Tag Archives: Markell

Delaware: The Next Colorado?

Yes, Delaware is highlighted on the map of states where it is possible marijuana could be legal relatively soon. The LA Times reports says that now that we have achieved marriage equality, marijuana legalization is the next big progressive reform movement:

The latest sign was the full-throated call last week by Sen. Bernie Sanders to end federal prohibition. With that one move, the candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination plunged into uncharted territory — and, arguably, so did the presidential race. Never before has a contender with so much to lose so unequivocally suggested that smoking a joint should be viewed the same as drinking a beer, at least in the eyes of the law.

….Hillary Rodham Clinton has told small audiences in the pot havens of Oregon and Colorado that marijuana businesses in states where it is legal need relief from federal restrictions that can make it impossible for them to operate.

Hillary Clinton has not said no to legalization, but she did not say yes either. She said in the first debate among the Democrats that we need more time to see how it is working in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon. It is typical Hillary caution, but this is the type of issue where it is good that Bernie Sanders is in the race so that the issue is brought up and Hillary is moved further left. But I digress.

The point is we are at a tipping point in this reform movement, just as the Hate Amendment in California was the tipping point in the marriage equality movement. The latest Gallup poll shows that 58 percent of American favor pot legalization. Kevin Drum predicts that marijuana will be generally legal by 2019. And 24/Wall Street is now out with an article that predicts the next 11 states that will legalize marijuana. Where does Delaware rank among the most 11 most likely states? LOL, 11th:

11. Delaware
> Max. fine for small amount: $575
> Marijuana related arrests in 2012: 2,912
> Marijuana arrests per 100,000: 318
> Minimum penalty classification : Misdemeanor

According to a 2014 survey conducted by the University of Delaware, 56% of respondents in the state agreed that “the use of marijuana should be made legal.” Governor Jack Markell signed in June 2015 a law officially making Delaware the 20th state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Though the law will not take effect until January, when it does, Delaware residents will face a maximum penalty of a $100 fine for possession of up to an ounce of the drug. Before the governor signed the law, marijuana users in Delaware faced up to three months of jail time, a $575 fine, and a misdemeanor on their record for the same offence.

There were 2,912 marijuana-related arrests in 2012 in Delaware, the 12th highest rate of all states per capita. In 2012, about eight out of 10 adolescents in the state did not perceive light marijuana use as dangerous, a fairly lax view.

Yeah, Massachusetts, Nevada, California, New York, Vermont, Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland and Rhode Island all get to get legal before Delaware. But sadly, given the pains some took to say during the Decriminalization debate that they were not pushing for legalization, it is probably accurate prediction. Unless, like in history of passing civil unions in one session of the GA and marriage equality in another, we just chuck perceptions to the wind and not care about what we said. But if that pattern holds, where we pass legalization one session after passing decriminalization, we are probably still looking at 2017 at the earliest.

What, Exactly, Is Going On In Felton?

SOMEthing is, and it stinks of the Delaware Way.

You may have missed it, but Gov. Markell vetoed a Felton charter change yesterday. I’m not sure I can even recall the last time a governor vetoed a charter change, but it doesn’t happen every day. Or even during every administration.

But the vetoed change suggests an untold story.

HB 251, sponsored by Rep. Outten and Sen. Cook, would have, among other things, established that “(a)ny person otherwise eligible to be a member of Council shall not have a family member holding an elected office for the Town of Felton nor have a family member nominated for and/or appointed to an elected office in the Town of Felton.  For purposes of this section ‘family member’ shall mean spouse, parent, child, sibling, half-sibling, grandparent or grandchild.”

In other words, only one elected official per family, thank you very much. And the change would have taken effect just a couple of weeks before town council elections were held. Fortuitous timing.

