- Originally published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution March 21, 2005 Copyright 2005
By TOM BAXTER, JIM GALLOWAY
The
debate over the legislation to require voters to present photo
identification at the polls has been cast as a matter of history, in
black and white.
The future is in black, white and brown.
From
the wells of the House and Senate, argument has focused on the impact
that two bills, both with the same aim, would have on poor and elderly
black voters who might be inconvenienced or intimidated. Nearly every
black legislator who spoke against the bills had a story about
discrimination suffered by their parents or grandparents.
Black voter registration is rising steadily in Georgia, but these new
voters are neither poor nor old. The average income of
African-Americans
in Fayette County is now higher than whites. In Clayton County, black
college graduates now outnumber white college graduates by more than 3
to 2. If these are isolated cases, they point to a future in which the
political assumptions about black voters will change dramatically.
These
voters aren't likely to be without driver's licenses or to be easily
intimidated at the polls. It's a different story with the
fastest-growing voter group in Georgia: Latinos.
Last
year, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials protested
incidents in Atkinson and Long counties in which Latino registered
voters were challenged --- every Latino voter in the county, in the
case of Atkinson.
That helps explain the
chilling effect that photo ID legislation could have on Latinos, said
state Sen. Sam Zamarripa (D-Atlanta).
Even
perfectly legal Latino voters have anxieties about the question of
documentation. "In any given Latino household, you can have documented
people and undocumented people," Zamarripa said.
State
Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn), who was born in the Canary Islands to
Cuban parents, voted for the photo ID bill in the House last week. He
disagrees with Zamarripa.
"This is a way
for us to protect our voter rolls, and I don't think it negatively
impacts the Latino community at all," Casas said. While illegal
immigrants may have a problem with it, Latinos who are citizens "aren't
going to have any reservations in showing an identification card," he
said.
Last year, Latino voter registration
grew by 100 percent or more in 45 Georgia counties. In Gwinnett County,
it grew 568 percent. That means that while African-American
legislators frame the issue in terms of what happened to their parents
and grandparents, the debate over Latino voters is just getting warmed
up.
For them, it's about what happens to their grandchildren.
Cold shoulder for rail
And you thought abortion was the subject that separates conservative Republicans from even more conservative Republicans.
Ever
since landing in Washington as a congressman, Johnny Isakson has been
an advocate for rail --- specifically a high-speed rail line through
the Southeast that would ease traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport as well as on the interstates.
This
year, Isakson persuaded the state Senate to add $203,500 in matching
money to the state budget to study a high-speed rail system from
Atlanta to Charlotte. Isakson already has secured the federal portion.
"The
states of South Carolina and North Carolina have already provided
matching funds, and it's important that Georgia do the same so we can
study the feasibility of this route," Isakson said.
The
state Senate added very few projects to the budget this year. And state
Sen. George Hooks of Americus, a Democrat who served many years as
chairman of the chamber's budget committee, said it's even more rare
for legislators to add projects for members of Congress.
But
this may be as far as Isakson gets. Though the U.S. senator first made
his mark in politics as the leader of House Republicans, it's his old
chamber --- not to mention his own party --- that's giving him the cold
shoulder.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has been
cutting rail programs from the state budget in recent years, not adding
them. House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart
are Road Republicans --- sworn enemies of rail as a solution to
Georgia's transportation woes.
So House
budget negotiators expressed surprise that the Senate put in the money
--- not a vast sum by state standards. They immediately began putting
knives to whetstone.
"They have been
studying these rail lines for years," said House Appropriations
Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans). "With all the money spent on studying
them, we could have built one by now."
Harbin said railway systems such as Amtrak have become "a black hole you have to fill each year."
Of Isakson's request, Harbin said, "We have a lot of priorities in this state, and that's not a priority."
So don't be surprised if, today, Isakson is told that his rail study got the ax during the weekend.
--- Staff writer James Salzer contributed to this article.