Darrel Ealum says he learned much in his first General Assembly session

ALBANY — When the Georgia General Assembly convened in early January, rookie state Rep. Darrel Ealum, D-Albany, asked himself one question — “What can I do to be relevant and make a difference for my district?”

“When I first got to the capitol I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But I quickly learned there is a new day dawning for Dougherty County and Albany in Atlanta,” Ealum told the Dougherty County Rotary Club on Thursday. “The governor, lieutenant governor and members of the House can see Dougherty County is coming together. The County Commission and City Council and educational system are working together.”

But Ealum still wondered how he was supposed to make an impact in Atlanta.

“You have 180 members of the House and 119 are Republican, so how was I supposed to be relevant?” Ealum said. “My No. 1 priority was getting funding for Albany State. At first I was down and kind of depressed because here I was, the new guy, and I was asking myself what I can do to be relevant? So I just started talking to everybody and every time I would bring up the subject of the budget and ASU. No one was committal at all, in fact some were outright negative. “

Ealum said it didn’t take long to figure out that Gov. Nathan Deal was focused on four items — the FY 2015-16 budget, transportation funding, his Opportunity Schools initiative and legalizing medical cannabis oil.

“We just increased the overall budget by three quarters of a billion dollars,” Ealum said. “Transportation got a billion tax increase and we legalized cannabis oil for some medical conditions. I realized then that this was not a typical Republican House and the governor was trying to get things done. We have roads that are being paved on a 50-year cycle rather than a 20-year cycle. Once the Port of Savannah is deepened for larger cargo ships we are going to have to have the transportation arteries to move those goods.”

Those new bridges and roads come at a price. Come July 1, expect to see gas prices increase by six cents per gallon when a new gasoline excise tax kicks in.

“Yes, gas prices will increase on July 1,” Ealum said. “I’ll tell you straight forward that it’s going to happen. It was interesting to watch the process as the original bill evolved. Both the budget and the transportation bill were truly bi-partisan efforts.”

With a year in the House under his belt, Ealum said he will be active in the community and will be better prepared for the 2016 session.

“It was a learning experience and it was fun,” Ealum said. “I truly enjoyed representing Dougherty County and Albany. I thought it was a good year and we can build on this past session.”