While there may be good reasons to enact such a statute (just imagine Paul Clark and Pam Scott together on New Castle County Council), it does seem to clearly be unconstitutional. This excerpt from Markell’s veto message seems pretty definitive:

When a legislative body establishes restrictions on elected office, it ultimately limits the choices available to voters and restricts the ability of otherwise qualified persons to serve their community. Therefore, such restrictions should be targeted and reasonably related to the specialized demands of the particular office.  Whether family members can suitably serve concurrently as members of the Town Council of Felton should not be predetermined by the General Assembly through additional restrictions on membership; it should be left to the eligible voters in Felton.

Furthermore, the language in Section 1 of House Bill No. 251 is overly broad in significant respects.  For example, Section 1 also prohibits family members from serving successively on Town Council, as the language is not limited to prohibiting family members from serving concurrently. Thus, as written, the law would prohibit an otherwise qualified candidate from serving on Council if his or her family member currently serves on the Council, even if the currently serving Council member is not seeking re-election.

In addition, House Bill No. 251 would have the effect of disqualifying a person for service on Town Council merely through the nomination of a family member to that body.  A person seeking office would therefore need to receive more than just the most votes, he or she would also need to secure the commitment of their family members not to disqualify them by simultaneously seeking Town office.  Allowing family members to use the nomination process to limit the electoral options of their fellow citizens would not be consistent with our State’s democratic ideals.  These examples reinforce the principle that the eligible voters of Felton are the best persons to determine who represents them on Town Council.

Kudos to Colin Bonini and Dave Sokola for casting the only two ‘no’ votes on this misbegotten piece of legislation.

But that’s not what interests me. I’m more interested in how and why this change ever found its way into legislative form. There must be a real story involving real people and real feuds behind it, not just some bizarre hypothetical. There’s no way any self-respecting town solicitor would allow something like this to make it before the General Assembly without some sort of backstory. So I’m calling on our loyal Felton readers (distinguishable from normal Felton citizens by their ability to read without moving their lips) to give us the inside skinny on this story.

Markell Names Widener Dean to Probe Bradley Fiasco

In a move that absolutely had to be made, Gov. Markell has announced an investigation into the systemic failures that enabled Dr. Earl Bradley to abuse children under his care for years. The Governor has appointed Widener Law School  Dean Dr. Linda Ammons to head the probe.

From Jeff Montgomery’s News-Journal article:

Allegations date to at least 1999, police have confirmed, with as many as 100 or more potential victims. Police also are examining his record in years prior to 1999.

Court documents show that some doctors and police were aware of accusations and complaints against Bradley for years, but investigations never led to arrests or a search warrant, or formal complaints to the state’s Board of Medical Practice.

The Governor emphasized that this review will in no way jeopardize ongoing legal proceedings. From the press release:

Markell made clear that Dean Ammons’ review must not and will not jeopardize the current prosecution in the Lewes pediatrician case or the Attorney General’s ongoing investigation of whether anyone violated the current reporting requirements under the existing statutory scheme.

“Not only must we ensure a successful prosecution in this case, we must have, and Dean Ammons will help provide, real answers to how and why the system failed and a roadmap to protect our children going forward,” Markell said. “While the Attorney General will prosecute the laws that were broken, this independent review will help decide whether we have the right laws, processes and procedures in place for the handling of future child abuse and sexual exploitation cases.”

The Governor’s office also has listed items to be investigated in this probe:

1. Professional reporting requirements for suspected incidents of misconduct and the enforcement thereof;

2. Professional licensing requirements, procedures and enforcement, including comprehensive background checks and procedures for on-going review;

3. Medical standards and protocols around proper pediatric care and the publication thereof to ensure that doctors, medical staff and parents have clear guidance;

4. The sufficiency of outreach efforts regarding reporting requirements, so that those with legal obligations to report questionable behavior do so;

5. Proper communication and coordination between law enforcement agencies, professional regulators and the medical community;

6. Ensuring that adequate services are provided for the protection and treatment of children suspected of being sexually abused in order to protect them from further harm.

This massive failure of a state system rivals, if not eclipses, what happened at the Delaware Psychiatric Center. There were safeguards in place that should have prevented this had agencies and individuals done what was required of them. A comprehensive probe into why the State failed these vulnerable children is absolutely essential to make sure that the system is fail-safe and to rid it of anyone who failed to exercise their responsibility to protect our most vulnerable. No politics, no whitewash.

