Rincon - It doesn't take long for Gov. Nathan Deal to bring up the deepening of Savannah's port at any campaign stop, but it surfaced particularly quickly during his swing through coastal Georgia.
The governor has long pledged to start dredging Savannah's port by the end of the year, and it's been a constant theme of his re-election campaign. But rarely is it so loud than at stops over the last two days at St. Simons, Darien and Rincon, where he told supporters it will keep southeast Georgia's economy humming.
"We finally got the sign-off. And we were able to start that project using state money," he told about 200 voters in a Rincon retreat. "We've set aside $266 million for that project, and we'll let the federal government catch up with is. We can't afford to wait any longer. And it's one of the reasons that manufacturers are coming here."
Federal regulators signed off on a cost-sharing agreement with the state this month for the $706 million dredging project after two decades of political wrangling, administrative red tape and environmental snafus. Deepening from 42 to 47 feet will allow ever-larger container ships to run the river and drop off imports and pick up exports that fuel Georgia’s economy.
You won't find any Georgia politician who criticizes the dredging, but Deal has tried to depict Democrat Jason Carter as an opponent. The governor used his "no" vote on this year's spending plan to question whether the Atlanta state senator was truly supportive of the dredging.
"My opponent, Sen. Carter, didn't vote for this year's budget and when he didn't vote for it, he didn't vote for the last $35 million that was in the budget this year," Deal said. "That was the essential ingredient for Congress and the Corps of Engineers to give us the go-ahead."
Carter voted against budget because it didn't include enough funding for education, he said, though Republicans have tied that "no" vote to other goodies in the nearly $21 billion spending plan. The Democrat has applauded the bipartisan spirit behind the deepening and vowed to "keep working together to see this project through to completion."
About the Author
