Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 7, 2016
It’s shaping up as a quiet June as the Joint Finance Committee has pretty much finished up their work.
Bottom line: State employees get a raise (!) but teachers don’t, other stuff gets cut, no new revenue sources added to mix, corporations extort millions, which is why other stuff gets cut.
Here’s the News-Journal story.
We discussed this last year. There appeared to be a legitimate chance then that additional revenue could be raised via corporate franchise fee increases and/or creating a couple of additional tax brackets for wealthier citizens. Instead, Pete Schwartzkopf cut his own deal with the Senate Rethugs, and gave the finger to progressive members in his own caucus. That essentially doomed any new revenue streams for this year, as the legislators/lemmings were not going to raise taxes in an election year.
However, they were more than willing, desperate even, to throw tens of millions of dollars at DuPont and Chemours, allegedly to ‘save’ jobs and Chemours’ corporate headquarters. I know it’s redundant for me to point out that the sole reason for Chemours’ existence is to enable serial world-class polluter DuPont to get out from under clean-up liabilities. The invevitable Chemours bankruptcy (‘Hey, we’d love to clean up this toxic environmental disaster, but sadly we don’t have the money to do it’) inches ever closer to reality. A sharp-eyed tipster shared this video account with us. It is must viewing. Hey, we all knew it at the time and wrote about it at the time. Doesn’t bother the Generous Assembly. This should be a crime of the highest order, but it’s likely legal thanks to a bought-and-paid-for Congress. Markell, Levin, and the General Assembly are rewarding and enabling this activity by throwing tens of millions at it. The Delaware Way, ladies and gentlemen.
But, I digress. BTW, there’s one budgetary item that was increased beyond Gov. Markell’s initial proposal. If you guessed an additional $1.2 million for state police patrols in Sussex County, you would be correct.
Time for the inevitable ‘Waiting For Godot’ quote: “I can’t go on. I MUST go on.”
That always has a strangely liberating effect on me.
It’s Sunset Committee Day in the Senate, with virtually the entire agenda devoted to bills coming out of the Joint Sunset Committee. Those bills have all passed the House and generally deal with the boards that regulate occupations and professions in Delaware. One of the bills, though, changes the name of the committee itself to the “Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee”, which is a more accurate description of the committee’s work. In practice, very few operating boards/commissions, etc. are ‘sunset’, i. e. terminated, but the parameters governing how those bodies operate are changed by the legislature. In general, the balance the Sunset Committee seeks to strike is as follows: The least regulation necessary to insure the health, safety, and well-being of the public. The committee generally does a good job, and their work is largely overlooked by the rest of the General Assembly.
There’s also a notable bill that would expand the Syringe Exchange Program statewide. The program is currently geographically limited to the City of Wilmington. It’s hard to imagine even the most backwards bumpkins opposing this, as the heroin scourge is hardly limited to the City of Wilmington.
Oh, boy, do we have a ‘putting lipstick on a pig’ bill highlighting today’s House Agenda. Ah, but first, let’s refresh your memories about this issue. You know, civil forfeitures, aka police just taking stuff. Quoting my favorite pundit (myself):
I didn’t know, betcha that you didn’t either, that police can seize property, money and valuables when they suspect that the owners of said property, money and valuables are involved in drug-related crime. Betcha didn’t know that neither (a) the filing of charges and/or (b) convictions for said offenses were a prerequisite for police just taking stuff. Betcha didn’t know that it’s exceedingly difficult, if not down-right impossible, for innocent victims of said seizures to get their money, property and valuables back. Betcha didn’t know that the ‘proceeds’ go directly to a law enforcement slush fund called SLEAF. Betcha didn’t know that Delaware is the only state in the union that refuses to release the amount of money seized and how the money is spent.
Oh, and didja see how SLEAF, which disburses the filthy lucre and which is ‘not considered a public entity’, is comprised of eight prosecutors and law enforcement officials, all of whom are public servants? Pretty sneaky if not illegal.
So. HB 309(Mitchell) is our pig meets lipstick bill. It’s not even a bad bill. But it only addresses one small corner of this corrupt universe. The bill removes the ridiculous exemption that SLEAF enjoyed from the Freedom of Information Act. Nothing more. Except, and this is pretty interesting, the bill also:
…provides for a process by which law enforcement agencies can determine if their applications for SLEAF funds will be public records under FOIA before they decide whether to pursue those applications.
