Tag Archives: Jack Markell

What happens when you’re in a Twitter ‘spat’ with Chip Flowers and don’t even know it?

According to Jonathan Starkey over at the News Journal, I was in a Twitter spat with Chip Flowers over a tweet I sent on Sunday about one of his challengers, Sean Barney, getting a choice spot on msnbc while the network scrambled to cover President Obama’s surprise visit to Afghanistan.

chip-flowers-rob-tornoe

Apparently, Flowers wasn’t too keen on my innocent joke that he was “pissed” at Barney’s free airtime (or, in true Flowers fashion, one of his employees was pissed, since he blamed the now-deleted tweet on an unnamed staffer). According to Flowers, Memorial Day is “above politics.”

For the record, Memorial Day weekend isn’t above politics – it is politics. It’s a weekend set aside for us to wave flags and mindlessly remember the fallen troops who gave their lives in service of our country. A noble idea, but one that completely sidesteps two very important things – the often-bad decisions that put them in harm’s way in the first place, and the veterans that we devote substandard care to once they return home.

You know who I mourned yesterday when I wasn’t thinking about Flowers? The 22 vets who committed suicide yesterday. Yes, just about one every 65 minutes or so. About 8,000 a year. Didn’t hear much about them yesterday, did you?

Another hater of my joke (does no one in this state have a sense of humor?) was Delaware Way blogger Nancy Willing, who once professed her love for me. Her reaction is somewhat baffling – she seems to think I was reporting on Flowers’ reaction, rather than making light of the fact his opponent just had a giant microphone shoved in his face. I guess her blind hatred of Gov. Markell caused her to miss the tweet that immediately preceded my all-too-serious joke about Flowers:

Flowers (correction, a member of Flowers’ staff. Chip loves the troops, especially when one of them is running against him) also made some type of assertion, based solely on my tweet, that Gov. Jack Markell was spreading “lies” to score political points. For a guy who didn’t want politics to invade his sober remembrance of the troops, that’s some paranoid political thinking right there. Especially since the last time I mentioned Markell, it was in reference to him balancing the state’s problems on the backs of the middle class.

Back in November, I wrote that Flowers was just the latest in a long-line of bonehead politicians, and nothing in the months since has changed my opinion. He also continues to struggle with that first rung on his political ladder. 

If you’re reading this Chip, let me offer you a bit of communications advice that you’re obviously not getting from your tweet-heavy staff – stop aiming that gun at your own feet. Apparently, it’s got a hair trigger.

Delaware’s Bloomdoggle

Bloom energy surcharge

As I paid my electric bill last month, I came across a puzzling charge of $5.36 that I couldn’t quite explain. Naturally, I called Delmarva Power’s customer service number, and the nice woman on the line told me the “Transmission Capacity Charge” I was being billed for was the surcharge going to Bloom Energy.

It’s official – I’m a venture capitalist! I hope my mom is proud.

Continue reading at Newsworks

 

 

Jobs in Delaware

The NJ on Sunday begins a series looking at the state of jobs in Delaware, pointing out what we already know — that very low wage jobs are increasing, jobs in the middle are disappearing (or taking much less money) and there is employment in the upper end if you have the right education and skill set. And while the Governor and Alan Levin have been working at “economic development”, there’s been little increase in the kinds of jobs that are most needed here immediately. It is difficult to say that the Governor and his DEDO Director haven’t been working hard at this — I think they have. But most of what passes for economic development since the Great Recession pretty much everywhere is a numbers game — figuring out how to boost the number of jobs in your state without paying much attention to either the quality of those jobs or the ROI any taxpayer subsidy might provide for Delaware taxpayers. Governments are chasing the same limited pool of jobs and working at a classic race to the bottom strategy to get them. Almost all of them are providing taxpayer subsidies to get those jobs in their states, and clawback provisions in case the employer doesn’t fulfill promises are still too rare.

Fast food jobs in Delaware skyrocketed in the last decade, with low-paying food prep and service jobs seeing 29 percent growth – or more than 8,600 jobs added during the period. At the same time, better paying construction jobs have fallen by 30 percent, or losing more than 5,000 jobs, and production occupations fell by almost 27 percent, a loss of more than 5,300, according to a News Journal analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Meanwhile, top-salaried positions for the more educated jumped 12.3 percent, adding more than 7,200 jobs.

It’s the low-paying jobs that are already getting an employer handout in form of food assistance and Medicaid for some of these workers. I’m not sure how many of these low-wage ventures get DEDO or municipal help, but it is for certain that Amazon jobs are not a replacement for auto manufacturing. So that while the State is busily trying to entice companies here, we have companies here who already get support via safety net payments to their staff. If that isn’t a good enough reason to support a minimum wage, I don’t know what is. Because the thing we know is that taxpayers pay either via incentives given out by DEDO or they pay via safety net payments for people who are working, but whose employers don’t pay enough to keep them off of food stamps or Medicaid. There aren’t any proposals to raise the minimum wage enough to change that equation and certainly there are no legislators who are thinking of ways to get this hidden handout back for taxpayers.

Gov. Jack Markell, greeted by the Great Recession’s economic upheaval when he took office in January 2009, said he’s witnessed the way automation and global competition have devastated the state and national workforce.

This is less about automation, than it is about global competition, which lets companies seek very cheap labor to make their products. Even with our low minimum wage, Americans are not cheap labor. But if you accept that no one is even going to make a plastic fork in this country ever again, there’s no reason not to look hard and be creative about the small, but important effort to “re-shore” American job (see here and here). Thinking about how to help bring back some highly skilled manufacturing jobs, not just increases the overall pool of jobs, but can help companies get better quality, reduce vagaries in transportation and supply chain, take advantage of an underutilized labor source here that is absolutely ripe for these jobs and help to increase badly needed exports. I don’t want to oversell this as a magic wand, but it is definitely time to think about how to get back the higher-end manufacturing that fled to cheaper countries. We won’t be the manufacturing powerhouse we used to be, but we can get back and excel at high-skilled, high-end manufacturing that requires and good deal of quality. This is the kind of manufacturing that Germany has been good at keeping for themselves.

