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…