General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 22, 2016
Another week down, another 8-figure payout of taxpayer money transferred to the corporate giants. We’re told that we have to do it, otherwise someone else will. You see, the people who keep getting their pittance of health care cut, the state workers who have to beg for a pittance of a raise, they don’t count. We don’t have to do anything for them, they’re lucky they get what we give them. No, we need the big-paying jobs, or, to be accurate, the tiny fraction of those jobs that will remain, more than we need a more equitable and humane system. Oh, and to go ever-so-slightly off-topic, our sleazy County Executive is gonna throw yet millions more of taxpayers’ money at these extortionists. $7.5 mill for starters. Our money going to pay the big corporations and their biggest earners. That is what’s known as a transfer of wealth. BTW, all those Rethugs who publicly rended their garments in outrage over Gov. Markell’s efforts to at least bring new industries to Delaware? They all voted for both (so far) of these corporate bailouts. They don’t object to transfer of wealth, they just object to it not going to the usual suspects. What this Governor and this General Assembly just did is pretty much similar to throwing money at the casinos…except that these jobs pay more. More money for ever-diminishing returns. Our money.
Yes, SB 200 (Blevins) passed the House and was immediately signed into law by the Governor Thursday. Nobody even had to be late for their St. Patty’s Celebrations. Betcha there was some passin’ ‘o the green to go along with the wearin’ o’ the green that night. Only people who got screwed? Delaware taxpayers. And maybe an inebriated legislator and an appreciative lobbyist or two.
Before I move on, I have a question for my County Council member. These companies are staying, at least for now, whether or not the County hands them $7.5 mill of our money. Could you at least please vote no against this unnecessary and unwarranted giveaway? Thanks for reading. You, the reader, may want to call your Council member to express similar sentiments.
Only other action of note on last Thursday’s Activity Report? SB 230 (McBride), which ‘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’, unanimously passed the Senate. Somehow, these provisions had inadvertently been eliminated from the Code.
Today’s House and Senate Agendas are singularly uninspiring. Most look like Sunset bills, and deal with professional and occupational licensure. SB 157 (Ennis) provides for paramedic certification under the Medical Practices Board. The only bill that intrigues me is HB 270 (Bolden), which authorizes the Consumer Protection Unit of Delaware’s Department of Justice to take specific steps to prevent telemarketers from calling Delaware residents in certain circumstances. Someone posted on our board last week that this was ‘silly’, that the Feds already are doing this. If they’re doing this, it’s sure not slowing the unsolicited calls I get at home every day from places like Grapevine, TX and elsewhere. They’ve even developed a new scam in which they somehow appropriate a local number and it turns out to be a robocall from someplace outside of Delaware. The Feds either can’t or won’t slow down this epidemic of calls. I like this bill, and I hope it provides us with some relief.
Time for a look at this Wednesday’s committee meetings, starting with the House. Highlights:
*History repeats itself. Guess what bill is on the Agenda of the Business Lapdog Committee? A hint…Speaker Pete did the same thing he did two years ago. He again has assigned a serious minimum wage increase bill to the same committee he did then. No, it was not the Labor Committee. But yes, the committee still has the same Chair. Bryon Short, the Chamber’s favorite D congressional candidate. I can’t imagine the bill not getting out of committee this time. Maybe they’ll pull one of those deals where they hold the bill in committee while preparing amendments ‘acceptable to all parties’. There is no such thing as acceptable to all parties. I can guarantee you that there is no way that this bill will sail through w/o secret attempts to either scuttle or emasculate it. I’ll be watching, you should be watching as well. Bryon, take note.
*HB 292 (K. Williams) requires schools to post the toll-free Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline in a conspicuous location. Education Committee.
*Sensible bill in Judiciary. HB 255 (Mitchell) adds violations of a county or municipal code to the list of offenses that are eligible for probation before judgment.
*Tick tick tick. A couple of bills relating to Lyme Disease control in the Natural Resources Committee. HB 290 and HB 291, both Schwartzkopf-sponsored.