Over the last decade, the bottom 10 percent of workers saw real wage declines of 4.9 percent, while the top 10 percent of Delaware occupations saw pay skyrocket 22.3 percent, according to data compiled for The News Journal by the Delaware Department of Labor. For workers in jobs that make up the middle 60 percent of Delaware’s economy, wages fell 5.2 percent.

This, I think, is a feature, not a bug in our current economic climate. The jobs that are left here are basically those that can’t be offshored easily — knowledge work or service work. Because of the disappearance of the working middle, there is a great deal more competition in the service industries and it is easy for employers to take advantage of workers who are desperate for anything. So wages are depressed, vacation and sick pay disappear, employer insurance gives way to Medicaid and you’ve created a workforce that is pretty much captured by businesses that can make a very great deal of money by paying highly productive people no where near the value of their production.

Another thing with the automation claim is that it *may* not sync up with the data of those work sectors greatest hit. A paper by Tali Kristal in the American Sociological Review makes the point that it was unionized jobs that took the biggest hit:

“Some economists contend that computerization is the primary cause and that it has increased the productivity of machines and skilled workers, prompting firms to reduce their overall demand for labor, which resulted in the rise of corporate profits at the expense of workers’ compensation,” Kristal said. “But, if that were the case, and computerization was the principal cause for the decline in labor’s share of national income, then labor’s share should have declined in all economic sectors, reflecting the fact that computerization has occurred across the board in the past 30 to 40 years.”

This is not the case, however, as Kristal showed in her study, in which she considered data on 43 non-agricultural private industries and 451 manufacturing industries from 1969 through 2007.

“It was highly unionized industries — construction, manufacturing, and transportation — that saw a large decline in labor’s share of income,” Kristal said. “By contrast, in the lightly unionized industries of trade, finance, and services, workers’ share stayed relatively constant or even increased. So, what we have is a large decrease in labor’s share of income and a significant increase in capitalists’ share in industries where unionization declined, and hardly any change in industries where unions never had much of a presence. This suggests that waning unionization, which led to the erosion of rank-and file workers’ bargaining power, was the main force behind the decline in labor’s share of national income.”

In addition to the erosion of labor unions, Kristal found that rising unemployment as well as increasing imports from less-developed countries contributed to the decline in labor’s share.

“All of these factors placed U.S. workers in a disadvantageous bargaining position versus their employers,” said Kristal, who also demonstrated that while employers gained most of the benefits from computerization, much of computer technology’s effect on the decline in labor’s share of national income was indirect, and channeled through its role in reducing unionization. The direct effect of computerization on the decline in labor’s share was relatively modest, Kristal said.

(The author also writes in TPM today — the paper itself seems to be gated.)

One forecasting group predicts that Delaware won’t return to its previous employment peak until 2016. Wish there was more data here, but there you have it. Can anyone see a reasonable path to getting back to healthier employment numbers? And no, tax cuts aren’t the answer.

An Opportunity for Campaign Finance Reform

Yesterday’s NJ detailed how developers (with multiple companies) could legally contribute multiple times to a candidate:

The practice of companies tied to one developer each contributing the maximum contribution gives the developer greater influence in the election process than other donors who don’t have separate companies to funnel contributions through.

“It’s an outrageous loophole for developers. It makes a mockery of the limits,” said James Browning, regional director of state operations with Common Cause advocacy organization. “It’s a double standard for developers. How can you trust in a system where so few people can buy so much access?”

Governor Markell’s campaign is shown as specifically knowing about this loophole and in making sure that their contributors knew of it too:

“If someone owns less than 50% of an entity, then the entity may give up to $1,200 AND the individual may separately give $1,200,” according to the memo sent by Brian Quinn, then Markell’s campaign finance director, to “supporters/potential supporters of Jack Markell.”

In addition to the contributions Markell received from development companies tied to Zimmerman and Heisler, both also contributed the maximum amount allowed for individuals.

No one is accusing the Governor or his campaign of doing anything illegal here — and the Zimmerman case (like Tigani’s) is a potential problem of illegal reimbursements for campaign contributions. But this is a well known, well exploited and completely unnecessary loophole for developers (what other industries have multiple LLCs working out of the same space?).  And no one will argue that developers have an outsized influence over politics here — one that leaves the government weakening or ignoring its own good sense regulations on traffic, environmental impact, even density.

For most of the political junkies who read DL, this isn’t much of a revelation. But how to fix it? Potential options:

  1. Public financing of campaigns.  Optimal maybe (and I’m still not certain of this), but highly unlikely.
  2. Public financing of campaigns NYC-style — campaigns accept spending limits, but they get a 6-1 public match of the small dollar funds they raise.  This approach encourages candidate to engage with grassroots voters, rather than the corporate spenders.
  3. Better disclosure of LLC participation — to allow for better check on where money is coming from.
  4. Your solutions?  Let us know in the comments.

Gambling on Delaware’s casinos

Delaware casinos bailout

A number of years ago, I drew a cartoon that really angered the folks over at Dover Downs. It featured a suit with a bag of money as a head, pushing a shopping cart filled with Delaware politicians. My contention was the casinos were using their influence to get their way in Dover, and despite their rebuke, I don’t think I was wrong at the time.

racino

Fast-forward to today. Delaware taxpayers are officially bailing out our three casinos to the tune of $8 million due to increased competition from new casinos in Maryland and Pennsylvania. A case of the casinos buying influence again, right? No so fast…

Continue reading

Common-sense gun control laws? Not for Delaware

Mental-Health-Guns600

During the Aurora massacre, a mentally-unbalanced individual entered a movie theater with a small arsenal of firearms during the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” and proceeded to kill 12 people, and injure 70 more.

