Here are just a few of the St. Patrick’s Day political goings-on Monday:
A House committee seemingly voted to call it quits on both the proposed cities of Lakeside and Tucker. This action was based on the opinion that the legislative vehicle being used to pass the Tucker incorporation bill would not be germane. (The “vehicle” was a gutted education bill.)
All parties declared defeat and left empty-handed. But are they? The proposed Lakeside has potent Republican backing, and is filled with a rarity in DeKalb County – Republican voters. At last word, Lakeside backers were asking for one last quick vote by Chairman Amy Carter’s committee. Supposedly that would magically send a more expanded version of Lakeside, as passed in the Senate, to the floor of the House. There it might could make it onto the Rules Calendar very late in the game, and thereby be set up for the entire House to approve it before Sine Die. Could the fix be in? Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, gubernatorial politics was consumed over an issue that our most recent polling tells us that voters are less than excited about…the Port of Savannah. At issue is Governor Deal’s decision to use state funds to dredge the river there in order to keep on schedule plans to expand the port’s capacity for so-called “Super Tankers.”
Deal’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Jason Carter, spent time chiding President Obama for not providing for the dredging in his budget, as well as Deal for committing too much money in state funds to the project.
In reality, both would have improved their political positions by staying in metro-Atlanta, instead doing the St. Patrick’s thing in Savannah on Monday. It’s from the Atlanta area that will come the overwhelming number of votes in the governor’s race. And in these parts issues like the port and economic development move almost no votes.
On the so-called gun bill, no one really knows what will happen until the smoke clears and it’s seen if any of its versions will make it into law. A New York Times story this weekend found a loophole in one version that would protect ex-felons if they used a gun to “stand their ground.” With such crazy language still floating around, it’s hard to determine what will survive in the final version of the bill.
Finally, although it was a non-legislative day, lawmakers were easy to spot, with lobbyists, as all enjoyed a typical cold and rainy St. Paddy’s day in the ATL. ‘Irish caucuses’ are an additional exemption to the ethics laws!
