By Maynard Eaton / Staff

An iconic political tradition signaling the opening of the Georgia legislative session, the 48th annual Wild Hog Supper was a feast of barbecue, lobbyists, Republican scandal and gubernatorial electioneering — but the foreboding budget crisis likely to haunt this 2010 General Assembly was the main topic du jour.

“This is going to be the worst session that anybody can remember, as far as money. This is really the toughest,” said Terry Coleman, a former Speaker of the House (2003-2004) and now the assistant Agriculture Commissioner. “You’ve got the governor’s mandated cuts that have already been coming through, but now they are going to have to get even worse. I hear numbers like 10 or more percent cuts on top of what’s already been cut.”

IT WON’T BE PAINLESS

“Money is a significant issue for us,” added Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. “The budget has a $1.5 billion shortfall that we’re going to have to deal with. We’re going to be able to meet this, but it won’t be without pain. There will have to be some very difficult choices. I don’t think it will be draconian.”

Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) is a savvy 35-year legislative veteran who heads the Democrats’ Minority Caucus. “We started this journey some $3 million in the hole and,  based on what we hear from the governor’s office, we’re going to have to dig a little deeper this legislative session,” he said. “We’re still in the mode of cutting back on spending. This session will be like the last two we’ve had…we’ve got to make do with less — a tough session for sure.”

Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) is a South Georgia legislator and former chairman of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. “I have no doubt this could be the worst we’ve seen in recent history,” he warned. “Primarily, we have no money, so we have nothing to do anything with. People will be shooting at each other and saying anything to make headlines. The problem is, when we had money the folk we needed to help we didn’t help, so we know there won’t be any help now. Now the least among us are the first ones to get cut and thrown to the wolves.”

The current Black Caucus Chairman, Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-DeKalb), says the group will be fighting to protect the vulnerable interests of Georgia’s black electorate.

“There are a lot of issues on the table – water, education, transportation and, of course,  we’ve got the budget,” Jones said. “Our job is to stand on the front line to make sure that whatever policies are out there, including the budget, are not put forth in such a manner that’s it’s going to cause harm and do damage to the African-American community. That’s what the GLBC is going to be doing – we’re going to be standing on the front line. In times of difficulty, a lot of times it’s best to just stand still and be vigilant in what we do.”

TUNNEL VISION DIM?

Sen.Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) noted that his constituents are upset about the tunnel that is being proposed in East Atlanta. The state Department of Transportation is considering the new toll road to connect Ga. 400 north of Atlanta to I-675 southeast of the city. It could be a tunnel for most of the way, then surface for a few miles at its southern end.

“We are very concerned that those neighborhoods would be negatively impacted by that kind of project,” Fort said. “There are things that are going to happen up here at the Capitol that are going to affect people in the city of Atlanta. The tunnel is one issue, getting help for both MARTA and Grady. The City of Atlanta has revenue challenges and the mayor is going to come to the legislature and ask us for new revenue streams.  It’s about tough choices in tough times.”

Cagle said he’s “extremely hopeful” the legislature makes progress on transportation issues this session.

“The regional concept is what people are looking for — the legislature is really ripe for movement,” he said. “We’re back on 2005 revenue numbers and unfortunately we’ve got 600,000 more people, so it’s a real challenge for us.”

GLENN WHO?

Republican gubernatorial candidate and former State Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) downplayed the importance of the recent scandal surrounding the resignation of former House Speaker Glenn Richardson.

“I went to an event in Walton County and somebody wanted me to explain the whole Richardson stuff,” he said. “As soon as I started talking about it, they didn’t even know who Glenn Richardson was — so it’s not as big a deal as people are making it up to be.”

Voters, Johnson added, are going to judge all candidates on “whether we have the moral character, the integrity, the experience and the principles to lead this state.”