Of note about the tragic incident was the fact that James Holmes, the shooter, saw at least three mental health professionals at the University of Colorado before the shooting, and even threatened and intimidated a psychiatrist he had been seeing. But because of loose laws in Colorado (which have since been fixed), he was never put on a list and was able to purchase a small army’s worth of firearms.

Continue reading at Newsworks…

Everyone in Delaware loves roads, until they have to pay for them

Markell-gas-tax600

Here’s a fun game. Find someone wearing one of those yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” t-shirts and start complaining about the quality of Delaware’s roads. I’m sure you’ll hear a mouthful about potholes, uneven payment and complaints about traffic.

Then ask how we should pay to fix it, and watch their head explode.

Continue reading at Newsworks.org…

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 18, 2013

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: DSEA Sells Out Public Schools, Secures Raises for Teachers.

If you were wondering why DSEA agreed to support charter schools’ grubby grab of public cash earmarked for public schools, we may now have the answer. Included in the Governor’s budget is “$8.5 million for ‘step increases’  for  school employees, gradual pay raises teachers get as they gain experience and education”, according to Monday’s News-Journal article by Matthew Albright. Considering that the first $2 mill of the charter schools cash grab is also in the same budget bill, we can see how Markell bought off public education officials. Another $2.6 million is for ‘state testing computers’, yet more money down the rabbit hole of standardized testing. Need I remind anyone that we’ve got $8.5 mill for teachers’ increases, $0.00 for state employee increases. While I’m fine with raises for teachers, Strongly supportive in fact, I’m not fine with the Deal with the Devil that enabled them. Ladies and gentlemen, your Democratic governor. And the purported protectors of public education.

BTW, time for, IMHO, an important digression. Is it possible, just possible, that Jack Markell is campaigning…for CIA Chief? I’m (sorta) serious about this. The man who ran on the issue of government transparency has made secrecy the defining touchstone of his second term. First, the Port machinations. Then, the Charter Schools debacle, where his administration literally dared doubters to file a FOIA lawsuit. And, just this Sunday, an incredible piece by Jeff Montgomery in the News-Journal, which effectively lays out a strong case that Gov. Markell deliberately suppressed environmental data casting serious doubt on the environmental safety of the Delaware City oil refinery. Deliberately suppressed. Anybody getting angry yet?

End, for now, of my digression. You can bet that Al and I will talk about this today on the Al Mascitti Show, 10 am to 12 noon, WDEL 1150-Newsradio. You can also click here to listen live.

And now for….waitaminnit! Markell did what? Propose an $8 million bailout for the racinos? Aren’t they, what’s the word I’m looking for, monopolies? State-sanctioned monopolies? Owned by multimillionaires? And they still can’t cut it? The only question now is, which legislators will jump the shark along with Markell? His record as the steward of Delaware’s economy is looking a little challenged. Ruined, really. Not good for one’s presidential plans. Oh, well, there’s always a Grotto’s Pizza opening to tout. Maybe Markell should alter his approach of bailouts to billionaires, not even crumbs to working stiffs. But he won’t.

Here is the session report for last Thursday. My environmental friends are enthused about the passage of HB 179(Scott), which purports to “reduce average customer energy bills and (to) create local jobs by driving investments in energy efficiency that displace more expensive energy supply purchases.” 

Nothing else really caught my interest, but YMMV.

Some interesting bills on today’s House Agenda:

SB 97(Henry) “adds the term “gender identity” to the already-existing list of prohibited practices of discrimination and hate crimes. As such, this Act would forbid discrimination against a person on the basis of gender identity in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance, and it would provide for increased punishment of a person who intentionally selects the victim of a crime because of the victim’s gender identity.” SB 97 received the bare minimum 11 votes required to pass the Senate. I think it will likely have a more comfortable margin in the House.

HB 73(Mitchell) “will help deter the illegal possession of firearms by dangerous criminals by increasing the penalties imposed upon persons convicted of violating the crime of Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited. Adults convicted of illegally possessing a firearm after having been previously adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for acts constituting a violent felony will receive a one year minimum mandatory prison sentence, and persons prohibited from legally possessing a deadly weapon who are convicted of illegally possessing a firearm within 10 years of a prior conviction or adjudication of delinquency for a violent felony, or for illegally possessing a deadly weapon, will receive a three year minimum mandatory prison sentence.” To me, one-size-fits-all minimum mandatories is almost always misguided. Leave the sentencing to judges.

HB 95(Heffernan) “provides the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control with the authority to impose environmental liens on real property in an effort to recover taxpayers’ money expended by the State in order to investigate and clean up contaminated properties in circumstances where the property owners who caused the contamination have failed to do so.” About bleeping time. Real good bill, hope it gets through both houses by June 30.

SB 73(Hall-Long) “authorizes a licensed pharmacist, pharmacist intern or pharmacy student under the supervision of a pharmacist to dispense hypodermic syringes or needles without a prescription to individuals who are at least 18 years of age. The Bill also adds an exemption for individuals licensed by the Delaware Board of Nursing and who are providing hypodermic syringes or needles in the course of patient or discharge teaching or in the course of routine patient care to indigent clients.” There were 2 no votes and 2 ‘not votings’ in the Senate. Appears to have bipartisan support.

A long Senate Agenda today. However, much of it, for better or worse, will be pro forma. The annual corporation law package will fly through, as will the annual package of Sunset Committee bills. Leaving a couple of interesting bills to consider.

SB 116(Cloutier) is a really good bill, and it’s sponsored by a Republican. This is notable because, in the Senate, it’s rare for an R to sponsor a truly substantive bill. Here’s what the bill is trying to do:

No person who suffers an alcohol or drug overdose or other life threatening condition should die because of fear of criminal charges. It is within Delaware’s best interests to encourage reporting dangerous situations where they occur as not only does it save lives, but it also allows those persons saved to seek the treatment and assistance needed to regain a healthy lifestyle and be productive citizens and neighbors. This Act shall be known as the Kristen L. Jackson & John M. Perkins, Jr. Law. On January 31, 2012 Kristen L. Jackson passed away at the age of 23 years old. On May 5, 2011, John M. Perkins, Jr. passed away at the age of 30 years old. If the Good Samaritan 911 Law had been in effect the outcome may have been different. We hope in passing this law that it will save other parents from the pain their parents have endured.

