Shame on the Joint Finance Commitee
My favorite politician in Delaware is disappointed and we should all be as well. Matt Denn, the Delaware Attorney General, posted this on Facebook this morning:
There is no sugar-coating it. The state budget was passed last night, and after five months of making the case, I wasn’t able to persuade the General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee to invest financial market settlement funds in any of the initiatives I proposed to address violent crime — no funds to extend Wilmington’s very effective police foot patrols (whose state funding will expire in two weeks), no funds for staffing of video cameras, no funds for new after-school or summer programs for juveniles, no funds for new re-entry programs, no additional funds for high-poverty elementary schools, no additional funds for low income housing. Instead, the Joint Finance Committee spent millions of dollars in settlement funds to balance this year’s budget. I recognize that it was a very tough budget year, but it would’ve been affordable and appropriate to fund at least some of what we proposed. To the Delawareans who are living every day with the consequences of violent crime, and others in our state who think it is an important issue, I am sorry I wasn’t able to persuade the legislature to invest in these programs, and I want you to know that I am going to keep on trying.
This yearly overnight shenanigans by the General Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee has got to stop. Important programs, such as the ones that Denn was trying to get through, die here. The programs asked for by Denn were very important for the future of Delaware. The short sightedness of the Joint Finance Committee is shameful.
Tags: Matt Denn
This legislature (and, let’s face it – this Governor) is an embarrassment.
But they did include $7.5M for ANOTHER data center — this time in Middletown.
Although both Matt Denn and Beau Biden wanted to use those settlement funds for worthy causes — low income housing and various violence reduction programs — I’ve always been concerned about the lack of effort to make more of the folks affected by these bank shenanigans whole again. But here we are providing funds for supporting another non-utility generator masquerading as a data center. This one looks like it won’t have the same impact to neighborhoods as the Newark one would, but still. The fact that funds survive for this but not for low income housing, open space, violence reduction programs doesn’t say much about the JFCs priorities.
Although I will say that AG Denn should have been ready to withdraw the overtime funds for Wimington foot patrols once Wilmington’s budget was finalized. Because the WPD is now at full strength and I’d expect that the current WPD budget already includes foot patrols.
Unfortunately a lot of worthy things suffered and have suffered due to the lack of back bone in Dover to address our revenue problem
While I do believe the two windfall funds should not be used to balance the budget, I do not agree that using them for police overtime or other city crime initiatives is appropriate. To me those funds are a Beau Biden legacy not to be squandered on budgetary expediencies. What might have been a good legacy would have been a low interest or in some cases zero interst loans to low and moderate income individuals for down payment assistanc or existing home renovation/ This would be a permanent revolving fund the use of which would be closely related to those who suffered the bank greviances that generated the funds. Instead wew eat the seed corn
Maybe Matt should use this as a rallying cry in a run for Governor. He’s light-years better than Carney or Gordon.
Thus saieth Captain Obvious.
Gotta agree with Cass and the Don. Worthy as Denn’s programs would have been, the funds were intended for those hosed in the housing crash. No matter what one argues, it cannot be denied that was the intent of the settlement.
I have to give it to Matt Denn on this. He isn’t your typical politican. He has a lot of heart and gusto. With that being said, this goes against the grain of so many down in Legislative Hall. Which is exactly why he should be our next Governor. Matt knows people, he knows what makes them hurt and what makes them succeed. He doesn’t always agree with the latest politics, and we need that desperately in this state.
I happened to be at Leg. Hall very early this morning to catch a bill vote, and they were in recess. Matt came up to me to ask how my son was doing. This is a man who was fighting for a very important part of the budget, but he took the time during one of the craziest nights of the year, to ask about my son. Matt is a class act, and I don’t think anyone should underestimate him!
Matt Denn is a very, very smart man. I dont think its a question of if he’ll run but when and he’ll have my vote when he does. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do as AG though.
We can’t add to or start new programs when we can’t afford the programs we have. Next year is going to be very interesting…
A shame, good causes ignored again
There is no excuse for not using the settlement funds for the people who lost their homes due in whole or part to bank chicanery.
The use of the settlement funds for balancing the budget was totally irresponsible. The settlement was intended to assist communities who had been hardest hit by the irresponsible practices of the banks. Property values in the hardest hit neighborhoods have never recovered. Many families continue to be “under water” because of property values influenced by vacancies caused by the foreclosures. When we talk about the settlement money it might be better to call it the “net settlement monkey.” I use this term since the State of Delaware had already chopped off a huge portion as payment for damages to the state’s investments. In addition, a seperate fund had been established to aid families who had been foreclosed upon. If you were to study the maps on foreclosure you would see that middle class and poor communities throughout the state were the hardest hit communities. The net settlement could have been a once in a life time opportunity for these communities. But once again we could not make the right decision and follow the intent of these legal actions. Maybe the municipalities should sue the legislators like the AG sued the banks.
Legal action might be an interesting idea. A judge in CA ruled that the CA legislature illegally raided settlement funds to balance their budget.