Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues. March 17, 2015

The key question facing the Delaware General Assembly as it returns from its six-week hiatus for Joint Finance Committee hearings is:

On what issues, and to what extent, will the General Assembly push back on Gov. Markell’s policies?

We already know that the House Democratic Caucus has raised the alarm over Markell’s efforts to impose more hardships on state employees and retirees when it comes to health care.

We already know that many legislators are pushing for a pay increase for state employees, something that Markell has refused to do during his time in office, (Memo to Jack: I heard your interview on the Al Mascitti Show on Friday. Cutting wages during a crisis, then restoring them, does not count as an increase.) I highly recommend you listen to the interview.  Note the number of times that Markell dodges Al’s questions and goes off on a different tangent.  One notable example. Al asks Markell about not proposing any raises for state employees.  Just listen to his response. Something along the lines of, “Well, I’d really like to, but what parts of my sacrosanct budget would you have me cut?” In other words, he hasn’t spent one minute of his time in office seeking ways to pay state employees a living wage.  He’s glib, and he’s got his lines down pat.  But he only answered the questions he wanted to ask and answer, not the ones that Al posed.

We know that the Joint Sunset Committee, with Sen. Bryan Townsend taking the lead, is trying to determine just what the state has gotten for its $200 million-plus that they’ve given to business in one form or other over the past few years. (Memo to Jack: Asking whether we’d rather have the oil refinery or not, as you did during your response, is not answering the question. Fact is, your administration and the Delaware Economic Development Office have provided next to no empirical evidence to show that the preponderance of this money is paying off at all.)  In fact, allow me to once again link to this New York Times survey which demonstrates that there is next to no verification nationwide, including in Delaware, that these dollars are doing anything more than acquiescing to extortion.

We know that we’re starting to reach a key level of resistance to the Markell/Murphy team’s attempt to destroy public education in Delaware as we know it.  Will the General Assembly intervene?

We know that the General Assembly has already stopped listening to Markell when it comes to funding infrastructure repairs and projects.  Are both sides really gonna play ‘chicken’ again this year?

BTWBTW, when Al asked whether Jack might still have political aspirations, including a possible run for president as one mentally-ill pundit had suggested, Jack gave a non-answer answer, recounted what he perceives to be his noble achievements, kind-of a campaign soundbite of its own, and ultimately said that he’d like to continue his work with education and financial services.  I take that to mean that he plans to cash in on the disastrous policies he’s crammed down our throats. Or–Al may be right. Next UD Prez, anybody?

Make no mistake. Markell has exposed himself for what he is: A fast-talking salesman who is selling a product that is toxic to those who are forced to use it, but golden for those who are making money off it. If his education policy was dog food, it’d come from China and would be laced with carcinogens. And it’d be legal, thanks to Delaware’s ongoing cutting of ‘bureaucratic red tape’.

OK, that’s a topic that we’ll return to throughout what remains of the Markell Years.

We-e-e-ll, DEFAC just tossed a monkey wrench into the budget deliberations.  $45 mill less to work with?   One can only hope that this Harris McDowell quote comes with some follow-through:

“Maybe we need to ask the gazillionares to pay a little more and stop just amassing money they can never spend,” McDowell said. “

The Markell brain trust has made clear that they have no plan whatsoever to intervene:

“They have quite a number of challenging meetings in front of them,” Ann Visalli, director of the Delaware Office of Management and Budget, said of lawmakers. “I’ll be listening. Hopefully they have some ideas.”

Thanks, Ann. Since you have no ideas, might I suggest at least one and perhaps two more brackets on higher income Delawareans, suspension of handouts to business until/unless you provide some empirical evidence as to its value, and a major slashing of the Department of Education budget specifically targeted at the pencil-pushing test-loving bureaucrats? Hey, Jack, how about a cut in executive pay for your lackeys?