The bill has broad bipartisan sponsorship. I think it will pass handily, if not unanimously.

SB 117(McBride) enables Delaware to join the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a nationwide law enforcement network aimed at preventing lawbreakers who have lost their hunting, fishing, and/or trapping privileges in one state due to egregious crimes, such as poaching against wildlife or fisheries resources, from carrying out those activities in other states. Delaware would become the 40th state to join this compact.

SB 98(Henry) adds criminal background check requirements, and prohibits licensure for those convicted of sexual offenses, for many health professional and occupational licensees and applicants.

BTW, HB 165 is scheduled for Senate consideration this Thursday. You have been alerted. Thanks again to Sen. Blevins for providing fair notice for notable bills scheduled for consideration. Yet one more significant improvement over the reign of Tiny Tony.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds. June 12, 2013

Let us circle June 11, 2013 on the calendar. It will go down as a day when public schools were dealt yet another blow at the hands of greed and silence. The Governor’s greedy desire to rise above his station, D’s and R’s alike greedy desire to get their hands on funds they shouldn’t have, the press’ unwillingness to function as journalists instead of lapdogs; a conspiracy of silence that rippled through the Delaware Way, leaving only the have-nots behind (admittedly, that’s a dog-bites-man story in Jack Markell’s Delaware). Here’s the roll call on the charter schools money grab, if you have the heart.

Oh, and if anyone thinks that $5 mill is the end instead of the beginning, well, you’re not thinking. So, Markell will get his Race to the Top filthy lucre and his imaginary presidential street cred, Charlie Copeland (!) will parlay his family’s expertise in bankruptcies into running a hy-ooge city charter. A Tower Hill grad who inherited his fortune will be one of the largest players in Delaware education. In the inner city. I mean, has anybody with any say-so over who gets to run a charter ever read Dissolute Recrimination?

The politicians who supported this railroad job (deliberations in private, rushed through in a week and a half) opted to serve themselves instead of the majority of their constituents. The least they could do is let everyone in on the details of the deals. A very dark day for public education in Delaware.  And a black mark on the Delaware General Assembly that won’t be easily removed. Jack Markell is now officially dead to me.

More Delaware Way BS over on the Senate side. Ironically, what we were joking about on the Al Show yesterday actually happened in Real Life.  We were talking about the ‘vital compromise’ that would enable VFW’s and American Legions to shed their decades-long scofflaw status and to have slot machines  video lotteries in their buildings. So that they can push ahead with their vast ‘charitable’ enterprises. Well, Sen. Nicole Poore wanted to expand this privilege to other fraternal organizations, just as Al and I had discussed, we thought, in jest. This, of course, outraged the initial set of scofflaws to no end. The Doug Dennison News-Journal story (which I can’t link b/c, even though I subscribe to the dead trees edition, the News-Journal still cuts off my views b/c they Have No Clue) includes this priceless quote from American Legion guy Jeff Crouser:

“We did not want this to expand and envelope everything. Where were (the other fraternal groups) when we were negotiating with the state in good faith?”

Outrage from a serial scofflaw. ‘Good faith negotiating’ from serial scofflaws. Ya gotta love it. What the story does not mention is whether these newly-added groups were also breaking the law, or whether they’ve just had a brand new source of revenue dropped into their laps. I’d like to know.  Dog Bites Man: Racino owners are pissed off. Nobody cares.

Another classic quote from a Mealy-Mouthed Markell Minion:

“The Administration still supports this bill as amended because of the desire to help organizations that do charitable work.”

Has nothing to do with Jack wanting to run for Prez as “The All-Veterans All the Time” Governor. Beginning to detect a theme here? Here’s the vote on Poore’s amendment, and here’s the vote on SB 112(Bushweller).

In one other vote of note, the House passed HB 146(Bolden), which would add an additional $25 charge to those convicted of criminal offenses within the City of Wilmington. Legislation like this would have been DOA in previous sessions, as old-time legislators had a plantation mentality when it came to their meddling in what Wilmington could and could not do. For that reason alone, I salute its passage.

Here’s yesterday’s Session Activity Report.

A brief pause while El Somnambulo takes a deep breath…

Today is the last regularly-scheduled committee day in the House. Loads of bills in both House and Senate committees. Time for a Beckett quote (Samuel, not Sir Thomas): “I can’t go on. I MUST go on.”

Senate committee highlights:

John Kowalko’s ‘revolving legislators/lobbyists’ bill is in today’s Senate Executive Committee. I think it’s got a good chance of passing.

Didn’t take long to find yet another attempt to shut the public out of the public’s business. Didja know that we have something called a Special Law Enforcement Assistance Fund (SLEAF), and that law enforcement agencies can seek such funding? Didja know that the AG, the Director of Office, Management and the Budget, and the Controller General decide who gets such funds? Public agencies applying to public officials for public funding. Now check out SB 72(B. Ennis). If you read only one bill synopsis today, read this one:

This Bill expands the purpose of the Special Law Enforcement Assistance Fund so that law-enforcement agencies can obtain and devote resources to enhance the suppression, investigation and prosecution of criminal activity, promote officer safety, facilitate the training of law enforcement personnel, further public education and community awareness and improve victim services. In addition, the Bill creates an advisory committee to advise the Attorney General in approving applications for funding and allocating resources. No funds may be disbursed in respect of applications approved by the Attorney General without the concurrence of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General. Finally, the Bill makes clear that the SLEAF Committee shall not be deemed a public body as defined in or otherwise subject to the open meeting provisions of Chapter 100 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code.

