Breaking: Desk Drawer Removed?
From the tipline:
Mike Matthews gets a call from senator Carter (not sure) which stated that the desk drawer was removed as part of the Senate Rules, which basically mirror the House rules.
Bonini voted against it and said the rules wouldn’t end the veto.
Anyone?
Cathy Cloutier…?
Dori Connor…? Maybe?
Why would they be calling Mike? (no offense Mike)
someone named Dave Carter, a Senate activist, I believe, heard the wrong title.
now the news is breaking from another called on the scene that the rule change does NOT get rid of the veto… it complicates matters worse, apparently the rules conflict.
unfolding at delawaretalkradio
Flahrety is reporting the rules changed means all bills must be acted upon within 12 days, but a quorum is not required for a hearing.
No no…not a senator. Dave Carter, local progressive activist, exited the Senate chambers and called DTR to report the news. Actually, it didn’t really get rid of the desk drawer veto. What the rules change did was require that ALL bills get a committee hearing within 12 days of being introduced. However, the caveat is that a quorum WILL NOT be required in those committee meetings. That’s the scary part, I think.
I know Jason doesn’t listen to DTR anymore, but it’s a pretty good show I’m having today. I just did a takedown of that douchebag Joe the Plumber. The stuff he’s “reporting” from Israel is pure gold.
El Somnambulo says that this rule, which the House also uses, is no better than the old rule.
A bill can be brought up in committee, and immediately tabled. So, action has been taken within 12 legislative days, but the bill is no further to seeing the light of day. And there is no requirement that the bill ever gets brought up in committee again.
A quorum not being present does make it worse, as Adams can maneuver to have one or 2 of his lackeys at a meeting to do the tabling.
Something similar happened to Matt Denn’s insurance pool bill in the House last session.
It creates the illusion of Open Government, but, w/o diligent oversight, it’s just sleight-of-hand.
I concur wholeheartedly with the slumbering beast that slumbers in slumberdom.
We can pronounce the desk drawer veto dead when Adams et al are unable to stop legislation they oppose (as a minority).
The veto is not about having a hearing but about reporting it to the floor.
The idea that Senators can “petition” a bill out of committee after 12 days is hardly a change. They can pretty much do that now, and would have done so in the past, had they any spine to stand up to Adams or committee chairs. Any bill can be petitioned out by a majority of Senators.
This would be a true sign of the desk-drawer veto’s actual death : if/when Senators start exercising their petition power, in the event the above vaunted rules “change” fails to produce the results some would claim it will bring.
All the talk of rules-based open gov’t vis a vis bill progress is a total smoke screen to mask the reality that many Senators want it in place as cover for the games they play of introducing or paying lip-service to legislation they really don’t want, then blaming Adams (who they know couldn’t care less what anyone thinks of his tyranny).
Kudos to Bonini for calling this what it is. Nothing new.
The more I’m hearing about this, the more I’m believing that the simple fact Adams voted in favor of it means it’s clearly a bad thing.
Just came back from Dover. This is the first time Karen Peterson has ever voted for the Senate rules because, in her opinion, this gets rid of the desk drawer veto. Yes, a vote can be taked out of the “desk drawer” with a petition, but it’s hard to get a petition signed because senators, for some reason, think they are bucking the system. God forbid they should do that!
This takes the stigma away from signing a petition because it is part of the Senate rules.
That’s the way I understand it, and there is no way Karen would have voted for the Rules if she didn’t see this as progress.
Is anyone really surprised.
June –
Thanks for that report.
Mike –
I got out of the habit when you switched time. Now that you are back, I’ll tune in.
I’m skeptical like everyone else, but Peterson clearly saw it as a big change and co-sponsored it. I think what is does is bring a little transparency to the process. Now that is officially part of the rules, there’s no more excuses to hide behind Adams’s desk drawer. If it doesn’t come to a vote it’s because they don’t support the bill and not due to some arcane rule.
Bonnini was the only one who voted no.
We told MM before the vote that we were hearing rumors about the desk drawer veto going away. I think MM got the scoop because he was there.
I just did a takedown of that douchebag Joe the Plumber.