I don’t know about you, but doesn’t that sorta make you wonder exactly what these police agencies have been applying for all along? I think they should make the exemption elimination retroactive. I think the people of this state deserve to know what the police have done with the money they stole from people they ‘suspected’, but often never charged, of drug-related crimes.
The Delaware General Assembly has the authority to eliminate this legalized looting of its citizens. It is past time to right this wrong. But this bill won’t do it.
I like HB 332(Keeley), which ‘adds misdemeanor possession and paraphernalia marijuana offenses to the list of violations and offenses for which a person may be eligible for probation before judgment if the person otherwise qualifies for probation before judgment’. Of course, if we fully legalized marijuana in Delaware, we wouldn’t need this, but until then…
I’ll be back tomorrow with a preview of committee meetings. The action gets fast and furious this time of year, and we really need to be on the lookout for special interest bills that get ‘walked’ through the process in June. Join me tomorrow to see what perfidy awaits.
Tags: Featured
A tad confused on your saying that teachers get no raise/increase… My understanding is that there is a 1.5% across the board and that the step increases are also funded.
I based it on the News-Journal article. Checking on it now…
Here we go:
“Those reductions were added to the trimming the finance committee did on Wednesday when it canceled a slew of new education programs, like teacher raises and improved bandwidth in schools, and axed other programs, like body cameras for police officers or new drug counseling.”
I hope that it was just a poor choice of words by the reporters. Hard to believe state employees getting a raise but teachers getting screwed…
“The Delaware General Assembly has the authority to eliminate this legalized looting of its citizens. It is past time to right this wrong.”
Viva Bonini !
I think the 1.5% across the board only applies to non-union employees, as union employees get step raises.
This makes sense only if there was no interruption in the union employee’s step raises, which is something I don’t know.
Levin left DEDO several months ago.
It’s pretty clear that the state is being run by Pete Schwartzkopf. Defeating him, and not necessarily in a primary, should be Job 1 for progressives in this state.
Defeat Pete!
FTFY: Levin left a full year ago. He started at SoDel Concepts in July 2015.
http://news.delaware.gov/2015/04/30/economic-development-director-alan-levin-to-end-successful-tenure-in-june/
Time flies.
DEDO director Bernice Whaley is Levin 2.0, working for Alan at Happy Harry’s for years before going into state government as his deputy. I dare anyone to identify something that she has done (or hasn’t done) at DEDO that would not have been exactly as Alan Levin would have done (or not done).
El Som–if you fisk back through the second level of WNJ stories I think the teacher pay raises eliminated refers to a program that was going to give additional raises to HQ teachers or teachers with high test scores or teachers in high-poverty schools as distinct from the across the board raises.
Among other things, the $21 million price tag for this raise does not make any mathematical sense if it excludes teachers, and you certainly haven’t heard DSEA raising the cry you’d expect if they had been left out of an across the board.
I thought I read sometime back that State workers would get a raise, but they would be paying more for healthcare. Anyone remember that? Because it would seem that any raise would be wiped out by the increased cost of insurance.
cassandra, according to the info my union has received, the pay raise will significantly exceed the premium raises on most plans, but it will still cut into it. For me, for example (and understanding that my premiums are already lower as part of a “state share” couple), our family raise (with two state incomes) will be about $2,550 gross, but our premiums will go up only by about $720 annually. The problem is, at the bottom of the scale, that $750 increase in premiums DOES equate to the entire raise.
Thanks Steve.
They have also consistently raised our co-pays and such, just like everybody else.
A sessions with an out-of-network psychologist that costs $90, and for which Highmark used to pay $72 has now been reduced to a reimbursement of $54 by the mechanism of adding a notional (but non-existent) $18 co-pay to their “allowable” charge. I use this one as an example because I just filed the paperwork on it; they are doing similar things everywhere else. My prescription plan just notified me that if everyone in our family does not change ALL maintenance prescriptions to mail-order refills (via a company in which the parent Highmark company has an ownership stake) at the next opportunity, then Highmark will begin charging double co-pays. This not only screws the customer, but diverts the money away from all other pharmacies toward a Highmark controlled subsidiary.
And, what Highmark doesn’t tell you, is that it is often now cheaper on older meds to just go to a Costco or Wal-Mart and pay their cash price because it is actually lower than your plan co-pay in many instances.
But Karen Weldin Stewart will be retained in office yet again. If Navarro doesn’t win the primary I am campaigning for Jeff Cragg on the #notKWS ticket.
The News Journal refused to publish the following but the Delaware State News accepted that responsibility and did.