Today was a good start, but it is only a start.

DE Supreme Court Rules Sports Betting Legal

This is Big News.

From the Governor’s Office:

In their 21 page opinion, the five Justices unanimously concluded that the authorization of a state-controlled “lottery” in the Delaware Constitution is not limited to games of pure chance.  Rather, games involving some skill are constitutional as long as chance is the dominant factor.  In so doing, the Justices also unanimously concluded that a parlay sports lottery is a constitutional game under this standard, citing Judge Walter K. Stapleton’s 1977 decision inNational Football League v. Governor of the State of Delaware.  The Justices also unanimously concluded that the sports lottery proposal, as embodied in the recently enacted House Substitute 1 to House Bill 100, is properly “under State control,” as required by the Delaware Constitution, and that the legislation does not otherwise impermissibly delegate legislative power to the lottery director.  The Court was not able to decide specifically whether a single game sports lottery is constitutional because the unique nature of a request for an opinion of the Justices does not provide the opportunity to develop the factual record necessary to make that decision.  However, with the Court’s rejection of the “pure chance” standard, the State Lottery Office maintains that the single game sports lottery, with a proper betting line, meets the dominant factor test.

“I am very pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Gov. Markell.  “This decision resolves the legal issues that have been presented and provides a solid legal framework for our sports lottery.  With this guidance in hand, we are moving forward with implementing a successful sports lottery in Delaware.”

Hard to believe that betting on NFL games could start as early as this fall, but there you have it. And, whether you agree or disagree with the policy, Markell and his team deserve points for moving this initiative through so effectively.

LG Adds:  Link to the opinion (PDF format)

h/t John Manifold

Disillusioned

I recently saw a huge Markell supporter who is also a State employee. I asked him how he was feeling these days. “Disillusioned” was his response. It seemed to me that he wanted to really rip into the Governor, but that he still had residual goodwill from the election that kept him from screaming. I think there is a lot of that going around.

Breaking: Markell to Address Joint Session of General Assembly

When the Governor speaks to a joint session of the General Assembly in late April, you can bet it isn’t to swap Easter/Passover stories.

In fact, ‘bulo can’t remember the last time that a Governor addressed the GA so late in session before. 

However, that is precisely what’s going to happen on Tuesday, April 28 at 2 p.m., according to the Governor’s office.

Since various members of the legislature have turned their noses up at various elements of the Governor’s budget-balancing plan, and since a consensus balanced budget framework has yet to emerge with about two months remaining until the start of Fiscal Year 2010, the Beast Who Slumbers expects Gov. Markell to bring a sense of urgency to the occasion. He also wouldn’t be surprised if Markell puts the heat on the General Assembly to either accept the basics of his proposal or to come up with something that he could accept that eliminates the projected deficit. 

Remember, kids, the Delaware General Assembly must by law enact a balanced budget every year. They should not have the luxury of grandstanding over what they don’t like unless they find and propose suitable alternatives. And ‘bulo believes that the Governor should call them out on it. Tuesday should be interesting.

Breaking: Markell’s Education Agenda Unveiled

From the Office of the Governor:

DOVER — Governor Jack Markell and Lieutenant Governor Matthew Denn joined Senate Education Committee Chair David Sokola and House Education Committee Chair Terry Schooley today to unveil legislation designed to dramatically improve Delaware’s public schools and qualify Delaware for federal dollars that President Obama’s administration will be awarding to states with forward-looking public school systems.  The elected officials were joined by Education Secretary Lillian Lowery and leaders of the Delaware Parent Teachers Association and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, who emphasized the importance of reform to parents and the state’s economy.

The bills, co-sponsored by 20 other Senators and Representatives from both political parties, seek to:

Eliminate the Delaware Student Testing Program and replace it with a testing program that measures student progress over the course of a school year.

