General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 26, 2014
Well, it looks like the State is gonna piss away $9.9 mill on the casinos. Even though not even its strongest proponent can make a reasonable case for it:
“We got half of it done today,” said Sen. Brian Bushweller, a Dover Democrat and sponsor of the bills that now go to the House. “At least I think we’ve sent them a package that does provide the Band-Aid that we need … and sort of lays the groundwork for a more permanent kind of effort to stabilize this industry so we lose as little as possible out of this situation.”
The ‘half’ they got done is passing bailout legislation in the Senate. This bill, and this bill. The only senators deserving praise are the five who voted no: Lopez, Marshall, McDowell, Peterson, and Sokola.
The bills contain no requirements that casinos cannot lay off workers. Nor should this graf from today’s News-Journal fill anyone with confidence that they won’t:
Indeed, there are no guarantees that there won’t be layoffs, said Denis McGlynn, President and CEO of Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment and Dover Motorsports Inc., who said any decision about staffing will come after discussions with banks that must renegotiate loans with the casino and hotel. “I’m not going rule it one way or the other, in or out,” he said.
In fact, Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf gives the game away, that it’s the casinos extorting concessions from the General Assembly and the taxpayers while threatening layoffs that could well happen even if/when they get their money:
Spending the money on casino relief is worthwhile, he said. One of the things being talked about is eliminating the midnight to 8 a.m. shift Monday through Thursday if the legislation fails, at a loss of maybe 100 employees, Schwartzkopf said. (Gee wonder who’s talking about that?)
“I’m not a real smart guy, but I can tell you that spending $9.9 million to save over ten-point something is not a bad deal,” he said.
Fair use prevents me from quoting Karen Peterson, who points out that this magical discovery of $9.9 mill would have helped the Joint Finance Committee to do some actual public good with the money.
This was the Delaware General Assembly at its most venal and cynical. It should come as no surprise that Colin Bonini, who earlier this week voted against the Budget Bill and cited the need to make ‘hard choices’, (cuts for state employees and reduced healthcare spending, of course) voted for the bailout, as did the other two Rethug no votes on the budget.
Hey, folks, guess who didn’t show up in Leg Hall yesterday to push for what his own office calls a critical piece of legislation regarding new standards for bail? (Insert ‘Jeopardy’ theme.) That’s right. No-Show Beau, your Attorney General. The result? The same as with his bill to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally-ill. Ignominious defeat. Or, more specifically, 3 or 4 votes short of its required super-majority. ‘Acting Attorney General’ and spokesman Joe Rogalsky (I’d hate to have his job, no matter what it pays), per usual, was the only AG’s office employee available for comment:
“This is an important piece of legislation that will make our communities safer and is something many states and the federal government already have. Just like we did last year in the Senate, we will be working hard in the House until the end of the legislative session to get this passed.”
The ‘we’ does not include the Attorney General himself. But we’re not supposed to talk about that.
The Budget Bill passed the House and goes to the Governor. No dead-enders voted no. Unanimous with one absent.
‘Beer and a movie’ passed the Senate and goes to the Governor. Because, of course, this was something the public was clamoring for. Not. Special interest legislation, if you hadn’t figured that out by now. Hope you enjoy sharing the movie theatre with inebriated patrons. Should work wonders for the movie-going experience.
The Senate approved a new Supreme Court Justice, Karen Valihura, and David Small as DNREC Secretary. At best, one can hope for Small to be a competent bureaucrat. Just don’t look for the ‘vision thing’.
BTW, I can’t let this go without a comment about Justice Carolyn Berger‘s resignation from the Delaware Supreme Court and seemingly ‘injudicious’ comments. I don’t know it she’s right on the specifics of Markell not taking her seriously, but she’s right on point when it comes to, well, I guess the operative word is ‘paternalism’, when it comes to women appointees to judgeships. BTW, when I first started working in Dover, the operative word was ‘chauvinism’. I’ll leave it to others to decide whether paternalism is a step up from chauvinism. To me, it’s ‘same old wine in a brand new bottle’. From Philadelphia Business Journal:
Berger’s situation outlines a concern in some quarters in Delaware that women do not have enough of a role on the judicial branch. Berger said women have advanced on the state’s family court, superior court and court of common pleas. She is also the only female to serve on the Court of Chancery, which deals with business litigation.
