The long day’s journey into Friday morning awaits.
The House passed the Budget Bill, but with 8 no votes that ran the gamut of the political spectrum. Those nos: Bennett, Bolden, Briggs King, Gray, Kowalko, Potter, Wilson, and Yearick. However, the outstanding issue remains the Senate vote and the question as to whether the bill required a 3/4 majority, which the Senate did not muster. Gary Myers raised the issue in a comment yesterday:
“Glitch in the Budget Act that only a nerd could appreciate.
Article VIII, sec. 4 of the State Constitution requires all acts appropriating monies to be paid to a city or a county (or to any agency or part of such entity) to be passed by 3/4 supermajorities in each legislative chamber.
Thus, to the extent that the Budget Act encompasses sections directly sending moneys to municipalities or counties (as several sections in past Budget Bills have done) those particular appropriations fail under Art. VIII, sec. 4. The Senate vote falls 1 vote short of the 3/4 majority passage in the Senate needed by the Constitutional provision.”
To me, that’s not a glitch. Does the bill require a 3/4 majority and, if so, will the Governor look the other way and sign it? A ‘highly-placed’ source (aka a tipster) wrote me the following:
“I have a source in Leg Hall that just told me that the supermajority question has been raised but that in order for the vote to be deemed unconstitutional, the body would have to vote to refer the action to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The R’s have been trying to get the GA to pass a resolution for the past few years, apparently.
The question, of course, was moot when the budgets passed almost unanimously. But that’s not the case this year. I don’t care whether the R’s are doing this just to be pains in the ass. The idea that the General Assembly would willfully pass, and the Governor would sign, a budget that might not meet constitutional standards is, well when you think of it, not surprising. Just depressing and sorta outrageous. And business as usual.
Speaking of business as usual, let’s follow some of the ongoing plot threads that I laid out this week. There’s no doubt now that Rep. Viola’s bill to basically give VFW’s and American Legions free money was just that. How do I know? Well, you’ll recall that this bill eliminated the requirement that 40% of their proceeds from slot machines go to charity. HB 440 eliminates that entirely. However, after being called on it, guess what? Viola has introduced an amendment lowering the 40% to 25% rather than eliminating it altogether. Could I ask another question? Of course I can, I’m writing this. Is it a ‘good thing’ to have veterans pissing their money away on slot machines? I mean, yes, they can always go to a casino. Still, the idea that the state sanctions these slots at VFW’s and Legion posts seems kinda unseemly.
‘Unseemly’ defines HB 444(Potter), which is a last-minute attempt to do the bidding of Fan Duel and Draft Kings under the phony guise of ‘regulating’ fantasy sports in Delaware. While AG’s are prosecuting these miscreants for illegal gambling, and while these companies are being forced to pay out tens of millions of dollars in reparations, Potter’s bill would create a ‘legislative finding’ that what they engage in are games of skill, not games of chance, and, as such, do not constitute illegal gambling. One of the most cynical ploys of the year. The bill has now cleared his ethically-dubious committee. Campaign contributions all around! Can someone please primary Potter? Oh, and Viola, while you’re at it?
It looks like the General Assembly has scrounged up enough money for the Bond Bill by finding figurative money under the seat cushions. Complete, of course, with dire warnings from Chamber worry trolls:
“It tells me that they are clearly focused on short-term remedies for something that is a long-term problem,” said Robert Perkins, executive director of the Business Roundtable and a former aide to Republican Govs. Pete du Pont and Mike Castle. “This is the equivalent of looking under the cushions of your sofa to find loose change to pay your electric bill.”
The Roundtable, which represents various Delaware business owners, released a study late last year that called for legislators to find more stable sources of revenue and stop the continually growing cost of things like education, Medicaid, and employee health care costs.
“If people did not recognize last August when we released that study that there was a structural problem then, they must now,” Perkins said. “Cobbling together a state budget, which has many, many important programs that must be funded, is not a practice that is sustainable in the long-term.”
You remember that ‘study’, don’t you? Paid for by the Business Roundtable to provide pro-business talking points. Cut corporate taxes, do away with the estate tax, raise taxes on seniors. That’s the one. No mention of raising taxes for Delaware’s wealthiest. And not a peep from the General Assembly this year.
Today’s agendas represent only a fraction of what will be considered before adjournment some time on Friday morning. It is the most dangerous legislative day of the year as stuff you never dreamed would see the light of day becomes law while you’re sleeping. FWIW, here is today’s Senate Agenda and here is today’s House Agenda. As you can see, the House is working a lengthy series of Senate bills before they turn to ‘must lists’. The term ‘must list’ is a list of bills prioritized by the legislators themselves. The House sends their list or lists to the Senate, and the Senate sends their lists to the House. These can prove dangerous instruments that enable bad legislation to sneak through under the cloak of darkness.
As you can see, the General Assembly is kicking a lot down the road. In some ways, it’s only fitting. Minner and Carney did the same thing back in 2008, leaving Markell to clean up the budgetary mess they left behind. However, the lack of courage and leadership on certain issues deserves condemnation. No minimum wage increase? No funding to address the so-called reorganization of Wilmington schools? In fact, virtually no leadership on that entire issue? No move to stop the cops from just stealing stuff from ordinary citizens? No consideration whatsoever for generating more revenue through corporation franchise fees or through a couple of tax brackets for Delaware’s wealthiest?
I have next to no optimism for next year, not with Karen Peterson and possibly Bryan Townsend leaving the General Assembly. Not with John Carney as governor.
And I have no desire to chronicle what goes on during the ‘Carney Years’. That’s too much for even my masochistic tendencies.
So this represents, in all likelihood, my final Pre-Game/Post-Game Show post. Thanks to you, we’ve had some small impact over the years which, as I’ve learned, is about all we can hope for.