Where do we stand on the congressional map, now that Georgia's Republican congressmen have conferred about plans to push for a new one? According to U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), that's a question best answered from the kitchen.

"When you're baking a cake, all you can do is buy the best ingredients you can, mix them up in a bowl and put it in the oven.

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"That's where we are now. The cake's in the oven," Westmoreland said.

Does that mean all seven GOP congressmen signed off on the map? Does it mean Gov. Sonny Perdue might be more cordial to considering the issue this year?

When the yeast rises, we'll let you know.

Cakes rise. And congressional maps don't stand still either

Even if the legislature doesn't lay a finger on the congressional map, some pretty significant changes have been going on in the districts since they were drawn at the beginning of the decade.

Dan O'Conner, a demographer with the Georgia Republican Party, keeps a sharp eye on voter registration figures, particularly in the growing suburban and exurban areas around Atlanta. We learned from some numbers he provided us that the percentage of black registered voters has increased since the map was drawn in every district but the 5th — Atlanta — which has stayed the same.

Most of the increases are slight, but one district that could be critical to any new map drawing effort — U.S. Rep. David Scott's 13th, in the south metro Atlanta area — has gone from a district with about 42 percent black registration at the beginning of the decade to 52.7 percent black majority now.

That could prove very helpful to Republicans, if they can refigure Scott's district without worrying about any Voting Rights Act problems. But it's also evidence of a long-term worry for the party: the increasing numbers of traditionally Democratic black voters in areas once considered safely Republican, and white.

There's no more striking example than Rockdale County, which had a 14.9 black registration right after the 2000 election. That percentage is now 28.6.

As O'Conner points out, increased registration doesn't necessarily trump voter turnout. The percentage of black voters has increased from 13.7 to 22.4 percent in Henry County, for instance, but Henry voted 66 percent for George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004.

A real eye-opener for us was Fulton County. White voters have been widely perceived to be gaining ground, with all the development on the Northside.

Not so: the black percentage in Fulton has barely changed over the decade, but white registration has actually dropped, from 55.5 percent to 50.9.

The difference? The percentage of Hispanic and Asian registrants has more than doubled, from 2.7 percent to 6.9 percent.

Does that banner still wave? The chair is not encouraging

We reported last week on the poll, commissioned by the Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which said that 79 percent of Georgians believe they should have the right to choose between the current state flag and the old one which contains the Confederate battle emblem.

The group rolled out the full poll at a Capitol press conference Wednesday with state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), the freshman who has authored a new flag referendum bill. The poll results had already been shared with Gov. Sonny Perdue and the GOP legislative leadership, and supporters of a new flag vote were hopeful they could get a committee vote on the question.

But House Government Affairs Committee chairman Austin Scott (R-Tifton) put a chill on that idea.

"I've told Dan Coleman (the spokesman for the Confederate heritage group) that I have no intentions of helping them with that legislation," Scott said.

Scott, who broke with Republicans to vote for Gov. Roy Barnes' flag change three years ago, said he wanted to speak with Bearden before saying more, but what he did say sounded pretty definitive.

If it's on tracks and it's rolling, is it a railroad?

There were a lot of eyes on the House Rules Committee Wednesday morning. A lot's been said about the expanded powers of that body, and the vote on Senate Bill 3 — tort reform — was a big test of exactly how that would work.

The process left both Democrats and some Republicans feeling bruised.

House members were notified to get any amendments they wanted into the committee by 3 p.m. Tuesday. There were 13, but as it turned out only four were special.

House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) called for an up-down vote on SB 3 and four of the amendments, which came from House leadership. Those are the only amendments that will be debated when the bill comes to the House floor.

The other nine amendments were debated and dispensed with on voice votes — that is, those that made it to consideration before the meeting was adjourned.

"There's no question it had been pre-determined it was going to be the bill and those four amendments," said House Minority Leader Dubose Porter (D-Dublin).

When Porter challenged Ehrhart on the way the bill was being handled, the Rules chairman answered that Democrats engrossed 66 bills in the last session, when they were in the majority. Democrats said there was no comparision — because with engrossments the whole House gets a chance to vote.

You'd expect Democratic complaints, but the procedure was also questioned at the meeting by House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter, (R-Alpharetta).

Several of the amendments that got shot down were authored by Judiciary Committee chairman Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), who wasn't entirely happy with the result, either.

"I'd rather Rules be more open to allow representatives to bring amendments to the floor on bills like this, which I feel are important public issues," Willard said.