“Family court is the only court ever to have a woman chief judge,” Berger said. “The court of chancery has had no women judges for the past 20 years, despite the fact that several well-qualified women have applied in the past. And I’ve been the only woman on the supreme court. Many other states have more than one woman justice, and in several jurisdictions, women justices outnumber male justices.”
Maybe it’s the same menfolk arguing that Delaware’s courts are the nation’s most prestigious who, in their own paternalistic minds, don’t want the wimmenfolk messing with that reputation. Perhaps the wimmenfolk who are assuming the leadership role in the State Senate just might have something to say about this moving forward. I hope so. But, I digress. You can as well. In the comments section.
Paul Baumbach’s midwifery bill finally passed the House, 27-12. I think a yes vote was the right vote. However, the roll call is all over the map. I hope this bill at least gets considered in the Senate before adjournment.
Here is Wednesday’s Session Activity Report.
We’ve already discussed many of the items on today’s Senate Agenda. I am, however, pleased to see that HB 198(Brady) has resurfaced after languishing for over a year since it passed the House. According to the synopsis, the bill ‘removes prohibitions targeting municipal action in the area of recycling. The sunset provision of § 6099A is also removed with a view toward the future crafting of legislation which will address reduction of plastic bag dissemination.’ The bill passed the House with no opposition. Hope the same thing happens in the Senate today.
Color me a little skeptical of SCR 62(Hocker), which ‘establishes the Delaware Waterways Management and Financing Advisory Committee to develop and submit recommendations for sustainable and dedicated funding for Waterway Management activities statewide’. The abundance of downstate sponsors suggests to me that, once again, Sussex County will look to foist off the costs of its deliberate serial pollution onto the state. I mean, more than they already do. Convince me I’m wrong.
As I suggested yesterday, the House will be working from three agendas today. The first agenda is comprised of bills that were not worked from yesterday’s agenda. House Agenda I consists of House bills, and House Agenda II consists of Senate bills. Future agendas could include nothing but charter changes, super-majority bills, and other themes.
I can’t wait for this session to end. Which is perhaps why I wrote yesterday that Sunday night was the final night. As Liberalgeek, who can read a calendar far better than I, pointed out, Monday night enjoys that dubious distinction.
Hmmm, might have to do something about my scheduled Tuesday Al Show appearance…need my beauty sleep, wanna look good on the radio.
Tags: Beau Biden, Carolyn Berger, casino bailout, El Somnambulo, Steve Tanzer Delaware
9.9M!!! I have to believe that the casino owners, secretly gathered in their sacred sweat lodges, must be laughing their asses off right now.
This whole thing reminds me of the Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing” The chorus line went “Money for nothing and your chicks for free. . . . ” From the name of the band to the lyrics, it seems they had a vision of Delaware politicians when writing the song.
As for the movie theatre bill, between the cell phone fools, the price gouging for food/drinks, the ridiculous ticket prices, and now the potential for drunks, I’m out.
“Spending the money on casino relief is worthwhile…”
What a bunch of bullshit.
I take issue with the carping about the beer and a movie bill. The prudish BS fear-mongering about inebriated movie-goers is straight out of the lunatic fringe “family values” crowd.
I guess it all comes down to what you want in a movie-going experience.
I don’t go to the movies, so I don’t care.
But this bill was not sought by moviegoers. It was sought by theatre owners.
I would concur with El Som’s paternalistic depiction. It appears that the women culled to work support roles there, (though many are very strong women), are all obsequious when confronted by the ancient male egos… From a casual observation, I would further say, that if one did a composite of all our legislators, the average hair color would be gray, the average number of facial wrinkles would be well over a hundred, and the average skin color would be red……. (from all the alcohol)…
But in Legislative Hall, women do seem to be treated as eye candy, more than say in a government office or in a business…
I agree with LG. Lots of places have beer and movies and have avoided falling into perdition. (Also beer could make ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ , starring Mark Wahlberg. Coming to theaters June 27th, tolerable.)