First of all, the General Assembly allocates lots of resources directly to agencies for the same purposes that this fund would be used for. And now, we are creating via legislation a new advisory body that is going to be exempt from FOIA? No wonder the AG tiptoed around the Charter Markell’s Cartel’s ignoring of FOIA. He wants to do it himself.  And you can be sure that he’ll be the one touring these local police agencies bearing checks, campaign photographers in tow.  In today’s Senate Finance Committee. For reasons that escape me, no fiscal note is required.

I support SB 56 and SB 57(Hall-Long), which would provide urgent and preventative dental care to certain Delaware Medicaid recipients. In today’s Senate Health & Social Services Committee.  Also in this committee, an interesting bill from my state senator, Cathy Cloutier. SB 116 ‘s synopsis is more an argument for the bill than a synopsis, but I think it’s a damn good bill:

No person who suffers an alcohol or drug overdose or other life threatening condition should die because of fear of criminal charges. It is within Delaware’s best interests to encourage reporting dangerous situations where they occur as not only does it save lives, but it also allows those persons saved to seek the treatment and assistance needed to regain a healthy lifestyle and be productive citizens and neighbors. This Act shall be known as the Kristen L. Jackson & John M. Perkins, Jr. Law. On January 31, 2012 Kristen L. Jackson passed away at the age of 23 years old. On May 5, 2011, John M. Perkins, Jr. passed away at the age of 30 years old. If the Good Samaritan 911 Law had been in effect the outcome may have been different. We hope in passing this law that it will save other parents from the pain their parents have endured.

SB’s 101 and 102 (Sokola) seek to assist victims of digital data breaches, defined here as:

A ‘digital data breach’ occurs when a person or entity intentionally, recklessly, or negligently and without express authorization from the affected individual to do so makes or causes to be made a display, use, disclosure or copy, in any form of an individual’s digital personal information.

Good stuff. Hmmm, wonder how the NSA feels about this. In today’s Senate Judiciary Committee.

SB 117(McBride) would add Delaware to a compact that is “aimed at preventing lawbreakers who have lost their hunting, fishing, and/or trapping privileges in one state due to egregious crimes, such as poaching against wildlife or fisheries resources, from carrying out those activities in other states.” 39 other states already belong to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. In the Senate Natural Resources & Environmental Control Committee.

Holy bleep! Almost 1400 words in, and I still haven’t tackled the House committee meetings. Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop drinking bourbon before noon…

Boy, they sure waited until late in session to introduce HB 162(B. Short), which would bring Delaware into compliance with the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Wonder how many Rethugs will vote no b/c, you know, Obamacare. In today’s Business Lapdog Committee.

SB 27(Sokola) encountered some pushback in the Senate. 6 no votes, including D’s McDowell and Townsend. The bill “would authorize the Department of Education, pending available funds, to offer competitive two year start-up grants to public schools for the purpose of developing new programs for students capable of performing accelerated academic work.” In the House Education Committee.

Time for the annual death knell for casino expansion in Delaware. HB 135(D. E. Williams) will be considered in today’s Gaming and Parimutuels Committee.

I like HB 178(Barbieri) because it removes a ridiculous barrier to physician licensure in Delaware. Specifically it eliminates a requirement “that applicants for licensure as medical doctors undergo a personal interview by a Board member as a prerequisite to obtaining licensure”.  These kind of obstacles were typical of many licensing agencies in Delaware. If you weren’t related to somebody or didn’t know somebody who was powerful within a particular profession (or, in the case of the building trades, if you weren’t the right ethnicity or didn’t possess the requisite skin color), you didn’t get licensed. I’m frankly surprised that this one is still around. In the House Health & Human Development Committee.

I would hope and assume that SB 55(Townsend) makes it out of the House House Administration Committee today, but, considering recent heavy-handed tactics by House leadership, I’m a bit worried. Probably just paranoia on my part.

Some bill synopses just make you say, ‘Bullshit’. Here’s one:

This bill continues the process of updating the Liquor Control Act to make it more modern and consumer-friendly. Section 1 and 2 allow package stores to open at 8:00 a.m., instead of 9:00 a.m. on days other than Sundays. Section 3 allows package stores to open at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays instead of noon. All of these changes reflect consumer demand for more convenient shopping hours.

If you substitute the words ‘Total Wines’ for ‘consumers’, the synopsis would approximate the truth. Anyway, HB 156(Walker) will likely move through quickly. And the lobbyists writing out checks will not be ‘consumers’ in the traditional sense.  (Of course, if I hadn’t given up drinking bourbon before noon, I might feel differently.)

HB 71(Ramone) ‘makes it unlawful for a minor to possess or use a tobacco product.’ Uh, good luck enforcing that one. In House Judiciary Committee, where it should stay.

Yay! A respite from ‘teh stupid’. The Manufactured Housing Committee indeed will consider SS1/SB 33(B. Ennis) today. It got 17 votes in the Senate. Can the Forces of Evil once again thwart the public good? Time to head to your favorite mode of communication and…communicate with your representatives.

HB 155(Miro) prohibits “the use of a wearable computer with a head-mounted display while driving”. In today’s Public Safety/Homeland Security Committee.

More special interest legislation for veterans. In the Revenue & Finance Committee.

Whew, we’re done. What’s that? We’re not? There’s a what? Senate Agenda? Well, I got your Senate agenda right here (points to nether region)!  Sorry, I get a bit surly at times.

Let’s see…State giving away land to Smyrna. Can we at least specify that (a) Smyrna can’t use the land to set up yet another speed trap; and (b)  Smyrna can’t turn around and sell this parcel to someone with political connections? Didn’t think so. SB 12(Henry) creates yet another set of ‘victims more important than you’; and HB 116(Viola) helps out the racinos who can’t make a go of it with racing. Oh, and a bill written by the telecoms for the telecoms. This bill reduces PSC oversight of the industry, which was close to non-existent to begin with.

That pretty much defines a typical legislative agenda.

It also pretty much defines why I need a drink.

