COLORBEARER OF ATHENS, GEORGIA LOCALLY OWNED SINCE 1987
July 12, 2012

Ralston on Redistricting

The Georgia House speaker talks health care and denies lawmakers redrew districts to help McKillip.

House leaders say they didn't split Oconee County into two districts to help state Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens, win re-election.

Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said lawmakers divided Oconee County during post-Census redistricting last year because so many people have moved to the region.

"When a county grows as fast as Oconee has, it's kind of hard to keep it intact," Ralston said.

Ralston, Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones, R-Alpharetta, House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal, R-Bonaire, and about 30 other people attended a fundraiser for McKillip at Springhill Suites off Epps Bridge Road.

Oconee officials asked lawmakers to keep the county all in one district, as it has been for the past decade. Voters have also accused McKillip, the secretary of the committee that drew new maps, of adding part of the conservative county to his Athens district to boost his re-election chances after he switched parties.

The changes also added Democratic voters to Watkinsville Rep. Chuck Williams' GOP-leaning district. He's unopposed this year but could be challenged in 2014.

Having two representatives is good for Oconee County, Jones and Ralston said.

Ralston also discussed health care reform and the upcoming transportation tax referendum.

He agreed with Gov. Nathan Deal's decision to postpone setting up health insurance exchanges, as required by the new federal law, until next year to see if Mitt Romney wins the election and Republicans gain a U.S. Senate majority, allowing them to repeal the law.

If the law isn't repealed, Ralston said he favors setting up the exchange—a marketplace where individuals can use government subsidies to buy policies—on the state level, rather than letting the federal government do it.

A part of the law that expands Medicaid to include more low-income people is "too scary to look at," Ralston said. Georgia might not participate even though the federal government will pay for all of the program at first, then 90 percent.

"If we go the full expansion route, the impact on the state budget would be catastrophic," he said.

On T-SPLOST, Ralston said he thinks it will pass in some regions but not others. If it doesn't pass, legislators don't have a backup plan, he said, noting that it took three or four years to agree on what's on the ballot July 31.

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