Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., Jan. 10, 2017
You wouldn’t know it from today’s News-Journal, which used to be a newspaper, but the 149th Delaware General Assembly will convene today for its first session. Technically, the State Senate met post-election to consider some gubernatorial nominations, but today marks the official start to the two-year session. The first day invariably consists of ceremony. The swearing-in of the members, lots of family and friends in the respective chambers, and usually a reception to follow.
For newbies, here’s what to expect in January. The General Assembly will be in session for three weeks and nine sessions, weather permitting. Once sworn in, Governor Carney will present his first State of the State address to a joint session. Before the month is out, the new governor will present his proposed budget for FY ’18. Delaware’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. The submission of the budget sets the stage for six weeks of Joint Finance Committee hearings. State agencies come before the committee to present their budget priorities.
Unless the Chamber of Commerce has something that absolutely must pass in January, like last year’s $60 mill payout to essentially the DuPont Company and Chemours, January is generally a slow month. You will get the occasional bill to clean up a couple of fiscal matters, but don’t really look for much. The operative word for legislative action is s-l-o-w.
BTW, speaking of the News-Journal and speaking of last year’s $60 mill payout, if you think that it’s pure coincidence that these two announcements took place yesterday…:
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2017/01/09/chemours-stay-revitalized-headquarters/96341886/
…you’d be mistaken.
Wish I had more. But I can only work with the material at hand.
BTWBTW, speaking of non-coincidences, the Chemours/Buccini-Pollin announcement, which is essentially old news, was delayed until after Mayor Mike took office.
Watchdogs would do well to keep an eye on the relationship between Purzycki and Buccini Pollin. While I generally think that Buccini Pollin has largely been a positive force at the Riverfront and elsewhere, the closeness of the relationship between that firm and this mayor at least needs to be viewed with some caution.
The DSN Pre-Game article includes these words of wisdom from Pete Schwartkopf:
Remember that time you quit/retired from DL and they gave you a Harley, rode you around a stadium, presented you in front of your fans in fond farewell? it must have been awkward coming back.
Maybe they can push some more state employees into poverty and they can get food stamps
Now THAT would be running government like a business.
Another way to get out of a deficit; creative accounting.
Verily, that is the tried and true method.
Hey, if it looks like the bigwigs are gonna get hit hard, wouldn’t shock me to see DEFAC suddenly ‘discover’ an additional $250 mill or so.