SCR 62 has to do with dredging and navigation markers in rivers and creeks. The Coast Guard created a stink when it announced it would remove some markers from some creeks. The Feds are reportedly moving away from maintenance of these waterways, so this is a way of figuring out who’s going to pay to keep them open. Not a darn thing to do with pollution.
Great article on the topic here: http://www.coastalpoint.com/content/hocker_gray_hear_need_waterway_maintenance_tax_05_23_2014
And here’s another from the NJ. Interestingly, this is a reaction to the fact that Federal Government austerity has driven the Feds to prioritize the waterways they maintain. And many of the waterways targeted by this bill have been reclassified by the Corps as “underutilized” so they won’t dredge them. Some of these waterways have enough accumulated sediment to be shallow enough to possibly damage boats or even for the USCG to remove navigational items. So Sussex County — home of the We Hate Government and It Spends Too Much crowd, finds itself at the blunt end of the austerity they wished for. The Waterways Commission looks like it is pretty focused south of the canal, which might be the right thing, except this resolution says it is to resolve waterways maintenance funding issues statewide.
Seriously, if these people are proposing anything other than a usage fee for boaters to pay for this, you’ll know this is one more boondoggle like beach replenishment.
“The prudish BS fear-mongering about inebriated movie-goers is straight out of the lunatic fringe “family values” crowd.”
Drunks at the movies will never, ever happen. How could it?
There are already drunks at the movies.
“The prudish BS fear-mongering about inebriated movie-goers is straight out of the lunatic fringe “family values” crowd.”
Even without beer, moviegoers in Florida are shooting each other. Like El Som, this wouldn’t affect me, but I have yet to find the circumstance in which an application of alcohol improves everyone’s behavior.
If you need booze to enjoy a movie, stay home with Netflix.
Let’s give Ms. Berger what she asks for: Diane Clarke Streett for the Delaware Supreme Court — if she feels like working this week, that is.
Careful what you ask for, you just might get.
Irony here. Clark-Street was appointed in lieu of several other far more qualified judicial applicants – both male and female.
SW is spot on about Hockers bill, the anti-socialist Sussex County conservatives are apoplectic that their little bit o’socialism (dredging, aids to navigation) is being cut. As always with conservatives, its only socialism if its something someone else is getting.
The Corps only has so much money and recreational boating in small backwater creeks just doesn’t rate very high on their to-do list.
Geezer – no one NEEDS a beer at the movies (but we don’t really need soda, popcorn or $14 snickers bars either). But they serve beer and wine at plays, Theater N, symphonies, etc. and I don’t see anyone bitching about it except for the usual suspects that brought us prohibition 100 years ago (plus you and ES).
Hell, I’ve been to cinemas in Germany where there is a snack bar (with beer) in the actual theater. You don’t have to miss the movie to get a refill of your popcorn.
Who is this?
US SENATOR
REPUBLICAN – CARL SMINK
http://WWW.CARLSMINKFORUSSENATE.COM
From:
STATE OF DELAWARE
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS
http://elections.delaware.gov/reports/genl_fcddt.shtml
Beau Biden was in Legislative Hall Tuesday and today, for the record. I spoke with him on Tuesday after not seeing him for about a year and he was the same, old Beau.
For the record, the News-Journal reported today that he was absent from Leg Hall for the debate on SS1/SB36. If the bill was that important, and if, as you say, he’s the ‘same old Beau’, why the bleep wasn’t he in Dover yesterday to lobby to get his bill passed?
“Hell, I’ve been to cinemas in Germany where there is a snack bar (with beer) in the actual theater.”
Just hazarding a guess that you’ve also been to cinemas where a donkey was the star performer.
