This entire session has been one giveaway after another to the corporate behemoths. Thursday’s session continued the trend with the Senate voting unanimously to fatten the corporate coffers (at the expense of the state’s coffers) by $10.6 mill by FY 2019. Look, I understand that we don’t want to lose any more jobs, but the state has essentially become a one-trick pony in recent years. And, for all that we’ve doled out in corporate welfare, we’ve only retained a small fraction of the jobs that once were the backbone of our economy. And now the county is jumping on the bandwagon. And all the public officials are praising each other for moving so swiftly to ‘save’ the paltry number of DuPont jobs that were ‘saved’. What is lacking is the ‘vision thing’, to quote Bush the Elder. Plus, a thoughtful discussion as to whether the millions we’re tossing to the companies extorting us would be better spent elsewhere. Thankfully, we’ve got John Carney bringing his inspiring vision to–uh, never mind.
Here is today’s Senate Agenda. I’ve got some serious questions about SB 202 (Sokola). Last session, the General Assembly passed legislation changing the minimum insurance requirements for school bus operators to reflect current industry standards. SB 202 exempts the Department of Education, any public school district, or any charter school from those requirements. OK…can someone tell me why? Does this mean that said entities are subject to no liability for accidents and injuries that may occur? Contractors are not exempt, but apparently DOE, school districts and, of course, charter schools, would be exempt. Can somebody talk me down here?
Today’s House Agenda features a bill I never thought would make it out of committee. HB 124 (Wilson) would create a constitutional amendment requiring that the General Assembly dole out a minimum of $10 mill annually for Agricultural Land Preservation. Let’s see, corporate welfare, farmers’ welfare, and don’t forget cops’ welfare, I think you can see what kind of welfare the General Assembly ignores.
I’m also not too keen on HB 99 (Briggs King), which ‘adds Department of Correction, Probation and Parole vehicles to the list of “authorized emergency vehicles” as used in Chapter 41 concerning the Rules of the Road’. I assume that means that they can race as fast as they want on the roads. Just one question. Why? And under what circumstances?
And, we have yet another ridiculous special license plate bill. SB 164 (Ennis) establishes a special license plate for paramedics and retired paramedics. Just remember, kids, it’s an election year.
A bill that should have been part of last year’s budget deliberations highlights Wednesday’s House Committee meetings. HB 216 (Kowalko) increases the annual corporate franchise tax ceiling by $15,000 to $195,000. Actually, an amendment goes even further and raises the ceiling to $250,000. Even Markell’s own Secretary of State has said that this is chump change to these corporations, and that it wouldn’t have a negative impact on Delaware. Let’s see if this obvious revenue source is tapped before the General Assembly finally taps out all Delawareans living from paycheck to paycheck. In the House Revenue & Finance Committee.
Other House Committee highlights:
*Legislation ‘modernizing’ the operations of the Office of the Bank Commissioner. I always worry whether bills like this are, at least, consumer-neutral. In the Business Lapdog Committee.
*I like this bill placing restrictions on telemarketers. Looks like this is Matt Denn’s work. Bipartisan sponsorship. In Business Lapdog Committee.
*Rep. K. Williams’ bullying bill. Requires substantiation of alleged bullying in order to enable the withdrawal of a child from school. House Education Committee.
*Now here’s a bill I really don’t like, even if the intent may (or may not) be laudable. HB 283 (Mulrooney), the so-called, wait for it, “Veterans, Skilled Workers, and Community Workforce Act”:
requires that on all state-funded construction, public works, or improvement projects that contractors and subcontractors must draw 30% of their workforce from the Representative District where the project is located, and 5% of their workforce from eligible Delaware veterans. Such projects are to be governed by a Project Labor Agreement with the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council to provide structure and stability and promote efficient completion.
How does this bill suck? I think it’s bureaucratically impossible to make this bill work. Who is gonna keep track of which workers are from which districts? What happens when a project crosses district lines, which many of them do? Why is what should be a governmental function being farmed out to the Delaware Building & Construction Trades Council (Rhetorical question. I know why, I also know that it’s a formula for cronyism.) Oh, speaking of cronyism, we’re now gonna add yet another political element to the prioritization process. If, say, to choose a name completely at random, Pete Schwartzkopf makes noise about a project that he wants done ASAP in his district (and which would employ a significant number of people from his district), does DELDOT ignore the Speaker’s lobbying, or do they placate him? Anybody who has ever seen a contract awarded by DELDOT to a contractor knows that many of the project lists are long, many of them a series of road-paving projects. The same crews generally work together. We’re now gonna need a slide rule to make sure that these rules are being followed, that the crew composition must change as they go from project to project? It’s gonna inevitably lead to increased costs, inefficiency and longer waits to get the contract done. Finally, I, for one, am sick of giving veterans special priority on every goddamn thing. (BTW, we can add veterans’ welfare to the list.) At least until pacifists are given the same special privileges. In the Labor Committee.
*When Rep. J. J. Johnson eventually leaves the House, he will quietly leave behind an admirable legacy when it comes to corrections reforms. HB 211 is another example of that legacy. The bill ‘ limits the use of shackles and other physical restraints on children appearing in juvenile delinquency proceedings except in situations where the court determines that the use of restraints is necessary and there are no less restrictive alternatives that will prevent flight or physical harm to the child or other courtroom participants’. You would think such a bill would not be necessary. You would be incorrect. In Judiciary Committee.
*HB 212(Collins) is yet another giveaway to business masquerading as a jobs creation bill. Tax credits for hiring people, as if businesses are going to hire people only based on the tax incentive. An R election brochure bill. Revenue & Taxation.
*The fast-tracking of SB 200 continues apace. The $10-plus mill in extortion payments to business will be on the Governor’s desk by late Thursday. Revenue & Taxation.
Wait! Don’t leave just yet. We’ve still got Wednesday’s Senate Committee Schedule. The notables:
*Hmmm, this one doesn’t make much sense to me. SB 161(Hocker) prohibits schools from opening before Labor Day. Seems more aimed at tourism than education. Setting aside the question of whether public education should play second fiddle to tourism, the proponents only looked at the immediate pre-Labor Day impact. Did they look at the early summer impact if schools have to stay in session longer? Did they look at how student performance wanes as the days get warmer? Betcha they didn’t. Not that it should matter. Senate Education Committee.
*SS1/SB163(Peterson) follows up on last year’s bill reclassifying certain offenses as non-violent offenses, and adjusts how that impacts ‘habitual offenses’. Those convicted of multiple Title 11 non-violent offenses would no be able to petition the Court for adjusted sentences, and those convicted of three Title 11 violent offenses would be subject to enhanced penalties. Senate Judiciary Committee.
*SB 203(McBride). Looks like the General Assembly goofed big time (or some downstate folks snuck one through). SB 203 ‘restores the authority of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (Department) to assess criminal penalties against violators of the Wetlands Act and Subaqueous Lands Act (Acts), when appropriate. The Department previously possessed this authority, but it was inadvertently repealed by the 2013 amendments to the Acts. The Department’s enforcement of significant violations is limited without criminal penalties’. Wonder how many no’s this will get from downstate. Natural Resources & Environmental Control Committee.
Since we can’t talk about this stuff on the Al Show any more, share your comments here.