To paraphrase Rep. Lumpy Carson: “It’s noon somewhere.”

 

 

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., March 21, 2013

Wow, where to start? Action everywhere. Here is today’s session activity report (it’s all here).

We’ll start with gun control. HB 35 (Longhurst) cleared the House Judiciary Committee by a 7-4 margin. Democrat Trey Paradee(!) voted against it. Why? It’s the slippery slope to gun registration and Big Brother argument.  From today’s News-Journal:

Many opponents of the background check proposal at Wednesday’s hearing said the private-sale-record-keeping provision is a precursor to government gun registration, which could lead to firearms confiscations.

Damn! Where were these folks when what remained of our civil liberties were flushed down the drain in the name of ‘homeland security’? Anyway, it looks like an amendment will address this issue, and I hope and expect that Paradee will vote ‘yes’ when the bill comes to a vote. There no doubt will be other amendments, and some will likely be ‘killer’ (pardon the expression) amendments. Stay vigilant, my friends.

Of more immediate concern, Jack Markell’s tax/revenue package cleared the House Revenue & Finance Committee, and the bills are on today’s House Agenda. The outlier amongst them is HB 50(Longhurst), and it should either be defeated or amended. Only Greenville’s Governor could propose cutting taxes for Delaware’s wealthiest citizens at a time when he is offering gruel to state employees and preaching austerity. The only people who would benefit from HB 50 are Delaware’s wealthiest citizens. HB 50 cuts the top tax rate from 6.75% to 6.6%. Since Delaware has ‘consolidated’ tax brackets over the past 30 years, this means that those making $60,000 a year pay the same rate in taxes as those who make tens of millions of dollars a year. HB 50 would only apply to earnings over $60,000 a year. If you make, say, $61,000 a year, the savings would be pennies. But for those clearing millions, they’d realize some serious savings. Oh, and each dollar of savings reflects a dollar taken out of our state’s coffers. HB 50 is nothing more than Jack Markell taking from the state and giving to the wealthy. The Democrats who control the House should recognize this, and either defeat the bill, or amend it to restore the top rate to the current 6.75%. Or, better yet, raise it. We are watching, and we’ll be taking names.

Legislation repealing Delaware’s death penalty cleared the Senate Executive Committee and has already been placed on next Tuesday’s agenda. (BTW, just how refreshing is it that the Senate Executive Committee is no longer the place where bills go to die? Very refreshing.)

Two of the key elements of the Governor’s gun control package were introduced yesterday. HB 58(Mitchell) would:

…prohibit the manufacture, sale, purchase, transfer or delivery of large-capacity magazines, which are defined as ammunition feeding devices with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds. Acknowledging that thousands of law-abiding Delawareans currently possess large-capacity magazines lawfully, the bill would make such possession unlawful only if it occurs in a public place while in possession of a firearm capable of accepting it. Possession of a large-capacity magazine would not be unlawful in areas that are not public places, and an exception exists to allow the possession and use of large-capacity magazines at shooting ranges. Persons who violate this Act would be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class G felony for any subsequent offense.

SB 16(Henry) would “require owners of lost or stolen handguns to report such loss or theft within 48 hours of discovery. Owners may report such loss or theft to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction, or to any State Police Troop.”

Sen. Henry also introduced a bill guaranteed to give Jack Markell agita. SB 21 would ‘expand(s) the composition of the State Employees Benefits Committee and provides Delaware public employees with representation on the Committee.’ Gov. Markell is on record as opposing this, as he prefers to stand with his fellow governor, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker. You see, Markell views state employees as a ‘special interest’. As opposed to all the Administration officials who currently serve on the State Employees Benefits Committee, and do the governor’s bidding there in lockstep. The bill has several R co-sponsors, so it looks like Markell will either publicly have to once again screw state employees, or give them a seat at the table.

BTW, if you think you are sensing a theme here, you are correct. Jack Markell is a Democratic governor in a state where the General Assembly is controlled by Democrats. All too often, he governs like a Republican in a state where the voters overwhelmingly elect Democrats. I think that he should be responsive to those voters, not primarily to his influential friends in Greenville. And I’ll keep hammering home this theme until and unless he comes around. When he does something good, like the gun control proposals, he’ll get credit. But when he thumbs his nose at the majority of Delawareans, I’ll continue to point it out. Just so we’re all clear here.

Which brings me to (segue alert!) today’s Senate Agenda.  That’s right, folks, the minimum wage increase. Believe me, the roll call will provide clues as to whether the Governor is trying to kill the bill despite his public position that he hasn’t taken a public position yet. You will recall that, last session, Gov. Markell succeeded in killing the bill by getting it buried in a friendly house committee after it had passed the Senate. With 13 D’s in the Senate, I see 12 likely yes votes. And, if Cathy Cloutier is really the friend of labor she sometimes poses as, 13. I can’t see any of the D senators, other than Venables, voting no. However, if you get a couple of them going ‘not voting’, and if Cloutier doesn’t vote yes, the bill could fall short. And, if it does, it will mean that Markell worked his magic behind the scenes. Just something to look for. Actually, it looks like the bill has been weakened somewhat, as Sen. Marshall has introduced an amendment that takes out the COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) automatic increase. I think now that the bill is virtually certain to pass.

In addition to the previously-mentioned tax/revenue bills, today’s House Agenda also features HB 20(Jaques), the first leg of a constitutional amendment that provides for ‘no-excuses-required’ absentee voting. I doubt that there will be a partisan split on this, but I’ve been wrong before. It’s a very good bill that makes voting easier, which is what I’d think you’d want in a democracy. Florida, Ohio, etc., notwithstanding.

