JFC Says: Pay No Attention to the Little Man Behind the Curtain
If you read this NJ article, you read a bunch of legislators on the JFC who are clearly supportive of HB1 — but not when it comes to them and the workings of the JFC:
JFC co-leaders Sen. Nancy Cook, D-Kenton, and Rep. Dennis P. Williams, D-Wilmington North, said they hope the JFC will continue to be allowed to meet in its private “orientation” sessions even if some version of the open-government House Bill 1 is approved. That would give legislators the same protection as the executive branch, Cook said, noting similar closed-door hearings are held to finalize the governor’s recommended budget. The private meetings allow legislators to meet with staff and advisors behind closed doors to get background information needed to make decisions, she said.
Ever think about why these legislators need the “protection” of working out of the public eye? The folks holding the pursestrings certainly hold alot of power — but in the case of running a government, spending really is policy. Government commitments to support (or not) or fund (or not) certain initiatives, departments, or programs is the real statement of policy — no matter the happy talk that you may encounter in constituent meetings, media interviews, statements from the floor. It is, as it always was, the money that does the talking.
Shielding the JFC’s deliberations from the public just ensures that the public (not the Executive Branch) never sees the final vetting of the policy for the year. Members of the JFC get to make their deals and decisions in private, subject to nothing more than the usual Delaware Way.
Conceding that since HB1 is not yet law, the JFC is certainly within its rights to vote itself rules that close their proceedings to the rest of us. But an endorsement of HB1 is an endorsement of beginning to dismantle the Delaware Way and I think that the JFC — especially now, in the midst of the current budget meltdown — needs to step up, get on its suncreen and learn to live with alot more sunshine. And certainly, the JFC should never be exempt from the HB1 rules and requirements.
Who do they need “protection” from? Are they afraid the citizens might actually figure out how much money we really do have? What pork is in the budget, never to see the light of day?
What deals are being made as they “horse trade”away our programs, services and tax dollars?
What mental midgets, what jackasses! There isnt one person in the bunch with more than 3 brain cells.
You nailed that one Cassandra!
Where is it written that JFC should have protection like the Executive Branch? Power corrupts absolutely….these people view themselves as “so powerful, they actually believe they are equal to an elected Governor”!
Someone pull their chains! Perhaps the citizens should begin a “pink slip campaign”…pink slip these “leaders”who believe they are protected from the citizens who they WORK for. Its a laughable cartoon.
Sure they need protecion, God forbid somebody should make a suggestion to cut the Finances in the wrong place…….like for instance doing away with the street fund…….
They don’t have to allow us to make suggestions, Frieda, at least not during their meetings. But I want to be allowed to hear the briefing the legislators got yesterday, same as they did.
Let me see if I have this straight: Taxpayers paid for the compilation and analysis of the data, and taxpayers pay for their representatives and senators who comprised the audience for the presentation of the data — but we’re not allowed access to the data? Why the F not? This isn’t the federal government, where they can hide behind “security clearance” BS. Nothing in that budget is secret, and nothing in the state Constitution makes it off-limits.
Can any of the lawyers out there explain what I’m missing?
It looks like there are 19 days of hearings between Feb 2nd and March 5th. This is Monday through Thursday for five weeks except Monday , Feb 16th when the State is closed for President’s Day.
It appears that each of the four Mondays they meet are devoted to “Orientation” all day and the 10 am to noon time period on Feb 17th, Feb 18th and Feb 19th is also devoted to “Orientation”.
It looks like a little bit more than 25% of the time they are in “Orientation”.
http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis145.nsf/vw$$webDocs/JFC?openDocument&nav=mtgs
if the above link does not work, click the link below
http://legis.delaware.gov/
then click Meeting schedules
then click on Joint Finance Committee hearings
Primary Nancy Cook!
If JFC is exempted from HB 1 (and you can bet that the Bond Bill Committee would seek and get the same exemption), then you have effectively excluded any oversight of how tax dollars are spent. That is roughly 80-90% of all important legislative business, and 100% of the legislation that is absolutely required to be considered in any session.
El Somnambulo has seen how JFC ‘votes’ on budgetary items. The deals are cut in closed session, and then a series of hundreds of pro-forma individual votes are done in ‘open’ session. No comments, just a series of raising of hands.
To force the legislature’s hand, you must let legislators know that the public has their back, and that Nancy Cook won’t exact retribution on their initiatives w/o repercussions.
Yes, in a better world, you would have a braver brand of legislator but, in reality, you have the same dynamics that were at work in student council government. One or two leaders, lots of followers who like the notoriety. That’s just a fact with some oversimplification mixed in.
For real open government, you will have to pierce the power of Nancy Cook and Bob Venables. Simple as that.
Term Limits
Recall
Referendum
Inspector General
wah wah wah….you want better government, elect better leaders. you want better leaders, recruit community leaders to run for office.
that’s where in lies the problem, noone who has been a leader within our communities has any desire to run for office in the current political enviornment. we need to bring campaigns back to the issues of governing, not to the issues of personal attacks.
republicans, democrats, independents, it doesn’t matter if they are not leaders. GOP and Del Dems….HELP WANTED>>>looking for a Leader.
John Tobin says: It looks like a little bit more than 25% of the time they are in “Orientation”.
…and the rest of the time, they’re eating lunch. Guess they don’t want us to see food stuck between their teeth.
Primary Dennis Williams while you’re at it!
Excellent post, Cassandra. And I’m with you , Al. I was thinking about this yesterday (that was the smoke you saw rising above Brandywine Hundred). Where is it in state law that gives the JFC the right to vote itself into closed sessions?
The WNJ actually go something right in their editorial today. “The latest display of legislative gall comes from the Joint Finance Committee, whose members you might think hold master’s degrees in economics from Wharton. The fact is, many of them are high school graduates with no more knowledge of financial matters than what the experts tell them. ”
Expecting any of them to do anything more than look out for their own interests is absurd. and the street fund is nothing more than a vote buying mechanism. No one hears about the street fund till 6 months before an election when, one call to pam maier 9before she decided to quit) to patch a hole in our street (about 4×4 inches) got us a brand newly paved street.
and protractor is a moron, but if the general public wants open government and our elected officials, who are there to represent us, dont want to then we should be able to recall them.
“Nothing in that budget is secret…”
Except for the shit both sides slip in at the last minute.
It is what gets rushed in at the last minute and buried during the process that diminishes the entire process and provides the goodies for the club.
Orientation sounds as though it is more about indoctrination — how to explain how much time they are spending in it? Making that an open session would likely give you as much of the secret decoder ring for what they do as anything else. And I suspect that sitting through all of that orientation would provide a bunch of ways to make the current budget process more efficient.
To force the legislature’s hand, you must let legislators know that the public has their back, and that Nancy Cook won’t exact retribution on their initiatives w/o repercussions.
In other words, remind these legislators that their constituencies DO NOT include Nancy Cook.