Pay the state’s highest-performing teachers a comparatively higher salary, and those high-performing teachers in high-risk schools at the state’s highest salary level. This portion of the plan would not go into effect until the state’s current budget situation improves, and might begin on a pilot basis in individual school districts.

Provide local schools and districts with substantially more discretion to make financial and other decisions that make sense for the kids they serve, while simultaneously           holding them more accountable for spending their funds responsibly.

The bills also incorporate these suggestions received from the public during a series of ‘Back to School’ public meetings held by Lt. Gov. Denn and Education Secretary Lillian Lowery:

 

·         A requirement that teacher evaluation not be based entirely upon formal assessment.

·         A requirement that 10% of funds available for performance pay be awarded to schools that show objective improvement in student performance rather than individual teachers.

·         A provision allowing performance pay to be implemented on a pilot basis in individual districts.

·         A requirement of uniformity and transparency in record-keeping and accounting by local school districts.

·         Changing the unit count date from September to April in order to allow districts to compete with other states for new teachers.

·         A requirement of consultation with parents and teachers by local schools or districts before seeking relief from any rule or regulation.

‘Bulo was struck by a couple of things. First, it doesn’t yet look like the DSEA is on board with these proposals as evidenced by them not being in attendance today. Second, the Beast Who Slumbers wonders whether Dr. Scanlon has signed a contract with his prospective employer yet. It’d be nice if he would stay as Brandywine School District Superintendent, and the legislation appears to address his reasons for leaving in the first place.

The Morning After

March 19, 2009 will forever be remembered as the date that Delaware’s Gilded Age officially ended. An age that was literally ‘built on a house of (credit) cards’ is no more. The same institutions that buttressed Delaware’s financial strength, compliments of the usurious interest rates that Delaware had legalized, imploded and helped lead what in retrospect was an inevitable meltdown, not just for Delaware, but for the global economy.

Gov. Jack Markell is left with the task of cleaning up the immediate carnage and developing a vision for the state’s future and a plan to execute that vision going forward.

Let’s talk first about the carnage. Many of ‘bulo’s friends, both on this board and in state government, are hurting deeply today. Read their emotional messages and try to understand just how deeply this cuts. This hurts profoundly, and will continue to hurt. This community can do its part to let these friends know that everyone is in this together, as ‘bulo considers this part of this community’s mission.

Looking at gimlet-eyed reality, the Governor was faced with many choices, none of them easy ones. ‘Bulo feels that he has made the best of an impossible situation, and that those gleefully looking to make partisan hay on this should be ashamed. By law, the Governor has to propose, and the General Assembly has to enact, a balanced budget.  

‘Bulo had previously criticized candidate John Carney and the General Assembly for ‘kicking the can’ down the road last year when lots of sleight-of-hand was used to avoid making tough decisions despite the abyss staring them in the face. Alleged Governor Ruth Ann Minner confirmed ‘bulo’s diagnosis by not even deigning to submit a balanced budget for FY ’10, as was her statutory mandate. No doubt writing a vanity chronicle of the triumphant Ruth Ann Years can be too time-consuming to actually do your job, even if some staff hack is doing the actual writing.

Back to the budget. Predictably, all of the wounded parties are howling. AFSCME, the horsemen looking to preserve their precious and unwarranted monopoly, big business screaming about corporate tax hikes, people objecting to the PIT increases. Most of that howling reflects real pain and is justified, or at least reflects people doing the lobbying jobs for which they are paid.

But here’s where the rubber meets the road. Any change to the formula, for example, any relief from the pay cuts, service cuts, or tax hikes will have to be balanced somehow. And that’s assuming that the DEFAC numbers stabilize, and that the projected deficit remains at $750 million. So, what would you do? And, if you increase revenue, what would you restore? And if you decrease revenue, what would you cut? Please be specific and think out your ideas, please don’t resort to boilerplate talking points, like ‘cut wasteful spending’, without putting some meat on the bones. Some of you will remember that, when first elected, then-Gov.-Elect Markell reached out for suggestions from everyone, especially state employees, and has received hundreds of ideas for making government more efficient. ‘Bulo himself submitted a couple. So, the Governor is trying to ‘cut wasteful spending’.  ‘Bulo will be watching closely to see which of these ideas have been incorporated into the plan, and so should you. ‘Bulo would also like to see the Governor release all of the specific suggestions that he is incorporating into his proposal.