Finally, we come to the once-every-two-years rite of passage known as the pilotage rate increases. It used to be done in conjunction with the once-every-two-years (never in an election year) booze cruise. Wherein the river and bay pilots would take practically everybody associated with the General Assembly out on a 3-hour, or so, cruise. Complimentary drink, food, music and lobbying were present in abundance. Generally within a week of the excursion, the pilotage rate increases were passed, usually unanimously. Don’t know if the booze cruise has survived, but it was lots of fun, if, admittedly, ethically dubious.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Wed., March 20, 2013

Doesn’t look like anything got done on Tuesday. Here is the session activity report. Until further notice, consider it a misnomer.

Two huge committee hearings today.

We’ve already talked about the continuation of the hearing on HB 35, which would mandate criminal background checks for almost all gun purchases in Delaware. Starts at 11:30 am in the House Chamber.

The Senate is wasting no time in taking up the death penalty repeal legislation. The Senate Executive Committee will consider SB 19 in the Senate Chamber beginning at 1 pm. And here’s something that’s pretty cool:

Sen. Bryan Townsend, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, will be live tweeting during the hearing.  His twitter handle is @BryanTownsendDE, and he will be tweeting with the hashtag #DErepeal. I don’t know what any of that means, but I’m sure virtually everyone else reading this does. (Update from DD: I added the links to Senator Townsend’s twitter page and the DERepeal hashtag for those of us who use Twitter. El Som, your training begins this Saturday. 😉 )

Let’s take a look at the entire committee meeting lineup, starting with the Senate. Damn. Not much there. Only the Growler Filler legislation intrigues me in the slightest. Only b/c I’m fixated by the name Growler Filler.

Surely things will more interesting over in the House…:

The House Education Committee will consider HB 23(Hudson), which would “require(s) that all public meetings of the boards of education of traditional public school districts, vo-tech school districts, and public meetings of charter schools’ boards of directors be digitally recorded and made available to the public on the districts’ and charter schools’ websites within seven business days. The committee will also consider HB 46(Scott), which “authorize(s) the Department of Education, pending available funds, to offer competitive two year start-up grants to public schools for the purpose of developing new gifted and talented programs. I like both bills.

The House House Administration Committee gives its once-every-two-years consideration to Rep. Kowalko’s HB 13, which “prohibits a former member of the General Assembly from acting as a lobbyist for a period of one year after such person’s term of office ends.” I continue to support this bill, and hope that Kowalko at least gets a floor vote on this. I’m not holding my breath.

In an afternoon session, the House Judiciary Committee will consider HB 39(Keeley), which would make extensive changes to Delaware’s bail statutes. This bill is not  a slam-dunk by any means.  CORRECTION: HB 39  is NOT scheduled in committee today. It is scheduled for NEXT Wednesday, March 27. My mistake, I apologize.

The House Revenue & Finance Committee begins consideration of the Markell package to make certain tax increases permanent. I think HB 50, which reduces the top rate to 6.6%, is an utter travesty and should be defeated. I know, I know, the tax rate could fall even further if it’s not passed, but there is and was no reason for Markell to cut the top rate from 6.75% to 6.6%. Keep in mind that every Delawarean who pays taxes on over $60,000 pays the exact same rate. This rate applies to only the earned income over $60,000. So, the only people who will really benefit from this bill are the people who make a lot more than $60,000. And people wonder why I’ve lost respect for Jack Markell. We should be implementing a higher rate for those who make significantly more than $60K, but that won’t happen as long as Greenville’s Governor is in office. One more thing: Please explain to me why no fiscal note is required for a bill that will cost the State Treasury millions of dollars? Another joke. How much will it cost, Jack?

HB’s 51 and 52 make permanent certain tax increases/revenue enhancers that were enacted during the fiscal crisis of 2009. Or, more accurately, they eliminate sunset provisions that would take those increases off the books for FY 2014. HB 53 reduces gross receipts taxes on Delaware businesses.

The Senate and House Health & Social Services Committees will hold a joint meeting to hear a presentation on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

The Senate has one bill on its agenda. SB 9(Townsend) “modifies Delaware’s juvenile sentencing laws to bring those laws into compliance with decisions the United States Supreme Court issued in 2010 and 2012.” That may sound bland, but the decisions in question restrict the states’ ability to impose draconian sentences on juvenile offenders. We’ll see if that gins up any ‘no’ votes among the R senators (all 13 D senators are on the bill as co-sponsors).

Finally, clear your calendars for Thursday. Sen. Marshall’s Minimum Wage bill will top Thursday’s agenda. WWJD (What will Jack do?)?

Has Jack Markell Lost the Trust of the Delaware General Assembly?

I think he indeed is trending in that direction. Which is not good for Jack, the General Assembly, or the people of Delaware. I think I know why, and I have some ideas as to how he can reverse that trend.

Governor Markell has, at least twice in recent months, blindsided legislators by either changing or muddying his position on key issues:

1. The Port Deal: To my knowledge, nobody has challenged Sen. Marshall’s account that Alan Levin assured him and other legislators that they would have input, public hearings, and ultimately a vote, on any Port deal. Marshall claims that he was also assured that DEDO, the Markell Administration, and the Diamond State Port Corporation, would provide the General Assembly with the necessary information concerning any proposal. That was good enough for Sen. Marshall, who is not a bomb-thrower, and presumably other key legislative stakeholders in the Port’s future. None of those promises came to fruition, none of them. By fall (post-election, of course), neither Markell nor Levin were willing to stick by their promises. They went so far as to suggest/say that the General Assembly was not entitled to have a binding say on the deal’s culmination. They provided no information, they did not commit to public hearings. It was only after they had broken their word that Sen. Marshall and a lot of other legislators felt compelled to get behind SB 3. In fact, the only time, the only time, that Alan Levin argued on behalf of an up-or-down vote, was when the House placed a ‘bleep-you’ amendment on SB 3 providing that, should the General Assembly choose not to have an up-or-down vote on the Port deal, then the deal would not go through. “Not fair, we deserve an up-or-down vote!”, Levin bleated. Ignoring the fact that he, um, was against the up-or-down vote before he was for it.

