General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., Jan. 13, 2016

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., Jan. 13, 2016

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We have two bills that somebody wants fast-tracked in January: HB 240 (Longhurst)  'establishes the Statewide Afterschool Initiative Learning Program. The Program will provide grants to public schools, that qualify as Title I schools, to develop afterschool engagement of students that will provide extended learning, homework assistance, enrichment, and nutrition.'  Sounds good.  There is, however, no funding mechanism mentioned in the bill.  Nor does the bill, for reasons I cannot understand, require a fiscal note.  So, how are they gonna pay for the program?  Will it be paid for from the Mortgage Settlement Funds? If not, what are you defunding in order to fund this? We may or may not find out sooner rather than later.  Bill's scheduled to be considered during today's House Education Committee.  BTW, here's my uninformed guess as to what's happening here:  Sponsors can claim that this is merely 'enabling' legislation and that the funding mechanism will be determined by JFC.  Which, of course, is totally disingenuous.  You don't need enabling legislation if the JFC funds such a program and establishes the criteria in the epilog language.  But that would bypass touchy-feely brochure fluff. Someone, please prove me wrong. HB 235 (Longhurst), the 'Delaware Competes Act', allegedly 'reforms Delaware’s business tax code to incentivize job creation and investment in Delaware, to make Delaware’s tax structure more competitive with other states, and to support small businesses by making tax compliance less burdensome. The principal change in the Act is to remove disincentives for companies to create Delaware jobs and invest in Delaware property that currently exists in how income is apportioned to Delaware for purposes of the corporate income tax'.  In other words, tweaking the formula to remove inequities that create disincentives to job creation.  Fine.  Here's what they didn't tell you.  This is not some revenue-neutral tweaking.  Nope. There is a fiscal note attached to this bill, and here are the projected costs to the state's coffers: Fiscal Year 2017             $ 8,200,000 Fiscal Year 2018             $17,600,000 Fiscal Year 2019             $22,900,000 So, let's be honest here.  It's yet another sop to business with not even a projection as to how many jobs will be created due to the removal of alleged disincentives.  And this is annual revenue loss. 
Wednesday Open Thread [1.13.2016]

Wednesday Open Thread [1.13.2016]

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Steve Benen says the public liked what they heard last night.
For all the mindless chatter about “making America great again,” last night was an opportunity to hear a leader make a powerful case that such talk is unnecessary – because America is already great. There is a risk that a president delivering a hopeful, optimistic message will seem out of touch, but there’s early evidence that Americans were impressed with what they heard last night. CNN released an overnight poll that found 53% had a “very positive” reaction to the State of the Union address, while another 20% had a somewhat positive reaction. A 68% majority said the policies Obama proposed “would move the country in the right direction.” Results like these come with important caveats – many of the president’s critics simply don’t tune in – but it nevertheless suggests the hopeful rhetoric landed on fertile soil.