Revenue Estimates Remain Flat, Better Check The Tires On The Bus
Once again, as we rapidly approach the June deadline, the Delaware General Assembly is boarding this Administration’s economic stability/budget bus. Once again the bus is fitfully careening forward on nearly flat tires. The primary reason leading to this predicament has been this Administration’s policy of deflating those tires of their revenue by irresponsibly pushing policies and laws that have taken corporate welfare to a new level. The general assembly and various agencies such as DEDO (Delaware Economic Development Office) are certainly complicit in this action and must share responsibility.
If you listened carefully you could hear the air (revenue) escaping when Delaware recently passed two pieces of legislation, suggested and supported by the Administration entitled the “Delaware Competes” act and the “Commitment to Innovation” act which will cut corporate tax obligations, (revenue to Delaware), by over $65 million. Choosing to forfeit revenue during this moment of budget needs and shortfalls cannot be rationally explained other than in terms of irresponsible economic policy. It will surely result in a blow-out on some of those bus tires.
Further compounding the exuberance to curry favor with the rapidly dwindling corporate mainstays in Delaware was the inexplicable approval of an additional $8 million to Chemours, a company that is on the brink of insolvency, and holds title to the next hazardous waste site threatening Delaware’s environment, known as the “Dioxin Pile”. The taxpayer can expect that cleanup bill soon. When one considers that this $8 million gift was approved on the same day that DFAC projected revenues were reduced by over $36 million one should expect collective gasps of incredulity from the media and even casual observers. Instead we are met with an almost stunned silence- a silence that is assumed by political leaders as a vote of acquiescence supporting this foolishness.
When the Governor’s Secretary of Finance, Tom Cook, suggests that leaks (revenue shortfalls) can be patched by additional revenue from fixed-income seniors, additional co-pays charged to the most impoverished Medicaid recipients, or benefit cuts to hard-working state employees rather than supporting legislation, such as HB 216, that would recover some of the forfeited corporate revenue from the richest companies that incorporate in Delaware, I am flabbergasted. These suggestions all came after the DFAC announcement that revenues were down as a result of falling corporate revenue obligations to Delaware.
Let’s briefly examine the term of this Administration regarding non-productive corporate giveaways. Since 2009 Delaware has granted nearly $250 million, in taxpayer money, to mostly large and wealthy corporations with the false logic that this policy will keep and grow jobs here in Delaware. Nearly $92 million (37% of that $250 million) has gone to six Fortune 500 companies since 2009. JPMorgan Chase recently secured $10.5 million in state taxpayer grants bringing its 3 year total to $22 million despite last year’s record profits of $24.4 BILLION. DuPont has pocketed $14.16 million and has paid the taxpayer back with over 1500 layoffs while moving on to a lucrative merger with Dow. That number does not reflect additional tens of millions given to DuPont/Dow to encourage the spinoff company (Pioneer Seeds) to keep its headquarters in Wilmington. As a result of the Administration’s filtering and distorting the full picture, the media has not adequately painted an accurate picture of the situation. The bulk of jobs in the agricultural spinoff arrangement consisting of most if not all of the higher paid research and manufacturing jobs are headed to Iowa while only the few jobs required to staff a headquarters will remain in Delaware. This amounts to a dramatic net loss of revenue for Delaware and its taxpayers.
A classic example of the harmful effects of such policies on communities throughout the nation is the recent Nabisco Corporation abandonment of its Oreo production facility in Chicago despite having secured over $40 million in grants to preserve jobs at this highly productive and successful facility. Nabisco chose to build its new Oreo production facility in Mexico to take advantage of the lower pay scale, resulting in a loss of 600 jobs in Chicago.
This epidemic of corporate extortion erodes the taxpayer base, forfeits jobs and eventually constricts any chance of economic growth while leaving seniors, the impoverished and all hard-working middle class families to pay for the Governor’s corporate philanthropy. I would respectfully suggest that Governor Markell refill the tires on the bus before it careens off the precipice. Supporting and passing HB 216 to recover some corporate tax revenue would be a nice start.
Representative John Kowalko (25th District
Curiously I seem to be blocked on this site.
John Kowalko
Is there a word limit? I tried to post an Op-Ed piece that the News Journal refused to publish but that the Delaware State News did indeed publish as an opinion piece. The article seems to be pertinent to some of the dialogue in this post.
Regards
Representative John Kowalko
Yes. It was snagged in the pending file.
Delaware is not an environmental state. It is not in the First States DNA. So all the toxic crap left by DuPont is just the cost of being “business friendly.”
