Tag: Gov. Jack Markell
Markell an imperfect messenger on infrastructure funding
Gov. Markell is right when he says that as a state, “We just have to make more investments in our roads and bridges.” He’s also part of the problem.
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of March 31-April 2, 2015
Kids, imagine that you’re the governor of a state. Assume that you’re, oh, around 54 years of age. Imagine that you’ve grappled with numerous issues of enormous complexity during both your private and public careers. Imagine that debate over the death penalty has been a constant during your entire adult life. Is it plausible to […]
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 critical blowback on 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?
Is Jack Markell Fighting His Ongoing War Against State Employees By Himself?
8-ball sez: Signs point to ‘yes’. From 2008 to today, Governor Jack Markell has never, repeat, never, proposed a raise for state employees and retirees. He has, on several occasions, proposed shifting costs from the state onto the workers and retirees. Jack Markell is a putative Democrat. When it comes to who gets rewarded and […]
Delaware General Assembly Post-Game Show: Week of Jan. 20-22, 2015
OK, I’ve been putting it off long enough. I suppose I should briefly discuss Governor Markell’s State of the State Address. Markell states in the address that he is open to all sorts of proposals for bridging the infrastructure funding shortfall, but he’s not gonna lead on this, he’s gonna wait until the General Assembly comes up with something, um, concrete. He also embraced Matt Denn’s proposals for addressing crime and its causes, particularly in Wilmington. And he supported a (wait for it) fact-based task force (as opposed to other task forces). Well, a ‘commission’, not a task force. So commissions are fact-based. Task forces are not. Got it.
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015
The 148th General Assembly convenes today for its first regular session. Six new legislators, R Rep. Richard Collins (41st), R Rep. Kevin Hensley (9th), D Rep. Sean Lynn (31st), D Rep. Sean Matthews (10th), R Rep. Lyndon Yearick, and R Senator Bryant Richardson, respectively replace D Rep. John Atkins (defeated in general election), D Rep. Rebecca Walker (retired), D Rep. Darryl Scott (retired), D Rep. Dennis E. Williams (defeated in primary), R Rep. Don Blakey (defeated in primary), and Sen. Bob Venables (defeated in general election). The Senate goes from 13 D’s and 8 R’s to 12 D’s and 9 R’s. The House goes from 27 D’s and 14 R’s to 25 D’s and 16 R’s.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR NEWBIES
The Delaware State Senate has 21 members. The President Pro-Tempore leads the Senate, although the Lieutenant Governor often, but not always, presides over the senate sessions as a non-voting member (That, of course, will not happen this session as there is no Lieutenant Governor now that Matt Denn has become the State’s Attorney General). Here is a list of the Senate members. Here is a list of Senate committee assignments.
The House of Representatives has 41 members, currently 25 D’s, 16 R’s. The Speaker of the House presides over the body. You can find the House membership here. Here is a list of House committee assignments.
The General Assembly is in session from the second Tuesday in January through June 30 each year. Three days a week–Tuesday through Thursday. The Senate often returns for a special session in the fall to consider nominations.
The General Assembly breaks for six weeks at the end of January for Joint Finance Committee (budget) hearings and meetings. There is another 2-week break around Easter, and an additional week’s break around Memorial Day. The Memorial Day break often enables the ‘money’ committees to finish work on marking up the budget.The typical General Assembly meets in session about 50 days a year.
Come inside for so much more….
Governor Markell on NPR Talking About Common Core
Yesterday morning, I heard the Governor on NPR in a quick (4 minutes) interview on Common Core and the fact that there is some movement in a few states to disown the curriculum/process/name. I can’t really tell what is being walked away from really. But it looks like Governor Markell is not expecting the standards to go away entirely, just the name:
SIMON: So if a lot of states pull out of the Common Core, is there really a Common Core?
MARKELL: Well, it depends what they replace it with. I mean, I think a lot of states, you know, who are talking about getting rid of the Common Core are quite likely to replace it with something that looks quite similar. If they call it something else, that’s up to them. If they want to, you know, tweak the standards somewhat, that’s up to them as well. I can tell you, in Delaware we’re going forward because we really think it makes the most sense for our students.
The Markell Unclaimed “Scandal”
I read the News Journal article yesterday, and I shrugged. Then this morning we received this comment on another post:
ANnnnnyyyy coverage on the Jack Markell unclaimed property semi scandal?
Is it a scandal, though? Even a semi-one?
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 23, 2014
Today’s highlight, of course, will be Governor Jack Markell’s State of the State Address. I, for one, want to hear whether the Governor has developed even the slightest empathy for those Delawareans who have been hurt by the increasing concentration of wealth that the Governor has helped to enable. Something, anything, to provide hope to those who don’t live in Greenville, and don’t attend the same cocktail parties the Governor attends, and can’t afford to. My prediction? Whether this week, or next week, when he introduces his proposed budget, those who have been screwed will be asked to make even more sacrifices. The wealthy will not. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong. For once.
