The big news: $155 million.
That’s right, DEFAC (Delaware Economic & Financial Advisory Council), the group that officially sets the estimated revenues for the state, came out and identified an additional $155 million in state revenue, about 50% in the current fiscal year, and 50% for the upcoming fiscal year. While this is not the final estimate from DEFAC before the budget has to be crafted, it gives the General Assembly the chance to craft alternatives to the ‘all austerity all the time’ budget proposed by the Governor. ‘All austerity all the time’ except for those who have never had to worry about austerity.
The Administration immediately issued a call for the General Assembly to act rationally:
“What we don’t want to have is people to look just at these numbers and decide we can grow the operating budget by this amount,” said Ann Visalli, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Well, nobody’s saying that. What she’s really calling for is for the General Assembly not to provide any kind of relief to state employees, who have been sharing in the sacrifice for three years now. Make no mistake about it. Not only do I think she’s wrong, along with the Administration, but I think that the General Assembly will make some modest adjustments for state employees, plus funding of ag land preservation; social service programs; and road and street repair/construction; assuming that these numbers hold up. If passed, the Governor would be faced with vetoing such legislation, even after he has insisted that the wealthy should not have to share at all in the sacrifice, or enacting it. A veto would effectively demonstrate that his call for ‘shared sacrifice’ was simply semantic-ese for demanding ‘give-backs’ from state workers. Markell would do well to abandon that stance right now, assuming the DEFAC figures hold up.
Does Jack Markell really want to stand side-by-side with CRI’s propagandist-masquerading-as-an-economist John Stapleford, who says:
“Don’t spend it on anything that will incur an obligation that will continue in the future.”
Lest ye may have forgotten our even-handed sober economist, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwn0HTWGWXw[/youtube]
Yep, that guy continues to be a News-Journal go-to guy. Let me ask again: Why?
This news is far bigger than anything I can write today in my General Assembly, and it will be the talk of Dover today and for weeks to come.
But, my readers demand an update and a preview, and that is precisely what you shall have. Legislative Council has finally gotten its act together, and here’s the complete record of what took place on St. Patty’s Day (officially at least) .
The Senate passed SB 9 (Blevins), which would prohibit DELDOT from taking over maintenance of roads that connect to communities built exclusively for those aged 55 or over. There were 2 ‘no’s’ and one ‘not voting’. Who were they? Tony DeLuca has determined that you don’t deserve to know. I find it unfathomable that even an obstinate slug like DeLuca won’t permit full Senate roll calls on line. What is he and the Senate hiding? This is not just on DeLuca, but the entire Senate D caucus. Don’t mouth empty pro-forma support for FOIA while allowing this to continue. Post the roll calls!
John Kowalko finally got his trans-fat bill. HB 3 passed with 7 ‘no’ votes, all from downstate R’s. Maybe Frank Perdue’s kid got to them? I hope that the Governor doesn’t consider this bill ‘hostile to business’.
HB 36 (Mitchell), which extends drivers’ license renewals from five to eight years passed with only one ‘no’ (Peterman). An amendment was placed with the bill, but it turns up in hieroglyph form, so I don’t know if it dealt with senior citizens and road tests. Or, Egyptian drivers.
Several other bills of (what I consider to be) relatively minor impact also passed the House. Check out the complete record above for more info.
What’s going on today?
Well, the Senate once again has nothing on its agenda. Betcha they’ll show up, though. don’t know why. Probably to check maps. Also, keep in mind that the Senate does not conform, and makes a point of not conforming, with virtually any open government policy. Shameful, but we all know the body rots from the head down. So the senators might do anything they want on Tuesday with impunity because they don’t give a bleep about you or anybody else outside that building.
The House has a full agenda, and there could well be some controversy. If they get to Item 4, HB 47(B. Short), the House R’s will no doubt be in full political posturing mode. This bill gives DHSS ‘explicit authority to investigate and inspect unsanitary or unsafe conditions in certain facilities where invasive medical procedures are performed. It also gives DHSS the authority to adopt regulations to strengthen oversight of facilities, investigate and inspect unsanitary or unsafe conditions in certain facilities where invasive medical procedures are performed. It also gives DHSS the authority to adopt regulations to strengthen oversight of facilities.”
The R’s will say (and have said), ‘the bill is incomplete’, ‘it doesn’t go far enough’, ‘it should have been done years ago’, etc. As I pointed out last week, when the abominations at Eric Harrah’s ‘clinic’ were made public in the mid 1990’s, neither an R Attorney General, nor an R-controlled House were able to get legislation passed. Rethug David, or another of his ilk (Ilk Quotient is satisfied early this week), claimed that the R’s were all over it but that Patti Blevins somehow unilaterally killed this legislation. To which I say, ‘Prove it’. The R’s had power back then that they don’t have now. If this is passed, it will be no thanks to them.
Ruth Briggs-King’s ill-considered bill, HB 30, would label ‘synthetic cannaboids’ as Schedule I drugs. This bill of course ignores the discussion an enlightened General Assembly (I know, I know, that defines the term ‘oxymoron’) should have on decriminalizing marijuana. There would be no demand for synthetic cannaboidism if the real thing was available. You know, when marijuana is eventually decriminalized, people will look back, scratch their heads, and wonder why they wasted 40-plus years on a disastrous and worthless war on drugs. I say, “This country’s been going to hell ever since Nixon sprayed Mexico’s marijuana crop with paraquat.” By so doing, we turned Mexico into the logical middle-man for far more dangerous drugs from South America, etc. To get a sense of the corruption and the human toll caused by this drug war, I highly recommend this book. I guarantee you that Joe Biden hasn’t read it, but he should. For that matter, so should Beau. And all those Synthetic Cannaboidheads out there.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, think I’ll put on some Hendrix. “Third Zirconic Cube From the Sun” seems about right.