Pushing The Issue: HB253

Filed in Delaware by on June 18, 2009

John Kowalko chairs the Joint Sunset Committee and he’s trying to challenge the Delaware Way from that vantage point.  Case in point: HB253 (restructuring the Victims Compensation Board).  From the presser:

House Bill 253 is identical to Senate Bill 144, which was developed by and sponsored by the members of the Joint Sunset Committee, a legislative panel that reviews various state boards and commissions and determines what, if any, changes need to be made. SB 144 was introduced in the Senate on June 4 and sits in the Senate Executive Committee.[…]

“This is too important of a bill to let it languish considering the time constraints we are under,” said Rep. Kowalko, noting that there are only four days of session left. “Staff and legislators have spent more than 100 hours reviewing this board, listening to testimony and crafting the legislation to create a body that will better serve the victims. The energy and efforts of the Joint Sunset Committee in restructuring this board should not go to waste.”

So how does this tie in to our budget problem?

The bill also would have a cost savings aspect. By merging the board with the Department of Justice, it would eliminate the need to rent office space, saving $53,000 annually. Also, board members who are appointed or re-appointed would be paid $100 per meeting. Currently, board members receive $10,000 annually, while the vice chair receives $11,000 and the chair receives $12,000 annually.

And lest you think that the Sunset Committee acted alone in this, disconnected from the realities of the world, as The News Journal seems to believe:

The proposed changes recommended by the Joint Sunset Committee are supported by numerous police agencies, including Delaware Police Chiefs Council, Delaware State Fraternal Order of Police and seven police departments. Other groups endorsing the changes include Child Inc., Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence, state Department of Correction, state Department of Justice, MADD and Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council.

So who is against it?  The Delaware Way.  As El Somnambulo pointed out, this is a cushy 10K/year position that can be done a lot cheaper.  But, of course, Thurman Adams’ friends would have to find other work that might actually make them… you know… work.


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  1. jason330 says:

    Next item of business: The News Journal Editorial Board needs to be disbanded.

    What a bunch of wankers.

  2. This is good news. However, it doesn’t even guarantee that HB 253 makes it out of the House, much less the Senate. It does, however, make it more likely that at least it will be considered on the floor as the House doesn’t usually bury bills in committee like the Senate.

    As WHYY used to say during fundraisers when it still pretended to give two bleeps about Delaware, “People, go to the phones.”

  3. cassandra_m says:

    You know, for all of the sturm and drang about smaller and more efficient government, it is supporting stuff like this that really begins to create the habits of governing that get folks in Dover and elsewhere to think about longer term efficiencies. You won’t make a big dent in spending or overhead doing it this way, but I do think that you do start transforming culture which is the path to much bigger changes in the Delaware Way.

  4. John Kowalko says:

    Dear El Somnambulo,

    It will get out of the committee (House Policy and Analysis) it was assigned to by Speaker Gilligan.
    I am the chair of that committee.

    John Kowalko