All Senate and House committee meetings were canceled yesterday, and none were rescheduled for today. Many thanks to House and Senate staff who provided the public with today’s agendas yesterday.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 25, 2013
On the subject of Jack Markell’s tactics, when it comes to state employees, he needs an intervention. Which the House D’s, who have bottled up legislation giving state employees a voice on the…State Employees’ Benefits Committee, seem prepared to offer him. Rather than let SB 21, which would give state employees two seats on the committee, come to a vote, the House has announced a ‘compromise’. Rather than just pass the bill, which I have no doubt would pass, or even let it out of committee, well, let’s let mealy-mouthed Valerie Longhurst spell out the ‘compromise’. Direct from a House of Reps press release:
House Majority Leader Rep. Valerie Longhurst, who chairs the Administration Committee, and Senate Bill 21 sponsor Rep. Larry Mitchell worked with union officials last week to reach a general compromise on the measure and will iron out details of an amendment during the legislative break.
“We know that the unions really want this bill to move forward, but we know there is opposition from the administration too,” said Rep. Longhurst, D-Bear. “There also is a good amount of support within our own caucus for the bill, so I have committed to Rep. Mitchell and the unions that we will work out an agreement during the break and come back in January, get the bill released from committee and put it on the floor for a full House vote.”
Allow moi to translate: “We’re gonna stick with the Governor’s anti-employee approach until we totally have to cave to our members.” I mean, what kind of ‘compromise’ is Governor Walker Markell willing to accept in January that he couldn’t accept today? One member instead of two? He’s already got the votes to outvote state employees on the committee if it comes to that. He simply doesn’t even want them to have a seat at the table. And he’s got Schwartzkopf and Longhurst running interference for him. Even though they’re supposed to lead a caucus that wants this bill.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 13, 2013
Let me get this straight. Jack Markell cuts taxes for his wealthy friends early this session. The only tax among the so-called temporary emergency taxes enacted in 2009 that he cut. Now he says he needs $80 million in new taxes and fees, or bridges will fall down, highways will crumble. Oh, and if they do, it will be somebody else’s fault because Markell gave the legislators a full 2 1/2 week’s warning before the end of session. Maybe, just maybe, if he stopped appearing on TV, writing half-baked op-eds, or accepting ginned-up awards created solely to increase his national stature (I recommend lifts as an alternative), he might find time to, you know, actually govern. I mean in public, not in secret.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 14, 2013
While we were busy celebrating the passage and signing into law of Delaware’s Marriage Equality Act, the House effectively killed off legislation providing a modest hike in Delaware’s minimum wage. Make no mistake: the killing of SB 6 was deliberate and planned, and the co-conspirators were all Democrats: Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, Rep. Bryon Short, and Gov. Jack Markell.
Here’s how it happened. After bargaining in what he thought was good faith with Gov. Walker Markell, Sen. Robert Marshall agreed to amendments that significantly reduced the impact of SB 6. Specifically, he agreed to push back the effective date, to decouple subsequent rate increases from the rate of inflation, and to lower the amount of the increase. Markell praised the eviscerated finished product, and said he could support the bill. Which was the last ‘support’ he provided. And Speaker Pete got the memo loud and clear: Kill the bill!
And he did. How? By assigning it to the House Business Lapdog Committee, aka the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee, instead of to the House Labor Committee. Chaired by Rep. Bryon Short. You may recall that this is precisely the same tactic that former Speaker Bob Gilligan employed when Markell wanted him to kill the bill last session. And, for the second straight session, Short did not disappoint. SB 6 was passed in the Senate on March 21. It did not receive its hearing in the committee until May 8, and that was deliberate. Short allowed the bill to languish until the last day that, according to House rules, it had to be considered in committee. Many of you are aware of the full-court press opposition led by the respective Chambers of Commerce in the past two weeks. By delaying consideration of the bill, the committee chair enabled that campaign to have optimal effect. To the point where empty tabula rasas like Andria Bennett were reciting Chamber talking points verbatim in opposition to as Democratic a bill as you’ll ever find.
Gov. Markell demonstrated some slickness here. By saying that he would sign SB 6, he eliminates any political stigma that Democrats would attach to him in a future run for political office for publicly opposing a minimum wage increase. And he gets Pete and his DLC house cronies to kill the bill. Just like he did last year. Just remember, Markell’s fingerprints are all over this. Cut’n save.
General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 1, 2013
Yes, SB 19(Peterson) was tabled in the House Judiciary Committee, which disappoints death penalty repeal supporters like myself. However, keep in mind that this is the first of a two-year General Assembly session, so the bill is not dead, just ‘sitting in limbo.’ House sponsor Rep. Darryl Scott has stated that he may try to petition the bill out of committee. Not sure if that’s the best strategy for now, think I’d only do it if I knew that I had the votes for the bill on the floor. Timing is everything, and this might not be the best timing.
Sen. Bruce Ennis introduced SB 33 yesterday, which would require owners of manufactured home communities to seek approval for any increase above the average inflation rate.
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