On a brighter note, this week dawns with the ongoing attempt to wipe out the Delaware State Wildlife Animal. As described on the state website:

Adopted June 10, 2010, the grey fox is a unique and primitive species, believed to be between 7 and 10 million years old, which is indigenous to Delaware. It is a swift and powerful animal capable of running up to 28 miles per hours and the only member of the canid family which is able to climb trees. The fourth grade students at Joseph M. McVey Elementary School, as part of teacher Paul Sedacca’s lessons on persuasive writing, suggested that the grey fox be designated as Delaware’s official state wildlife animal. Since it does not hibernate, the students said that it is “always ready like our soldiers at Dover Air Force Base”.

The downstate gun enthusiasts have been lusting to shoot up the state wildlife animal ever since it achieved this exalted status.  They get their next chance today, as HB 25(Wilson) is scheduled for debate in the House. (BTW, I know it’s a small detail, but is it a ‘grey’ or ‘gray’ fox? The state website calls it the grey fox, HB 25 calls it the gray fox.) All sponsors are from below the canal except for…Deborah Hudson. Well, fox hunting has long been a favored sport for trust-fund royalty.

Here’s the House agenda for today.

The Senate does not have a posted agenda. We do know, however, that legislation eliminating capital punishment in Delaware is scheduled to be reintroduced on Wednesday.

This week’s House committee schedule features these highlights:

Might be an interesting Energy Committee meeting as the Sustainable Energy Utility, Efficiency Advisory Committee, and the Green & Better Building Advisory Committee are scheduled to provide updates.

The House Business Lapdog Committee is scheduled to meet, but has no announced agenda. Due diligence suggested. Ditto for the House Transportation & Land Use Committee. Committees are supposed to provide timely notice of their agendas to the public. These two committees have not done so.

Here are the highlights from this week’s Senate Committee meeting schedule:

The Senate Education Committee  considers SB 31(Sokola), which will enable the Teach For America program to continue ‘to recruit and train teachers from Delaware schools and from across the nation to teach in Delaware’. The bill eliminates the sunset provision that was part of the initial bill.

The committee also considers SB 24(Henry), which seeks to ‘ensure that the academic performance of charter schools who are serving low income and minority students are evaluated by the improvements that they have made with their students’. In reading the synopsis, this bill appears to have been introduced on behalf of those city charters that have been targeted for possible closing. Finally, SB 33(Poore), which has broad support across all of the educational divides, adopts recommended changes from the IEP (Individualized Education Program) Task Force.

The Senate Executive Committee considers what I believe to be two excellent nominees to the Delaware courts: Collins Seitz for the Delaware Supreme Court, and Jeff Clark for Superior Court. Jeff Clark worked for the Senate for several years when I was there. He has a true low-key judicial temperament, he’s a real bright guy, and he’s not doctrinaire.  I think he’ll make a great judge.

Quite an ambitious agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Of the seven bills slated for discussion, I am most interested in SB 28(Townsend).  It essentially streamlines the business operations of the Public Defender’s Office and the Office of Conflict Counsel, the two agencies that provide legal services to indigent clients. It looks like a bill that will both save money and improve services to clients.

All four caucuses are likely to be briefed on the progress of Joint Finance Committee deliberations. There no doubt will be blowback on Jack when it comes to his ongoing war against state employees and retirees. They and we now know that Markell was merely a Democrat of convenience, part of the corporate takeover of the Party and concurrent minimalization of progressive influence that crested in the Clinton Years. I think the time is right for true Democrats and progressives to help nudge the General Assembly back towards the traditional Democratic constituencies. You know, where most of the people are. I think that there are just enough effective progressive legislators to help move the state in that direction.

Which reminds me, Del Dem posted the latest legislative pre-files. As he pointed out, the Big Kahuna is HB 50(Kowalko), which permits parents or guardians to opt out of the annual test, the so-called Smarter Balanced Assessment System.  There could well be a coalition between progressives and limited government conservatives that just might reach critical mass. Just wish the bill had a few more sponsors.

Gonna be an exciting few months.