ATLANTA — The Buckhead cityhood issue is poised to come back before Georgia lawmakers, with a new bill providing for a referendum introduced in the state Senate on Tuesday.
The matter was effectively tabled last year by leadership in the Georgia legislature, with former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan directing it to a committee led by Democrats where it wouldn't advance.
Supporters of a proposed Buckhead breakaway city from Atlanta, however, vowed to keep pushing the measure.
Georgia State Sen. Randy Robertson said in a press conference last year it was a matter of "voter's rights," to decide the matter via a referendum - with proponents of Buckhead cityhood generally arguing it would help reduce crime - while critics of the movement have said the political project is largely driven by a small, unrepresentative group and would harm the rest of Atlanta.
Duncan last year called it a "cheap sales pitch that you vote for the city and crime goes away, all of us know that’s not true."
Robertson is one of nine Republican co-sponsors of the new bill. For Buckhead to become a city, the bill would need to pass both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, then be signed by Gov. Brian Kemp and then put to the voters who would reside in the proposed Buckhead boundaries.
Three cityhood referendums in Cobb County failed last year, while a fourth - Mableton's - succeeded.
With a new lieutenant governor and Georgia House speaker in place (the lieutenant governor serves as Senate president), it's not yet clear whether a bill for a referendum will enjoy more leadership support this year.
The new lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, has not signaled his stance on Buckhead cityhood. In an interview with Axios last month, it was not included among his legislative priorities.
Jones will have great say in the matter - as president of the Georgia Senate, the lieutenant governor directs bills to committee. He could choose, as Duncan did, to send it to an unfriendly committee.
It's also unclear where the new House speaker, Jon Burns, stands on Buckhead cityhood. The late former Speaker David Ralston did not publicly support it.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is strongly against it, as well, and Gov. Kemp has not publicly endorsed it.