General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 21, 2017
Let’s talk Coastal Zone, shall we? HB 190 (Osienski), The Coastal Zone Conversion Permit Act, passed the House by a 34-7 vote. There were several amendments adopted in the House, and I think they made the bill more palatable. Here are the substantive amendments that were adopted. HA1, which adds reporting requirements from DEDO and DNREC; HA3, which requires that ‘a conversion permit applicant must submit a concept plan to DNREC for approval’, and that the plan must be approved; HA6, which ‘clarifies that new owners, operators, or prospective purchasers are by default responsible for covering ongoing costs of compliance with environmental statutes relating to pre-existing contamination; and most notably HA7, which ‘clarifies that the transfer of non-grain bulk products under a conversion permit is permissible only to the extent such products are part of the production processes within the Coastal Zone, and not permitted as part of a pass-through facility’.
While HA 1 requires a financial impact report from DEDO, HB 226 (B. Short) does away with DEDO. Because you see, we need a shift towards ‘businesses that require innovation’. Meaning, I guess that DEDO was viewed as an innovation killer. Which, come to think of it, it might have been. HB 226 passed the House yesterday by a vote of 34 Y, 6 N, 1 NV. The no’s consisted of Reps. Bennett, Heffernan, Kowalko, Lynn, Matthews, and K. Williams. Charles Potter went not voting.
Here is the entire Session Activity Report for Tuesday. Kids, be on the lookout for end-of-session bills that look hinky. I’ve spotted at least two today. HB 244 (Dukes) ‘creates a 3-year exemption for DelDOT road construction from prevailing wage requirements’. This, of course, is part of the ransom that the Rethugs are demanding while they hold the budget hostage. There’s also a Charles Potter Special that I’ll discuss under the committee meeting schedule.
We have the makings of a budget deal. At least on the revenue side. Several of the pieces of that deal will be considered in today’s Revenue and Finance Committee. They are as follows:
HB 240 (Longhurst) increases the standard deduction and eliminates itemized deductions.
HB 241 (Schwartzkopf) increases taxes on beer, wine and spirits.
HB 242 (Schwartzkopf) increases taxes on tobacco and vape products.
Not part of the ‘leadership package’, but scheduled for consideration, are:
HB 107 (Kowalko), which creates two new upper tax brackets at what I think are reasonable rates; and
HB 101 (Kowalko), which increases tax rates on domestic and foreign LLC’s.
Plus, we have the proposed income tax increases that we’ve already discussed, the corporate franchise fee increase and, of course, the elimination of the Estate Tax.
I would certainly hope that all of the projected $27 million in new DEFAC revenue goes to help offset the most draconian of proposed cuts by JFC.
Other House Committee highlights:
HB 232 (Carson) streamlines procedures for gun licensing. Why? Because so damned many people are buying weapons that the current system can’t keep up. Judiciary Committee.
HCR 39 (Jaques) establishes a task force to make recommendations about school district consolidation. Education Committee.
HS 1/HB 180 (Baumbach) updates Delaware law pertaining to computer security breaches. Business Lapdog Committee.
HB 249 (Potter) represents Charles Potter’s annual sinecure from Draft Kings and Fan Duel, two ethically-bankrupt (much like Potter) ‘fantasy sports’ scams. Just like last year’s bill, introduced in the waning days of the session. Gaming & Parimutuels.
Senate Committee highlights include:
SB 119 (Marshall): Just a horrible bill from someone who has stayed too long at the fair. This bill would, wait for it, ‘prohibit a person, who was adjudicated a delinquent for a crime that would otherwise be a felony if the person was not a minor, from being a qualified voter for a period of 10 years.’ Please retire already. I ask that as a friend.
Oops, Sen. Poore has scheduled a meeting of the Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee, but has not provided an agenda. You can’t do that. Unless you think you can do whatever you want. Which pretty much describes Sen. Poore. Cut her a break, though. Maybe her personal assistant was otherwise occupied.
There is a Senate Agenda today. Other than Rep. Bennett’s crusade to restore cursive writing to its proper place in the school curricula, there’s little of note.