The bail bill, right? Maybe he was there Tuesday and today lobbying the bill, it passed tonight.
http://www.legis.delaware.gov/LIS/LIS147.NSF/b51f4b5053c30a5c852574480048057a/0c30c4e6e195efad85257b870075f1b6?OpenDocument
Could be. Perhaps the argument that this is only the first leg of the constitutional amendment carried the day. It must pass, however, in identical form next session in order for it to become law.
ATIAM – you would have guessed wrong, but that isn’t new, I suspect.
FTR, this was a standard theater in a small town about the size of Newark.
Kavips “It appears that the women culled to work support roles there…”
Its not just in the judiciary. Look at Markell’s Cabinet. 16 positions; 3 women. While I’m sure Dave Small will be a competent DNREC Secretary, I was hopeful that the DNREC vacancy would create an opportunity to increase the number of women or minorities who advise the governor and provide direction for state agencies.
Not enough female or minority leaders in Court, Leg Hall and state agencies. How does this get turned around?
Revel and Showboat in Atlantic City closing. Great news for our poorly run casinos ?
If a soda costs $7 in a theatre, how much will a beer cost? And theatres will actually have to hire someone over 21 to serve.
There are a number of theaters in the Landmark chain that serve beer — I was told last night that the (former) Ritz Theaters do too. Even though I practically live in those theaters, I don’t recall if they have beer. I suspect not. But I’ve been to a few theaters that serve beer and wine and mostly it’s not a big deal. My “lesson-learned” from those experiences is to avoid the traditional blockbuster fare in theaters where you can drink. The folks who already see the theater as an extension of their living room get more obnoxious with alcohol.
And I still want to be able to have wineries ship directly to my house!
Here in Arizona, it’s more of dinner and wine at the theaters. Some of the theaters (Scottsdale Movie Grill and some others), have a bar and serve food inside of the theater. It’s reserved seating and overall the prices are not too much more than the Applebee’s of the world (beers are 5 and a burger and fries can be had for 10 bucks. Not a bad experience, but the popcorn at these places isn’t very good.
We miss you, Mark! Hope you’re enjoying Arizona.
(FYI: My husband just reread “Old Man’s War” on a flight to Texas for business. When he came home he asked, “Who recommended this book? It’s great!” I gave you all the credit!)
As far as alcohol at movies… I have no problem with it.
El Som – perhaps the AG himself, who was in Leg Hall both Tuesday and Thursday working his bill, made a compelling enough case to get the bill through.
The bottom line is that Beau showed, he looked healthy, there were no detectable intellectual differences between Beau 2013 and Beau 2014, and in the end, Beau won this battle.
Credit where credit is due.
Nobody made a compelling case to get votes in support of that bill. Four voters changed their votes in spite of the fact that absolutely nothing had changed in that bill from the previous days hour and a half discussion. An additional amendment was offered and defeated that would have preserved some semblance of presumption of innocence for the accused if it had passed. This bill had no support whatsoever from the Judiciary and I witnessed, (first hand), expressions of trepidation from members of the judiciary in conversations. This bill is a heavy-handed attempt to allow excessive prosecutorial pressure that could result in unjust plea bargains being made out of desperation while facing an unappealable and indeterminate incarceration before being judged guilty by a jury of peers. The rejected amendment would have at least allowed the accused the option of reaching the 120 day finite limit before a bail hearing is granted without compromising his rights to request a time extension for adequate preparation of his or her defense. This bill (especially without the amendment) is an unconscionable breach of individual rights to a fair defense and presumption of innocence. Unamended it can only be viewed as a violation of due process that can be used as an opportunity for prosecutorial misconduct or excesses. Absolutely no legitimate rhyme or reason given or offered by those that changed their votes and joined the law and order/hang em high group that uses “criminal coddlers” as the catch word to deny equal justice that is the foundation of our judicial system. Perhaps trying to cover one’s own failings and ineffectiveness in bringing deserved justice to the wealthy criminal will be aided by a logic of “hang ’em all” an let the Lord sort them out.
John Kowalko
Maybe the next AG will give this bill a second look.
I agree with Rep. Kowalko on this. After all the progress we’ve made in returning discretion to judges, I think this bill goes way too far in giving prosecutors too much power.