*Not real crazy about HB 214 (Keeley). We once again create a special class of victim. In this case, assault on a nurse would be a second-degree felony. Not that I’m singling out nurses, oh no. The more-important-than-thou professions already singled out are “…a law-enforcement officer, a volunteer firefighter, a full-time firefighter, emergency medical technician, paramedic, fire police officer, fire marshal, correctional officer, a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, public transit operator, a code enforcement constable or a code enforcement officer who is acting in the lawful performance of duty.” More will surely follow. Just like special license plates, once the legislature starts, they won’t stop. Judiciary Committee.
Checking out the Senate meetings:
*I like SB 152 (Lavelle), which would establish penalties for those who create driving hazards by not clearing snow and ice off of their vehicles before driving. It’s a well-crafted bill and tries to anticipate eventualities and extenuating circumstances. Public Safety Committee.
*HB 61 (Hudson) requires that minutes of all ‘public meetings of the boards of education of public school districts, vo-tech school districts, and public meetings of charter schools’ boards of directors be digitally recorded and made available to the public on the districts’ and charter schools’ websites within seven business days’. Passed the House unanimously. Education Committee.
*SB 207 (Henry) strikes me as offering a reasonable and flexible approach to school bullying. The bill:
…would improve the state’s response to incidents of school bullying by better informing parents of the availability of intervention by the Department of Justice’s School Ombudsperson, and clarify that the Ombudsperson has authority to intervene in both incidents of criminal activity and incidents that meet the statutory definition of bullying but do not constitute criminal activity. This Act would also give schools and victims’ families discretion whether to report misdemeanor assault incidents between juveniles to law enforcement agencies, rather than mandating the involvement of the criminal justice system in all such incidents. Finally, the Act would ensure that parents of students involved in bullying incidents are informed that such incidents are reported to the Department of Education, and are informed when such reports occur.
Just a final note. SS1/SB 163 (Peterson) has already been scheduled for Thursday’s Senate Agenda. I think it’s a real good bill that restores some discretion and reason to what once was known as ‘Three Strikes and You’re Out”.
Speaking of three strikes, with no Al Show (DAMN, I miss him/it), time for me to do some fantasy baseball prep work today…
Tags: Delaware General Assembly, El Somnambulo, Steve Tanzer Delaware
Some of the points I enunciated on the floor of the House Chamber in opposition to SB 200 and its predecessor the “Delaware Competes Act” follow:
Within a total of 14 calendar days, SB 200, the “Commitment to Innovation Act” was rushed through committees, voted on by both chambers (under a suspension of House rules) and signed by the Governor. This latest corporate giveaway will be funded by you the taxpayer and is the latest display of an arrogant disregard for you and your family’s dire economic circumstances. I am forced to post on this matter and the recently signed “Delaware Competes Act” to make you aware of the willingness of this Administration and legislature to forfeit over $60 million of revenue in a futile attempt to bribe multi-billion corporations to not leave Delaware when, in fact, they have already done so. Delaware’s working people and local business community do not deserve to be shortchanged by such economically irresponsible flights of fancy.
I certainly have not and will not support any of these corporate tax welfare bills. DuPont/Dow moved the majority of research and other jobs in the agricultural spinoff to Iowa and Delaware taxpayers are left with some extremely costly crumbs (headquarters only) in Wilmington. Let me point out to all that there was and will continue to be opposition to this ravaging of the taxpayers’ wallet and I certainly will do my best to expose my colleagues to the illegitimacy of such policies that offer no return on investment for Delaware taxpayers.
My point is that manufacturing a product, such as Nabisco has done for many decades, producing billions of dollars of Oreo cookies in Chicago benefits the local community and businesses with decent paying jobs. The corporation that owns Nabisco recently built a factory in Mexico and is moving Oreo production and 600 Chicago jobs to that facility, despite having extorted over $45 million in subsidies from Chicago taxpayers. This is happening to take advantage of dirt cheap wages and rueful working conditions. The only beneficiaries of such a callous move are those multi-billion dollar corporations and their CEOs (see DuPont/Dow $80 million bonuses) while idling thousands of American workers who no longer have spendable income to support the consumer spending that is needed for local businesses to survive. Ross Perot was right about that sucking sound.
