dramatic contrast to past years, no one spoke out against the bill when it came before the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee on Wednesday, and it passed on a 6-1 vote about 40 minutes after the meeting began.

The bill, if passed by both houses and signed by the Governor, would let city and county commissions set Sunday sales elections.