How do you get notified by Highmark for anything, Steve? I still have yet to receive a hard copy my benefits packet that I have requested 3 times. My rate magically went up after my birthday with no notification and had to make several calls to find out why that happened. (it goes up based on age). The only thing they get right is sending me a bill.
Highmark can rot in hell. Bring on single payer. I am done with the for profit free market model for healthcare delivery.
SussexAnon–for the prescription thing we got a letter. About the reductions in pays for out of network providers I had to work it out via my EOB and several phone calls.
Before you say bring on single-payer, realize this: single-payer does not exclude for-profit providers. For example, Highmark (the parent corporation) holds a massive multi-state processing franchise for Medicare claims. So even though you are not paying Highmark premiums, Highmark collects a few cents to a few dollars every time your Medicare claim is processed. It used to be that these processing contracts were bid out on a low-bid basis, and there were several smaller processors in Delaware who did the work. But Highmark managed to strong-arm the bidding process.
More to the point: Highmark Delaware IS a non-profit, and so is the Highmark parent corporation in Pittsburgh. Of the 35+ corporations the parent company controls, roughly a dozen (including Visionworks, the nation’s second-largest eye glass chain) are for profit. In 2012, Highmark, the non-profit, managed to claim a $400 million net profit as “incidental” and make it stick because the PA laws are written so badly (even the judge in the case who found himself forced to rule for Highmark characterized the company as a “so-called” non-profit.)
Highmark used a good part of that $400 million incidental profit to purchase a near bankrupt western PA chain of hospitals and urgent cares, and then used its clout as the near-monopoly insurer in that part of the state to engage in a price/denial of services war that at one time left over 200 cancer patient undergoing chemo with literally no facility within 100 miles of their homes that would accept their insurance.
At least in PA the Attorney General has repeatedly taken Highmark to court. He doesn’t always win, but at least he gets to try because the PA Insurance Commissioner didn’t work to eliminate his oversight of the industry.
And, also, remember, that Medicaid is not single-payer, either, and Highmark DE now holds roughly a 33% stake of all Medicaid contracts in DE, which means that the company now (a) has a 90%+ share of the private insurance market (including small groups); (b) a 33% share of the Medicaid market; and (c) the processing contract for all Medicare claims.
You already have single-payer here, effectively: everybody pays fucking Highmark.
Our School Taxes went up 12.8%. It’s time for this state to make massive cuts so they can lower the Income tax.
Bill expanding the needle exchange program from the City of Wilmington to a statewide effort passed the Senate today, 13-5.
Bonini, Hocker, Pettyjohn, Richardson and Simpson voted no. Lawson and His Holiness Greg Lavelle went not voting. Lopez was absent.
“It’s time for this state to make massive cuts so they can lower the Income tax.”
So we can be more like Kansas?
“Lopez was absent.”. Keeping his powder dry.
Heroin has hit Sussex County hard. Guess the senators WANT the users to die. They are, after all, Rethugs. Betcha at least some of them have someone in their families with drug issues. They don’t care.
Thanks for the info, Steve,
Don’t care.
Fuck ’em.
They have screwed up my insurance for the past 6 months and given me nothing but problems. Notification letters? Nope! email notifying me my payment has been processed? Not on your life! Standard procedure is calling the executive secretary of the CEO and have her send an email to someone. That is the only way I get a call back.
The insurance I had before sucked but at least they didn’t lie to me or have the worst customer service. And by worst I mean worse than Comcast and Verizon combined.
There are many single payer systems out there in the world. Keeping companies like Highmark in business should not be one of them when the time comes.
And yeah, the IC office is aware of my problems. Like that is going to fix anything.
No update today. Sorry, was watching the tube like everyone else last night. Gotta go to work early today. I’ll try to make it up to you tom’w.
As a business owner relying on insurance payments I can concur that Highmark sucks. They suck with their private products and even worse with their medicaid products. That the State does not hold them accountable is beyond me. Instead, we just keep throwing more money to them to not pay providers. I know many counseling firms are starting to just refuse to accept clients with these benefits.
I still can’t get over how Rep. Kowalko believes TNJ has a “responsibility” to publish every word he writes.
Well, considering how much space it devotes to printing columns Rick Jensen writes for free for a national syndicator, I’d say yeah, it does.
Rep. Kowalko…
Please use paragraph breaks.
I forgot Liberals live government check to check.
puck says:
June 7, 2016 at 7:38 pm
“It’s time for this state to make massive cuts so they can lower the Income tax.”
So we can be more like Kansas?