For another example look at DuPont’s recently opened $200 million factory built in China employing thousands of Chinese workers manufacturing solar panels for sale back here, or Johnson Controls recently constructed and opened battery manufacturing facility ($150 million) in China for distribution from the Delaware distribution center in Middletown that taxpayers invested millions in infrastructural and road improvements. Also note the DuPont/Dow ($130 billion merger), spinoff headquarters that will stay in Wilmington, with a paucity of jobs, while a significant majority of the actual jobs of the agricultural research branch goes to Iowa. This will leave Delaware with 1700 layoffs of well-paid positions and only a promised potential for future job growth numbering less than a quarter of that if it comes to fruition at all. The price tag of that economic development mirage will be an additional $9.6 million price tag of State taxpayer money and as much as $6 million of County taxpayer funds. The list goes on and on.
Another devastating consequence of the DuPont plan is the actual amount of revenue that will be lost to Delaware by those layoffs. The adjustment of that 1700 number downward to 1150, conceding that 500 of those targeted will retire still leaves Delaware with over $92 million in lost salaries per year. This translates into a loss of $5.5 million in state tax revenue alone (at a conservative 6% rate). In addition there is the loss of tens of millions of dollars of consumer spending capabilities (needed to sustain local businesses). Add in the draining of millions of dollars in burdens to an already stressed unemployment fund and other necessary government support systems.
The “Corporate Welfare” policies of this Administration have cost the Delaware taxpayers $250 million during Governor Markell’s term. This irresponsible wasting of the taxpayer dollars has resulted in no discernible return on investment and has stopped absolutely no job losses incurred by these wealthy corporations. Further compounding this administration’s erroneous economic missteps is the recent policy that was passed, despite my and Representative Williams objections, labelled the Delaware Competes Act. This corporate giveaway will cost over $48 million in lost revenue to Delaware with absolutely no appreciable effect to retain or grow jobs. Now the Administration has signed more legislation branded as “The Commitment to Innovation Act” there will be a further erosion of revenue that provides basic, necessary services to Delawareans. Neither of these misguided economic policies will reinforce local business growth or stability and will leave a gaping hole in Delaware’s budget that this Administration will attempt to fill on the backs of state employees, seniors and the poorer families in Delaware.
Adding to the insult of these types of corporate giveaways is the actual statistical proof that these types of bribes and irresponsible economic policies have been marked by failure after failure at an unaffordable expense. Read the March 4th News Journal article and please note that $22 million went to JPMorgan which profited to the tune of $24.5 billion last year with “promises” of job growth that would inevitably have occurred without this taxpayer outlay. Note also the $11 million gift to Incyte Corp. which announced plans to move half of its Delaware workforce, nearly 300 people, to Pennsylvania this year. The Fisker and Bloom debacles speak for themselves as monuments to irrational and irresponsible wastes of taxpayer dollars.
One tenth of that $250 million diverted to supporting locally based businesses for job growth, infrastructural investments and production improvements via tax credits and subsidies would ensure a healthy and robust growth in our local communities and not end up in the pockets of corporate profiteers. You can also rest assured that those local businesses that provide the bulk of jobs in Delaware and drive Delaware’s economy will not be shipping out to China or Mexico or Malaysia.
Call your legislators and demand that they resist and reverse this callous and flawed attempt to redistribute and divert revenues from Delaware families into the coffers of wealthy corporations.
Representative John Kowalko
Article 8, section 8 of our State Constitution bars cites, towns and counties from providing public monies or public credit to corporations, joint ventures, and individuals. It reads:
“Section 8. No county, city, town or other municipality shall lend its credit or appropriate money to, or assume the debt of, or become a shareholder or joint owner in or with any private corporation or any person or company whatever.
The constitutional provision was driven in 1897 by the failed system of corporate welfare towns extended to the railroads in the late 1800s to entice them to built lines to support the economic development of the towns and surrounding areas.