Wow, Mike! That’s some hard-hitting journanimalism you’re doing. When are you gonna send Leo to Israel?
Why bother taking down Joe the Plumber? He’s a joke.
I just read the resolution and it looks to me as if the Desk Drawer has been delegated to the committees, as El Som notes. I suppose that this is marginally better — if anything this ought to get rid of the excuse that Adams will retaliate against people petitioning bills out of his desk drawer — but would love to hear how this organization is better than just voting on the bills and moving on.
It’s important to note that something good was done today and to applaud those who did it. The majority is never going to give up their ability to control legislation. These rules will improve the situation, though not completely solve the problem.
But again, after years of effort, progress has been made. Celebrate that.
FSP I liken this to pushing a grain of sand an inch and being proud of it.
but sure, something was done, let’s clap
I can’t decide if Dave is saying this so that we will hate it (because he loves it). Damn, I am so confused.
A1, you really are an obnoxious prick. When have I ever claimed that what I was doing on-air was “hard hitting journanalism (sic)”? I talk about what I talk about because I think it will either be funny or entertaining. I thought it was a little of both. You’re fucking ridiculous.
heh heh hehh….. he said journ-anal-ism…. hehehh heh heh….
It was a good day in Dover people. We made some progress and a lot of volunteers showed up and actually DID SOMETHING to support open government. The rules are better than they were. A lot better. They are not perfect but at least Adams is no longer the roadblock.
Thanks to Progressive Democrats for Delaware and Progressive Democrats for Sussex. All of you who showed up, visited your Senators, passed out sunflowers for sunshine in government, and DID SOMETHING! You are the best people I’ve even known.
Now we need HB01 to pass and then we can go back to Dover to escort it over to the Senate. Hold on to those green tee shirts, they are going to come in handy again.
Politics is the art of the possible.
Onward!
Mike,
Hard hitting journanimalism is what you do, yessiree.
And when are you going to send Leo the Hater to Israel to follow in the footsteps of Joe the Plumber? He’s on the same high intellectual plain, and he’d fit in perfectly with all the religious fundamentalist theocrats.
Maybe he’d even get to do a good Ole Testament stoning of some of teh gays he hates so much.
This thread is why it’s so hard to be a politician. Even when they do something to improve a faulty system, people complain. It’s clear that Sen Peterson has been fighting an uphill battle for accountability for the last 6 years. Now, when a bill is assigned to a committee, the members of that committee are compelled to act on the bill in a designated time frame. If they don’t, the other members of the senate can take action without fear of recrimination. Unlike in the House, once a bill goes through the process, the sponsor of the bill decides when it goes on the agenda. In the House, it’s the Speaker who gets to control the destiny of the bill once it goes through the process.
Anyone who thinks Bonini’s stand against the rules change is the least bit noble should check his voting record. He has voted against most every bill that has ever passed through the halls of Dover unless he had some ownership in the bill.
If constituents look for the bad in everything that comes along, I’m sure they can find it. But it is more of a challenge to human nature to seek out the good. Give it a try.
PI,
There are complaints, yes, but overall, I do think the general consensus is a step in the right direction. Like what some other people stated, I also doubt Karen would support it if it were a “false-positive” direction. On this topic, I look at Karen’s judgement as a huge factor. That said, however, there are potential loop holes, and the constituency (state-wide) still has to rely on the Senators to petition something out of committee should those 12-days pass. The history of that process is a bleak one, so as it stands, we have only faith in our electorate to prove it a good thing. Blame history for the pessimism, not us. Plus, you have John Flaherty showing concern on some of the language. You have to give him some weight.
Bottom line, Karen is someone most, if not all of us, can believe in on this issue. There are, however, 20 others in that chamber. It’s step one. Let’s see how step two goes…
Now, when a bill is assigned to a committee, the members of that committee are compelled to act on the bill in a designated time frame. If they don’t, the other members of the senate can take action without fear of recrimination.
*
says who?
I still see ripe recrimination will likely be the same as always. What is the best sign is that the rules were challenged and adjusted right out of the gate. Fresh start and some hope to boot.