‘Bulo proposes that the State begin to reverse the consolidation of tax brackets that first began under Pierre ‘Call Me Pete, and I’ll call you Joe Six-Pack’ duPont. If you go back to 1976, when duPont was first elected, there were a series of income brackets between $60,000 and those registering on the Oligarchic Seismograph.  Those were folded together over a 20-plus year span to the point where, today, those making $60K annually pay the same percentage of PIT as the Greenville aristocracy. It was inequitable, but few complained b/c the State was rolling in dough, and few felt overtaxed. Gov. Markell talks about proportionality in sharing the sacrifice, but ‘bulo believes that those who have benefited disproportionately from a less progressive tax code, not to mention usurious interest rates which made many of them undeservedly wealthy, should now have to pay the piper. It is not class warfare, it is basic fairness.

In terms of Markell’s vision for the future and plans to implement said vision, ‘Bulo is optimistic. Why can’t Delaware be the Green Incubator of the East Coast? That appears to be one of the cornerstones of the vision, and he is bringing in a Silicon Valley whiz-kid to help carry it out. This could be for Delaware what the chemical industry was, and what the banking industry was, the linchpin to Delaware’s ongoing job creation and business success, but also a key component in building Delaware’s identity as a state with a vision and the ability to confidently make that vision a reality. Oh, and a vision which paints the State as both doing well and doing good. 

There are many pitfalls to all of this, and ‘bulo plans to write another piece soon on the political and other minefields awaiting Markell as he tries to get his proposals through the General Assembly. For now, strong coffee and a breakfast burrito beckon the Beast Who Slumbers…

Breaking: 8% Pay Cut Among Markell Proposals

Jack Markell has proposed an across-the-board 8% pay cut for all state employees, including teachers. This would include both merit and non-merit employees and, coupled with benefits reduction and holiday adjustments, will reduce employee compensation by about 10%.

The News-Journal’s Ginger Gibson has done a superb job of explaining Gov. Markell’s entire proposal, and you can read it here.

Gibson reports that:

The governor wants to cover the state’s estimated $751 million budget deficit in several pieces — $371 million in budget cuts and moving funds, $166 million in new taxes, $155 million in stimulus funds, $55 million in gambling revenues and $12 million in new fines and fees.

 

Markell said the decision about where to cut and which taxes to raise were based on three principles, fiscal responsibility, compassion and shared sacrifice. He said his administration is committed to ensuring that long-term goals are kept in mind while keeping in mind the need for core government services and not placing too much of the burden on a particular group.

The Governor also calls for an increase in the personal income tax for those making over $60,000 annually, an increase in tobacco and alcohol taxes, and increases in gross receipts and corporate franchise taxes.

Markell also calls for legalized sports betting that will not be limited to just the racetracks. That should make for some interesting political negotiations.

There is a lot more in Markell’s proposal and in Ginger Gibson’s article. Please read her piece and come back here and speak your piece.

Reminder — Budget and HB1 Events Today

Today is going to be a busy one.

Governor Markell is presenting his FY2010 budget today (addressing the massive shortfalls) in a press conference at 1PM in Dover. Not sure whether this will be televised or broadcast on the radio, but will update as I hear it. And this would have been a good opportunity for a webcast by the State (like the Inauguration) but that doesn’t look as though that will happen.

HB1 comes up for a vote today. We talked about this on Monday. In addition, Redwaterlily has provided the full text of the bill with markups color coded to show the additions of the two pre-filed Amendments. This is incredibly useful and really good work! 2PM is when the Open Government advocates will be convening to support the effort to get this bill passed.

If you are going, certainly email one of us here and keep us posted as to progress.