The language is pretty clear, and was meant by the constitutional draftsman to be strictly prohibitive. But towns have ignored the constraint and the courts have chosen not to enforce its terms.
There’s got to be some procedural ways that you can stop, delay or at least call attention to this crap. Other than the nasty rhetoric and sexual obsession how would having republicans in charge be any different than what the dems are doing. Single party rule breeds hubris.
I still don;t get how Townsend was a sponsor of SB 200. Does anyone have a statement on that from him or his campaign peeps?
What would John Kowalko instead do with the research and development credit?
Gary M,
However, as I read it, there’s nothing in Article 8, Section 8, that bars counties, cities and municipalities from gifting our tax dollars to corporations, joint ventures or individuals.
And it is most certainly a gift.
I don’t much like the Corporate giveaways when we can’t seem to find funds for schools, road improvements or raises for state workers. But I get why anyon would vote for the DuPont giveaway. I still don’t like it, but I get it.
STILL — these kind of giveaway bills seem ripe to get something in return. Like a bill called the Bloom Energy Transparency in Subsidy Effectiveness bill that would mandate some reporting on the ROI of these subsidies. And that mandate has to be specifically detailed — don’t hand it over to the Administration to create the narrative they want. Or how about a mandate that every dollar given away to a corporation requires an equal increase in education funding? None of this stuff will pass, but can definitely remind people about what legislative priorities look like.
I don’t see why a mandated transparency/ROI bill couldn’t pass. Sure the Chamber would be against it, but… Never mind.
John Kowalko would reject that legislation and the “Delaware Competes Act” and craft a policy to reward (not subsidize or gift) with calculable tax credits smaller local businesses that are willing and able to expand their workforce and business footprint/facility. The result would be less tax revenue owed or collected for new and additional positions created within those local businesses and incentives to expand their model/infrastructure within Delaware. I can guarantee you that it will not be 1/10 as expensive as these current giveaways to multi-billion dollar global corporations that have no intention of committing to Delaware and no interest in rewarding taxpayer loyalty. I can also guarantee the taxpayer that an expanded local business such as your neighborhood steak shop or small machine shop or auto repair shop are not going to move their operations to China (see DuPont and Johnson Controls) or Malaysia and you will not have to wait for your pizza delivery to be fedexed from Shanghai to your door. There are thousands of service sector and small local manufacturing businesses that would willingly expand their market-share access and consumer base within the confines of Delaware netting REAL job growth and business expansion. Tens of thousands of job growth would not be a stretch of anyone’s imagination and stabilizing and sustaining local businesses is the only sure way of maintaining a stable and beneficial economy in a state of this size.
John Kowalko
If the government simply has to be seen giving money to companies in the for of tax breaks, I guess the ones JK mentions are more worthy.
However, these are also the business men and women who realize that the State of Delaware is a valuable silent partner in their business and that the valuable services they get cost money.
I find it hard to believe that school boards do not have to post their minutes online already. I am certain most do. Who are the holdouts making this legislation necessary?
“I find it hard to believe that school boards do not have to post their minutes online already.”
Minutes already are posted online. FOIA does not strictly require that minutes be posted on the web or even taken at all. But if the minutes exist, by law they must be available on request, so most boards have their own policy to post minutes on their website. However, minutes are notoriously insufficient. Minutes cannot capture everything, and they cannot capture the nuance of the audio. The legislation specifically provides that audio recordings are not minutes.
“Who are the holdouts making this legislation necessary?”
Charters mostly. Plus Vo-techs and a few straggler districts.
As I sit here zoning in and out, I missed the part about audio recordings of meetings.
The telemarketing bill unanimously passed the House today:
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/firststatepolitics/2016/03/22/legislators-telemarketers/82133188/
El Som I’m curious if you have heard any buzz on HS-1 for HB-1.
Considering that the bill is assigned to the House Administration Committee, and considering that committee member Val Longhurst is a prime sponsor on the bill, the only thing that could keep the bill from moving forward would be technical issues with the bill. Having said that, it’s still in committee.