General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 19, 2017
The first set of John Carney’s nominees sailed through the Senate yesterday. Republicans could not contain themselves from raining effusive praise on these nominations. And why should they? It’s basically the same set of characters with whom they did business during the Markell years. Which, at first glance, is what the Carney Administration appears hell-bent on replicating. Memo to those running the Legislative website: Could you please put the roll calls on nominees up on the site? They do not appear in the Daily Activity Report.
As I mentioned yesterday, the status of the incumbent Labor Secretary remains in limbo b/c of the actions of one Senator with a dawg in the fight. The reason for the holdup does not verge on the unethical, it is unethical. Will Carney have the moxey to stand up, or will he buckle in the name of ‘The Delaware Way’? I’m afraid that that’s a rhetorical question, but I hope I’m wrong. Getting rolled right off the bat sends a message that–you’ll get rolled on anything, as long as it’s not progressive in nature.
Today’s Senate Agenda includes a Mini-Bond bill to clean up some changes that have taken place since June. Basically a reallocation of already-budget funds. You will note that $200,000 will be reallocated to the City of Wilmington for crime prevention purposes as long as the City submits the paperwork that Dennis Williams refused to submit last year. Betcha that paperwork is already being prepared. The ‘escheat’ reform bill is also on the Agenda. Looks like there is urgency to getting this bill passed and signed before the end of January.
Today’s House Agenda is highlighted by HJR 2 (Schwartzkopf), which ‘rejects the report of the Delaware Compensation Commission in its entirety’. I suggest you read the body of the resolution, b/c the lip service it pays to the judiciary before concluding with ‘No Raises For You’ is fawning and obsequious:
“WHEREAS, the Delaware General Assembly recognizes the national and international reputation for excellence that our judiciary has earned; and
WHEREAS, the State of Delaware is fortunate to have such outstanding high caliber judges; and
WHEREAS, the Delaware General Assembly also recognized the outstanding work that other state officials mentioned in the report of the Delaware Compensation Commission are performing; and
WHEREAS, the Delaware General Assembly must also recognize the current state and national economic conditions”.
BTW, notice who isn’t specifically mentioned along with the judiciary and other state officials? The legislators, who concocted the automatic raise scheme via the Delaware Compensation Commission in the first place. Never one to shy away from making political hay out of anything, Monsignor Greg Lavelle has introduced legislation doing away with the Compensation Commission entirely. The fact that Lavelle only has R sponsors on the bill should tell you all you need to know as to why he introduced the legislation. Even though, as you might suspect, the scheme was completely bipartisan in nature when concocted.
That’s it for this week. Back Tuesday, no doubt with some more skulduggery to report.
