Today’s Courier Herald Column:
With the legislature entering its last 9 days of the 2011 regular session, thoughts are crystallizing on the end game for pieces of legislation as negotiations build between the House and Senate over which bills will move in each chamber, and how each will be changed to pacify the myriad of competing interests that converge under the gold dome. Last week, the US Census Bureau issued a reminder of the growing shadow that will help shape final legislation, as legislators prepare for both a special session later this year to re-draw all state House, Senate, and US Congressional districts.
As the time for reapportionment draws near, legislators currently juggle needs of current constituents, anticipated future constituents, and those growing increasingly important by the day, those who will influence how the maps are redrawn.
It is with this in mind that I’ll revisit yesterday’s topic of immigration reform, and the state’s efforts to curb what the federal government will not. Fresh census data confirms what we already anecdotally knew. Georgia is growing, and its non-white population is growing faster than the Caucasian population.
Hispanics now account for just under 10% of Georgia’s total population, and in many communities, comprise a significant portion of the population. Georgia’s second largest county is Gwinnett, with 805,321, with Hispanics numbering 162,000, almost 100,000 more than the 2000 census.
100,000 people don’t show up anywhere without assuming some form of political clout, and votes from this session demonstrate that Gwinnett’s House delegation, comprised mostly of freshmen, are acutely aware of the future of their county.
One of the earliest battles in the legislature this year came after Governor Deal indicated he was having some issues with the proposed legislation patterned after Arizona’s immigration enforcement laws. A bill mandating that Georgia drivers license tests be given in English only – a bill that would target legal rather than illegal immigrants – was rushed through committee and prepared for a floor vote. It was the Gwinnett delegation who quickly mobilized their peers within the Republican caucus to understand that substituting a bill that would punish legal immigrants would not be beneficial to the political future of themselves, nor to the future of the Republican party. They prevailed, and the bill was shelved.
There is anecdotal evidence that legal immigrants favor strong enforcement of illegal immigration laws, but the tone of debate surrounding passage of these laws can also serve to signal that those who did get here legally aren’t really one of us.
Those continuing to fight the reality that our demographics are changing would serve themselves well to get acquainted with the new census numbers. Understanding that the fastest growing counties also contain the largest growth of Hispanic voters should make a strong point about who the future voters of Georgia will be. And it’s not just an “Atlanta” phenomenon, as counties such as Hall, the home of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and the state’s 11th largest county, saw its Hispanic population increase 72% to one quarter of the population. Smaller counties saw large percentage increase, with Barrow increasing over 300%, Towns over 200%, and Union more than doubling.
In addition to Hispanics, other minority populations are growing significantly faster than Caucasian growth, which was 8.6% (and 59%) of the population.
African Americans, at 31% of the population, grew 26% over the past decade, while the Asian population grew 82% and now represent just over 3% of Georgians. Hispanics statewide grew 96% to account for 9% of Georgians.
Georgia would serve itself well to embrace these changes, as they are our reality. Furthermore, there is no turning back from our global economy, and having a real connection with the rest of the word only increases our opportunities for trade and economic development. Incorporating our newer legal residents into our economic base is a prudent way to boost the value of the State, as well as ensure that a political majority is maintained, even as an ethnic majority trends to plurality.
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The U.S.is not a melting pot, it is a salad. We can’t gerrymander this state enough to satisfy the many interests. However, demographic change is not our biggest problem.
What will destroy us is the public debt, taxation and enfringement on individual freedoms to homogenize the people and redistribute benefits to special groups. We are running wild leveraging up like a 2006 mortgage broker or a fool with an unlimited credit card, believing tomorrow will see even more income/revenue. When the primary debt buyers frighten of our leverage and shift to other currencies or demand interest rates beyond expectations, it will not be pretty.
It will take an exceptional leader to stand before the compromisers cutting up other people’s pie: Republican’s “me firsts” “hide the money” and the Democrats’ “greater good” “redistribute the money” and do what is right and affordable for the community.
Even the Supreme Court today is void of white protestant males (causing some to rejoice) but they have sworn to uphold the constitution of our founders……..we pray……
Debt and unsustainable public promises are our challenges. Raising taxes/revenues, redistributing dollars and increasing public obligations isn’t going to create business and jobs in GA. But you’d never know that in GA politics. The cuts the elected say they have made are inadequate while some revenues are misdirected.
That is correct…the first couple of sentences. The conservatives in the state legislature are only interested in redistributing the assets of the poor and middle class to the upper income brackets!
It has worked and I thank them…unfortunately such a ponzi scheme does little to help the macroeconomic situation of the state at large.
Stop being a racist and start accepting that others are smarter than you. Our nation may have been founded on egalitarian virtues but that does not mean that you have an equivalent level of policy expertise of political knowledge such as those like myself. You are behind the curve.
A big point that nobody is discussing re the Census: Census takers were not allowed to ask whether Hispanics or any other foreign-language persons were here legally. According to friends who worked as census takers, on the front line it was obvious that most were likely here illegally – ran from counters wearing government badges, ethnic enclaves with 10-12 people staying in one or two bedroom apartments, etc.
Odds are that 90% of those Census numbers are not legal citizens or voters – so people or organizations trying to use them for political purposes are barking up the wrong tree. What they need to be doing is raising money to pay for all the medical care, etc. that legal Georgians are presently having to dish out.
Where are those stats? Oh yeah…you made them up.
Yeah I mean it’s not like the USA was founded as some sort of place where people from other countries could just move here and start calling themselves Americans.
Ouch! That obviously struck a nerve.
No, the info re what happened during the Census came directly from census takers who were shocked by the large numbers of people stuffed into housing units. In some cases they were actually sleeping in shifts. I find that very sad for all the people involved, and for segments of Georgia becoming like third world countries.
“Odds are that 90% of those Census numbers….” Doesn’t that sound like an approximation,? Inasmuch as census takers were not allowed to ask whether legal or not, there are statistics no exactly how many illegals are in the US or Georgia (all we see are approximations of 16 to 20 million, with some reports saying there are even more than that), this is an estimate.
Oh, and Chris, check your calendar – this is no longer the 1400′s, 1600′s, etc. Those days disappeared over a century ago, when government realized they had to put some structure in place for determining who is a legal citizen. Needed for stuff like voting…..
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