Cobb commission redistricting bill tabled in Georgia Senate

Legislation that would have reimposed the reapportionment lines for the Cobb Board of Commissioners that were approved by the Georgia legislature in 2022 won’t advance in the current session.

SB 236, sponsored by State. Sen. Ed Setzler, a West Cobb Republican, was tabled in the Senate on Monday, which was crossover day in the Georgia General Assembly.

Bills that didn’t pass out of their original chambers by crosover day aren’t considered for the rest of the session.

The bill (you can read it here) was introduced by Setzler after the three Democrats on the Cobb commission voted last fall to invoke a home rule challenge to redistricting lines that drew one of them, Jerica Richardson of East Cobb, out of District 2 in the middle of her term.

Setzler’s bill, co-sponsored by two Republicans, Kay Kirkpatrick and John Albers, who represent parts of East Cobb, was favorably reported out of a Senate committee last week.

Setzler agreed to revise the bill to include language that would allow Richardson to complete her term, which expires in 2024.

A companion bill by Setzler, SB 124 (you can read it here), would “restate constitutional limitations” on counties from determining redistricting lines.

But with a lengthly slate of bills on crossover day, Setzler’s bills weren’t debated or brought to a vote after being tabled.

Since January, the five-woman Cobb commission has been conducting meetings honoring a redistricting map drawn last year by former State Rep. Erick Allen, then the Cobb legislative delegation chairman, that would keep Richardson in District 2.

The two Republicans, JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb and Keli Gambrill of West Cobb, tried to abstain from voting at the first meeting, protesting maps they said were unconstitutional.

They were ordered from the dais by Democratic chairwoman Lisa Cupid and since then have begun meetings reading their objections into the record.

Late last month, Gambrill and East Cobb resident Larry Savage filed a lawsuit in Cobb Superior Court challenging the home rule declaration.

That suit has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, according to court records.

Setzler, who was elected to the Senate last year, was the co-sponsor last year as a member of the House of three failed Cobb cityhood referendums.

He became a co-sponsor of the East Cobb legislation that was approved and signed into law. But voters in the proposed city of East Cobb defeated it with more than 73 percent saying no.

Related:

• East Cobb resident, commissioner, file redistricting lawsuit
• East Cobb resident files ethics complaint against Richardson
• Cobb Republican commissioners vote, contest meeting minutes
• Ga. Attorney General: Cobb electoral maps are ‘not legally binding’
• Cobb Republican commissioners leave meeting over abstentions