I think the answer may well be yes.
But first, let’s talk about how Pistol Pete threw over his own caucus in order to crawl into bed with the Rethugs. According to several Leg Hall sources, Speaker Schwartzkopf had pledged to reconvene with his caucus to try to recalibrate any budget agreement that could impact core D constituencies. Specifically, those who were at risk of losing 10% in public assistance for health care. He did not hold that promised meeting. Instead, he called the Budget Bill up for a vote, which is why so many D progressives voted no. And, yes, those receiving public assistance saw their monthly stipend cut from $90 monthly to $81. Meanwhile, $1.2 mill worth of additional state police coverage to Sussex County and $3 mill of Ag Lands preservation were the booty claimed by the Rethugs and, not coincidentally, by Sussex County’s most powerful legislator, Schwartzkopf. Oh, and the $5 mill that was transferred from the Transportation Trust Fund in the name of ‘reform’, ended up…nope, not telling you yet.
Soon. Have patience. Let me first start with what might appear to be mundane language, but will prove to be real important, IMHO.
“(5) A grant-In-aid is an appropriation of the public money from the General Fund for a public purpose to any county, municipality, corporation, private agency or person.”
Now, you may ask, why am I citing language regarding the Grant-In-Aid bill when we’re talking about deals affecting the budget. The answer is that, for reasons that someone’s gonna have to explain, the additional state police coverage in Sussex County and the $5 mill in DELDOT administrative costs that were transferred out of the Transportation Trust Fund, did not show up in the Budget Bill, they instead showed up on the very last page of the Grants-In-Aid bill. While I’m not a lawyer, state agencies are to be funded in the Budget Bill and, by the highlighted definition of what constitutes a grant-in-aid, cannot be funded in the Grant-In-Aid bill.
It’s obvious what happened here. The deal was cut so late that, rather than either reprint the entire Budget Bill or run a separate piece of legislation, Schwartzkopf and the JFC inserted the language into the GIA. Only problem is that what they did may well be illegal. May I first digress to point out one delicious irony of Schwartzkopf’s negotiating ‘prowess’? The Rethugs howled all year about getting the administrative funding out of the Transportation Trust Fund. They were such sticklers for reform that they immediately signed off on a deal that provides about $5 mill in funds for DELDOT in a bill that does not fund state agencies. There’s also one more reason that Schwartzkopf, JFC and the Rethugs did this: If this funding went into the Budget bill, they would have had to cut even more stuff out of the bill.
Instead, they funded state programs which, according to the Delaware Code, are to be funded in the Budget Bill, not the Grants-In-Aid bill.
Now, here’s the proof. First, here is this year’s Grants-In-Aid Bill.
Now, here are the key excerpts, all of which appear on the very last page of the bill:
Section 36. It is the legislative intent that $8,580,000 in financial settlements, held in appropriation 29626, within Legal, Office of the Attorney General (15-01-01), be allocated in the following manner:
(a) $30,000 to Adult Basic Education;
(b) $350,000 the Paramedic Instructional Program Expansion;
(c) $202,569 for municipal law enforcement email accounts (10-07-02), of which the remaining cost is to remain the responsibility of the municipalities in a pro-rated manner;
(d) $1,797,431 for Emergency Medical Services, Paramedic Program Operations;
(e) $5,000,000 for Contractual – E-ZPass Operations, Department of Transportation, Toll Administration (55-11-60); and
(f) $1,200,000 for Sussex County Police Agreement.
Maybe Matt Denn will explore exactly how this financial settlement money went to fund state operations in a bill that cannot legally fund state operations. I hope he does.
BTW, don’t be fooled by the misleading verbiage of “Sussex County Police Agreement”. These are state cops being paid by state funds to do what Sussex County should do for themselves. And, lest there be any doubt about that, here’s the relevant language:
Section 239. The Department of Safety and Homeland Security is hereby authorized to continue funding its share of the existing 44 patrol officers that have been established through agreements between State Police (45-06-00) and Sussex County Council. In Section 1 of this Act, ASF spending authority has been provided to Department of Safety and Homeland Security, State Police, Patrol (45-06-03) in order to accommodate the match requirements (50/50 match) stipulated by these agreements. In the event that the aforementioned agreements between State Police and Sussex County Council are terminated, this authority shall be deauthorized.
I don’t think they can legally do that.
Before I conclude, just one final word on the machinations of Schwartzkopf. Once again, according to multiple sources, House legislators did not even see the Bond and Grants-In-Aid bills until the time they were called up for votes.
Schwartzkopf screwed his caucus and, more importantly, core Democratic constituencies while preserving all sorts of breaks for Sussex County and for farmers. I’ve generally been agnostic about the guy (some good, some bad), but if I was in that Caucus, I’d want him out of his position. He sold them out. His own caucus can no longer trust him.