By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 5, 2018 | Talk about your unfunded mandates!
In this instance, the Georgia General Assembly has taken 6.1 square miles (approx. 3,917 acres) that belonged to the City of Stockbridge, and without a justification and totally unprecedented, legislated that a vast parcel of geography, an area with a population of 9,000 people, should be included within the corporate limits of the City of Eagle’s Landings.
The bill has been signed by the governor and will be in a referendum this fall.
It’s one of the more egregious cases of a legislative body imposing its will on a people.
The city has filed a suit on a referendum in November on the proposal, and also plans a Federal suit on the question.
Think of the ramifications:
- The City of Stockbridge, which had sold bonds to pay for city infrastructure, now still has to pay off these bonds, but without getting the taxes from this land. It spells havoc for Stockbridge’s budget and bondholders, which will lead to a downgrading of the City’s bondholder rating, costing it dearly.
- Think of the people registered to vote in Stockbridge. Suddenly this right as been taken away from them, though they may now get to vote in Eagle’s Landing. The complications ramify.
- How could the Legislature do this? It’s blatantly unconstitutional. We presume the City of Stockbridge will sue, and we suspect win, this wrong.
- It is one of the disappointing elements of Governor Deal’s administration. After all, he signed this into law.
And now the overriding thought: if this could happen in this area of Georgia, it could happen anywhere, giving the right political conditions.
- The City of Snellville might like to include land now in Grayson, or vice-versa.
- Or Buford might like more land now in Sugar Hill.
- All it would take would be a legislative whim!
What gives? How can this happen?
We bring up this single incident in Henry County to serve as an example why we think the Georgia Legislature should meet less often. After all, we all get nervous as the General Assembly meets for 40 days every year. Why? They continually pass laws which require lesser governments, counties and city, to do the legislature’s bidding……without the accompanying monies to go with the biddings. That’s why they are called “unfunded mandates.”
This is the very reason GwinnettForum has as one of its Continuing Objectives that the Georgia General Assembly should reduce the amount of time it has to legislate each year. We have long proposed that indeed, the General Assembly should meet for only 40 days….not each year, but every other year. The state of Texas meets once every two years. This taking of Stockbridge’s land only serves to illustrate the proposition.
Meeting once every two years would mean that the Legislature would have less time for grubby politicians to impose their wishes on the people. The really necessary changes in laws could still pass, but the senators and representatives would have less time to wander into arenas where they are not needed.
And of course, this happens also in the Congress. The best example presently is the Federal Government wanting to pass along responsibility for the 50 states to fund health care.
The City of Stockbridge is bringing a suit to halt enforcement of this newly-signed legislation, and to restore the land to its rightful governing body, the City of Stockbridge. The city is doing the rest of Georgia a service by challenging this unfortunate legislation. All of Georgia will applaud Stockbridge’s action.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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