The State of Delaware has received $36 million in settlement money from the evil empires of Bank of America and Citigroup, and Attorney General Matt Denn has ideas on how to spend it in order to tackle Delaware’s crime, education and poverty problems, because he rightly views them as connected.
Attorney General Matt Denn wants […] to provide millions in temporary funding for substance abuse treatment, after school programs, community policing patrols, teachers in high-poverty schools and new efforts to fund affordable housing and economic development in low-income areas of the state. […]
Denn made his pitch in emails Sunday to lawmakers and to groups seeking a slice of state funding.
“We believe that this ambitious investment in Delaware’s economically impacted communities has the potential to transform parts of our state.” Denn wrote.
The proposal is just the latest from Denn, who, since taking office on Jan. 6, has acted to seek funding for walking police patrols in dangerous areas of Wilmington and to toughen sentencing for violations of gun laws.
Denn will host a 11:30 a.m. event on Wednesday at the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington to publicly unveil details of the $36 million plan, which he is branding “Lifting Up Delaware’s Communities.”
His plan includes $3 million for additional substance abuse treatment facilities; $5.9 million for the state’s Neighborhood Building Blocks Fund, which Denn hopes to use partly to fund walking police patrols in Wilmington; and about $5 million for new teachers and paraprofessionals in 16 of the state’s lowest-income elementary schools.
Sixteen schools would receive $300,000 each over three years.
There’s also $10 million for the Delaware State Housing Authority’s Strong Neighborhoods Revolving Housing Fund to create affordable housing, and $4 million for a program to incentivize development in Delaware’s downtown districts, a program first proposed and funded by Gov. Jack Markell last year. Just $1.5 million would go to direct foreclosure assistance.
In some instances – including the strong neighborhoods fund, and the downtown districts program – Denn’s proposals would add funding to programs that already exist. […]
Markell, who will make public his budget proposal next week, backs Denn’s plan: “The Governor supports AG Denn’s proposal and will encourage the General Assembly, and particularly the JFC, to support the plan as well,” Markell spokeswoman Kelly Bachman said.
Why did I title this post “Matt Denn Announces for Governor?” Well, obviously he has not announced, and if you asked the Attorney General I am sure he would say he is not running. But doesn’t this $36 million dollar proposal strike you as something beyond just his duties as Attorney General. Normally Attorneys General do not care how the settlement monies their office secures for the General Fund is spent, and if they do care, they want more policing and more funding for enforcement.
Matt Denn responded to the News Journal scoop on Facebook:
Once again good news from my office has gotten out a couple of days before I wanted it to. When I ran for Attorney General, I said we couldn’t address violent crime just through law enforcement — that we had to invest in dealing with the underlying causes of crime, such as treating substance abuse addiction, helping young people learn in school and stay out of trouble after school, and working with inmates released from prison to ensure that they do not re-offend. This is my first shot at delivering on that, by using these settlement funds to help repair the harm caused to our communities by the recession brought about by the financial institutions’ conduct. If you can join us Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. in the Carvel State Office Building auditorium, come hear the details!
True enough. And the AG has the Governor’s backing, which likely means most of AG Denn’s plan might actually make it into the budget. And looking down the road, that gives Mr. Denn a very good platform on which to run for Governor. A platform that Tom Gordon, John Carney or Beau Biden do not have.