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DEL.ICIO.US‘People are running like rabbits,’ Republicans said. Probably through Oaky Woods, replied Democrats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just after 6 p.m., the ransom was paid and the hostage freed. In that order.
S.R. 309, the private cities bill, was passed by the Senate on Tuesday evening, at the cost of much of the good feeling that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle had taken pains to nurture over the last two months.
By the end of the transaction, Senate Republicans were hinting that an unsavory, but unspecified motive was responsible for Democratic attempts to block the measure. “Something smells here,” Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson of Savannah growled from the well. “People are running like rabbits.”
And Democrats had openly accused Republicans of concocting a bill that covertly aided the developers behind Oaky Woods, that hunting acreage next to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s home in Houston County. “I have a problem with that,” said state Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta).
Six or so hours earlier, S.R. 309 failed by a single vote.
Because it involves amending the state Constitution, the bill to permit private developers to tax homeowners in planned communities — to raise upfront money for roads, sewers, even golf courses and clubhouses — required 38 votes, a two-thirds majority of the Senate.
It failed by one vote. Some Democrats had walked out, and had avoided voting. Another claimed his voting machine had failed.
Republicans were livid. They quickly called for a re-vote, but delayed a second try until enough pressure could be brought to bear on Democrats.
They blocked action on S.R.130, authored by state Sen. David Adelman, a Democrat who is also chairman of the Senate Urban Affairs Committee. The measure would permit the creation of townships — something less than cities, which would have control over land-use within their territories.
Republicans grabbed yet another bill, belonging to state Sen. Curt Thompson of Tucker, another Democrat, and one of those who walked.
Finally, bill sponsors felt ready to deal. They brought S.R. 309 back.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon) took the well to complain of the rough treatment.
Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) rose to complain about Democrats who fled the floor. “I’m also aware there are people listing to this that are not going to be here to vote,” he said.
S.R. 309 was important to south Georgia, Williams said, where developers sometimes can’t afford to build curbs and gutters into a subdivision. He accused the Democratic leadership of playing politics with a bill with no regard for policy.
Which brought an angry state Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta) to the well, to lay out exactly why Democrats were so ticked off. A request for a study committee was ignored, he said. Parts of the measure were contradictory.
And there was the fact that private cities bill covers only 157 of Georgia’s 159 counties. Houston and Muscogee counties were specifically kept out — to avoid any mention of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s personal land deals and his administration’s failure to preserve the middle Georgia hunting preserve known as Oaky Woods.
It was a sham, Reed said. Any law school student would be able to have the bill extended to Houston and Muscogee counties, on simple standards of equal protection.
The vote was called for. We hear that Democrats thought they had persuaded one of their own, Ed Harbison of Columbus, to take a powder. But he stayed to vote, and the game was up. The measure was assured of passage.
Other Democrats who had been staying in the wings abandoned their opposition, and the measure passed with two votes to spare, 40-13.
Immediately, Adelman’s bill was freed. It passed 43-4.
Afterwards, Adelman refused to characterize his bill as a freed hostage. “But I understand the sequence of events,” he said.
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By Sam
March 27, 2007 8:44 PM | Link to this
This bill is a disgrace. It will allow the developers to tax citizens. The senate should be ashamed of this.
By Junius L. Brutus
March 27, 2007 9:06 PM | Link to this
Those rabbits must have been the so-called conservatives in sheeps clothing who just extended the Government’s taxation powers to developers. So much for conservative government and republicans for that matter. They’ve just proven themselves a disappointment to Georgians.
I predict the House will be gutless on this one.
Where is Boortz? He needs to rally the people into a frenzy!
Well, through manipulation of the interest rate, by refinancing the bonds, the developers can reap in millions from the taxpayers while they pay the bonds off at the higher rate the bond financed at originally. No protections. Like the government, the taxes never go away.