My years in Dover taught me that you are only as good as your word. Legislators took Markell and Levin at their word last spring. They had no reason to doubt their word. It was only when they went back on their word that we had this imbroglio. Based on SB 3, there is only one group that trusts the Governor: The Senate Rethuglicans, who have their own reasons for keeping this deal in the dark. 40 of the 41 State reps, D and R alike, voted for the amended version of SB 3. The other member was absent, a unanimous rebuke to the Governor. And that’s how he should view it and hopefully learn from it.

2. Gay Marriage: Now stick with me here. The issue is not whether gay marriage is good. I strongly support gay marriage. The issue, once again, is the word of this Governor. Governor Markell was able to rally support for civil unions at least in part by telling legislators that he had no intention of pushing forward on gay marriage any time soon. Why was this important? Because he was able to attract enough legislative support from districts where constituents might view gay marriage as a bridge too far.  Some conscientious legislators were able to get out ahead of their constituents on that issue, and they felt reassured by the Governor that gay marriage was not about to pop up. There are more than a few legislators who are really pissed off that Markell has made gay marriage a high priority so soon after the civil unions bill has passed. Whether you or I like it or not, should he push hard for this, he’s going to put several D and a couple of R legislators in uncomfortable positions. Seats could be lost over this, regardless of what position those legislators ultimately take. Again, the issue is that this Governor went back on his word here. Why? I think he’s positioning himself for higher office, and he thinks that this might help him stand out from the pack, especially since he’s so DLC on fiscal matters. In other words, it’s not the legislators’ careers he cares about, it’s his own. Whether my speculation is accurate or not, we now have two major instances where the Governor has ‘moved the goal posts’.

What has led the Governor to make what I consider to be unforced errors? Well, think about it. What has changed with his administration?

1. He’s lost key people who understand the care and feeding requirements for legislators.  Brian Selander and Tom McGonigle are gone. I have no doubt that they would have provided wise counsel to this Governor, and that the Governor at least would have listened. I don’t know who, if anybody, has that kind of clout to discuss these things with Jack now. For that matter, I don’t know if anybody is trying. Based on the port fiasco, he seems to be leaning more and more on his fellow CEO Alan Levin as his confidant. To put it mildly, CEO’s, even enlightened ones, can only tolerate so much care and feeding of their employees.  And two CEO’s can create that negative synergy of the 1 plus 1=-1 variety. And, lest they might have forgotten, legislators are not the Governor’s employees. Although they do appreciate feeding.

2. He has his eyes on horizons beyond Delaware. Meaning, IMHO, that everything he does here in Delaware has to be viewed in that context, and is being viewed in that context by the legislators. Because sometimes something that might suit your purposes in pursuit of higher office might not suit the needs of Delawareans or, at least, their elected officials. Anyone who saw the News-Journal story that Markell had spent $90,000 in campaign funds to heighten his national profile understands that he is at least looking at running for something beyond Governor. One cautionary note for the Governor: Even those of us who disagree with you on occasion respect your reputation for competence. The Port fiasco put a couple of dents in that reputation. I’d suggest timely repairs.

There’s one other reason why the Governor may have ‘misunderestimated’ the General Assembly:

This is not your father’s General Assembly, nor even the 146th General Assembly. The 147th General Assembly has new leadership, a significant number of new members, and less institutional disposition to defer to the Governor. The impact of Tony DeLuca’s absence is being felt by this Governor, which explains why he campaigned so hard for DeLuca. The Governor controlled DeLuca through both of DeLuca’s ill-gotten jobs (BTW, when former Governor Minner threw all of her not-insubstantial weight behind the leadership team of Thurman Adams/Tony DeLuca, it was the team of Blevins/Marshall that got screwed), and I have no doubt that Tiny Tony would have dumped SB 3 in his desk drawer, something Markell would have loved.  It remains an open question as to whether Speaker Schwartzkopf would have ‘slow-walked’ SB 3 had there not been a public outcry but, once he decided to work it, he went all out to pass it. I’m speculating that the Markell people must have done something to really piss off Pete and the House, otherwise I have no other explanation for that hammer of an amendment that Pete laid on that bill. Were I the Governor, I would have accepted Pete’s initial compromise amendment, and walked away

At least for now, the General Assembly is asserting its co-equal status, and it’s about damned time!

Before I suggest some steps for the Governor to take, an apocryphal riddle:

Q: How many counselors does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Only one, but the light bulb really has to WANT to change.

I’ll proceed on the assumption that the Governor really wants to have a strong and effective working relationship with the General Assembly.

1. Sit down and talk with at least these three legislators, and perhaps even offer one of them a job: Past-Speaker Bob Gilligan, and former State Senators Liane Sorenson and George Bunting. In addition to understanding the institutional dynamics of the House, Gilligan has always been a ‘your word is your bond’ guy. Remember Gilligan’s feud with DeLuca over the Delaware State University ‘Inspire’ Scholarships non-vote in the Senate? Senators Sorenson and Bunting are universally respected for their integrity.  Get their perspective on what they see as legislative concerns, and their ideas to mend fences, if needed. Should Jack decide that he needs someone to be his liaison with the General Assembly, he would do well to at least consider them for such a role. Most importantly, however, I think it would help Jack to get some unvarnished feedback from people who have just left the General Assembly as to how they think he could improve relationships with the current members.

2. Refocus on Delaware. I’m not suggesting that he isn’t focusing on the state, but I’d like it if he would ask himself, “Am I doing this purely as Governor, or as someone considering a run for higher office, and how will this impact others in the State, including the legislators?” This is not to say that he shouldn’t challenge legislators when he thinks they are being recalcitrant, just saying that this is a question that he should at least ask.

3. If necessary, mend fences with legislative leadership, especially the D’s. I would think that Jack got the message when he got the amended SB 3 sent to his desk. Seems like the legislators have gripes. Listen and try to at least seek some consensus before going forward with a major policy shift.

I know that this will come across as presumptuous to a lot of people. Call me presumptuous. I just felt that I needed to say this, and to hope that some good comes from it..