The Great Grubby Gold Rush of 2013 has begun. Millions for an Archmere mansion(?), $8 mill for racinos w/no strings attached(?), more $$’s down the aglands preservation rabbit hole(?), $2.2 mill to buy a Sussex hunting preserve(?). A disproportionate number of these requests for downstate projects. The News-Journal covers it here. And the racino $8 mill rationalizations here. Enjoy (or despair of) Bloviator Colin Bonini’s contradictions within mere paragraphs of each other. Must be Bond Bill time.
The idea of giving $8 mill to the racinos that were already given legal monopoly status with no licensing fees and slot machines video lotteries subsidized by the state is brain-dead. What other casinos in this country received such a sweetheart deal? As Al Mascitti pointed out on our show yesterday, it’s not our fault that idiots at Dover Downs somehow decided that theirs would be a ‘destination resort’ that required hotels and restaurants. Nothing says destination resort quite like anonymous concrete strip malls and traffic lights every 20 feet. Why in hell should they get even a penny of bailout money? In this case, true to Markell form, this lame cash dump doesn’t even require the racinos to forestall layoffs, which is just what they’re threatening to do if they don’t get relief. Markell is simply doubling-down on someone else’s bad bet. With our money. Let’s see…$8 mill earmarked for racinos, $7.5 mill pissed away on agland preservation, you could more than pay for a 1% increase for state employees with that money. Jack, Jack?
The House passed ‘transgender equality’ legislation yesterday with a House amendment, meaning that the bill must survive one more Senate vote. Here’s the roll call. Jaques was a yes, and Paradee was a no. The rest of the votes were pretty true to form. Actually, Paradee has become predictable in his votes, which makes him one of the biggest disappointments in the General Assembly. I think he sold us a phony bill of goods. Fortunately, it comes with a 2-year return policy.
The Senate unanimously passed SB 116(Cloutier), which seeks to provide emergency help for those suffering from a drug or alcohol overdose while lessening the fear of criminal prosecution. I cannot imagine a bill like this passing in the days of Jim Vaughn, Thurman Adams and Tom Sharp. In other words, we’ve made progress.
You knew it was coming. What’s unfortunate is that it’s probably necessary. I’m talking about SB 140(Venables), which allows complaints from employees of medical centers that perform invasive surgeries (aka abortions). When you see Sen. Blevins on the bill as a co-sponsor, you know that support for this crosses the ideological spectrum.
Here is the entire session report for Tuesday.
The President Pro-Tem has placed the transgender equality bill at the top of today’s Senate Agenda. This is standard operating procedure when a bill returns from the other house with an amendment. Here’s hoping that all 11 Senate yes votes remain intact this time around. I also really like SB 104(Poore), which adds the Public Advocate to the list of public officials who have to make financial disclosures.
I don’t like SB 72(Ennis), which expands the “purpose of the Special Law Enforcement Assistance Fund so that law-enforcement agencies can obtain and devote resources to enhance the suppression, investigation and prosecution of criminal activity, promote officer safety, facilitate the training of law enforcement personnel, further public education and community awareness and improve victim services.” The bill also creates an advisory board to make recommendations that would be exempt from FOIA. So, what you have here is a special slush fund under the joint control of the AG, the Governor, and the General Assembly, with the group making recommendations on who should get the money being exempt from FOIA. One of the worst bills of the session. Will any legislator dare to challenge this?
Last Wednesday was the final day that the House exclusively devoted to committee meetings. So today we have the first Wednesday House Agenda of the session. We have a couple of bills increasing minimum mandatories for certain firearms offenses, HB 73(Mitchell) and HB 36(Briggs King). We have legislation assisting our wineries, craft distilleries and microbreweries. BTW, that’s a Delaware economic success story. HB 95(Heffernan) would enable the state to try to recover costs for toxic waste cleanups from the property owners who refused to clean up their own mess. HB 163(Bennett) “requires the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to create and maintain a developmentally appropriate, comprehensive program that fully integrates independent living services from ages 14 to 21 and which will assist youth with their successful transition into adulthood.” Rep. Baumbach’s valuable manufactured homes bills, HB 106 and HB 107, are also on today’s agenda.
Just because there is no official committee day doesn’t mean that there are no committee meetings today. Featuring some juicy bills. So, let’s take a look. Starting with the House:
Hmmm, somebody must be spreading around some campaign cash. HB 118(Bolden) ‘would permit alcoholic beverage license holders to hold up to 3 retail licenses from the current 2 that was established as of April 1992.’ Total Wines throwing their weight around again? In the House Business Lapdog Committee.
Well, lookee here. The racinos are getting a new revenue stream, not that they talk about it. HB 174(Barbieri) ‘provides that a portion of the proceeds from the Internet table games will support harness and horse racing purses at the same percentages that they are supported by slots at the casinos’. In today’s House Gaming & Parimutuels Committee. As is SB 112, the so-called ‘grand compromise’ to rescue the scofflaws who have been conducting illegal gambling at VFW’s and American Legion posts for decades.
While the House House Administration Committee has a lengthy agenda today, what is notable is a bill that is not on the agenda, in violation of House rules. It should come as no surprise that this is a bill that Jack Markell wants to kill, and that he has his henchpersons, Schwartzkopf and Longhurst,helping him kill it. By my count, SB 21(Henry) has been in the House House Administration Committee for 18 legislative days. 18. I’m not sure whether the maximum permissible number of days that a bill can be in committee without consideration is 9 or 12, but I know it’s not 18. Just what is this threat to the State As We Know It that SB 21 represents? It would put state employees on the State Employees Benefit Committee. A committee dominated by the governor’s minions. That, ladeez and gentlemen, is what Jack Markell wants to quash. With the assistance of House Democratic leadership. Seriously, why does Jack Markell hate state employees?
Committee highlights on the Senate side:
HB 165(Jaques), aka the Charter Schools’ Capital Money Grab. In the Senate Education Committee.
SB 34(Simpson), Rethugs attempt to short-circuit the efficacy of the Delaware Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. In Senate Energy & Transit Committee.
We’re at a precarious point in the legislative year. Lots of proposals with dollar signs attached flying through with minimal oversight. You’re our eyes and ears. Sound the alarm when you see something that looks a little hinky. We’ll try to follow up on it.