SEU Oversight Board Authority Expired

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There was some question around here last week about whether or not the SEU was acting within the law that created them. There was an allegation that their term had expired per statute. Here is the pertinent part of the law:

There is hereby created the SEU Oversight Board which shall, from passage of this Act until January 31, 2008, consist of all members of the Sustainable Energy Utility Task Force (“Task Force”) appointed pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution 45 from the 143rd General Assembly and Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 from the 144th General Assembly. By December 31, 2007 the Task Force shall recommend to the General Assembly the composition of the Board to serve after January 31, 2008.

So according to this, their term expired on January 31st, three and a half months ago. I spoke to an assistant to Senator McDowell and confirmed that, indeed, the authority was not renewed. On the recommendation of counsel, they have continued to operate as if they were still a legal entity. This may explain why they were unable to answer whether of not they were a public body in their last meeting. According to my source, they are continuing to meet in order to solicit input on how to structure the permanent SEU oversight board.

I contacted Tyler Nixon for comment (note to self, never ask a lawyer for a comment without specifying a maximum number of words). Mr. Nixon’s full comment is below the fold.

Senator Harris McDowell, and any other person knowingly and/or wilfully disregarding Del C. 29 Sec. 8059(e)(1), is unlawfully operating a rogue quasi-agency by purporting to hold meetings and make decisions dispositive of the Sustainable Energy Utility’s future, months after the former SEU Oversight Board’s authority expired.

Book Review — Free Lunch, How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)

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Free Lunch, How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) by David Cay Johnston documents many of the ways that politicians and business owners collude to transfer massive amounts of tax revenues into the pockets of these business owners. Johnston is a reporter at the NYT and his beat is tax policy. Much of what he writes about here is derived from this NYT reporting. I often think of him as being one of the last best reasons to read that paper.

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