Gotta cut it short. Taping another segment at WHYY-TV. You can watch it on Friday at 5:30 pm. Too bad TV makes you look fat. I’m incredibly svelte in real life.
Just to clarify, HB 232 has absolutely nothing to do at all with buying weapons. To purchase a firearm or multiple firearms in Delaware there is nothing required beyond an instant background check.
Again, there is no such thing as a Delaware firearm license.
What HB 232 does do is create a new office separate from DOJ and Superior Court to process and expedite applications for license of CCDW. That stands for concealed carry of deadly weapon and apparently the DOJ and court processed over 8000 applications last year.
You’re right. Thought I made it clear that this bill was the result of the backlog. If I didn’t, you have.
HB 240 also eliminates deduction for charitable gifts. There’s at least some evidence that when other states have done this charitable giving has declined. That means the nonprofits that fill the growing gaps for needed services are even less likely to be able to do their work. http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.delawarenonprofit.org/resource/resmgr/docs/2017-06-20_Client_Alert_HB_2.pdf
Potter should have epilogue language in all his bills that states “Only if myself or my family make money” Its amazing how he can prop up ‘fantasy sports’ but when it comes to a deal for real sports he quickly can shut it down
El Som, you equated the backlog to buying weapons. You can walk into Cabellas and leave 30 minutes later with 10 legally purchased guns. There is no backlog there.
The backlog is in issuance of the license to carry a weapon concealed. Damn, 8000+, that’s nearly 1% of the entire DE population in one year. And obviously, not everyone who buys a gun applies for a concealed carry permit.
Damn, again. This news journal article has surprising graphs, considering Delaware is so blue. 50,000 gun purchase background checks in 2015?
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/02/14/gun-purchases-surge-delaware/80021834/
Thanks, Meatball. JEE-zus, it’s even worse than I thought. All those concealed deadly weapons…
HB240 – Great if you are lower class, but hurts middle class with a 250k mortgage. Thankfully they are upping the penalty threshold, but should actually get rid of it altogether. If you work in PA and don;t pay attention, you will hit that penalty pretty fast.
HB241-242 – Let’s just keep relying on vice taxes…..
HB101 is a joke. way to squeeze an extra couple of bucks from small business owners. How about tiered rates?
SB119 – eh…I don’t feel either way about this one. Part of me wants to say no, but the part of me says yes.
Phil
857,000 LLC licenses issued yearly in Delaware are not comprised of very many small businesses. The super majority are issued to corporate entities, worldwide conglomerates and individuals and entities. A $25 per year increase generates over $21 million in additional revenue and does not break anyone’s (financial) back. The amendment if chosen raises the fees by $50 additional dollars per year which would raise over $40 million per year. The joke is in you trying to claim that you care about those mom and pop businesses that will suffer much more damage if HB240 passes and raises taxes on the poorest, the poor and the middle class working families in Delaware. That’s when you are sure to lose enormous consumer spending capabilities by taking those dollars out of the pockets of the class that spends nearly every dollar it earns. It spends those dollars in the small business, mom and pop stores and stabilizes the economy. The classes of people that will have their tax burden raised by HB240 do not tuck their money under the mattress, buy Berkshire Hathaway or Microsoft stocks or invest in DuPont’s recently opened Chinese factory that produces solar panels to be sold back here in the good old USA. They cannot afford frivolous or sometimes necessary purchases and are often forced to apply for food stamps, medicaid and other government assistance. AND THAT’S NO JOKE.
Representative John Kowalko
I have to disagree with Rep. Kowalko on this. LLCs also include most people who have their own business. The definition of small businesses would be a company under 25 employees. The guy who starts the cleaning company, the woman who starts the restaurant, or the kid in Wilmington
with his Myster Lemonade company would all be subject to this. A more reasonable approach would be to increase the fee on non-delaware resident owned LLC’s. This could encourage companies to establish here rather than just to incorporate.
This is why Dems are always considered anti business. We get mad at wall street and take it out on every little guy or gal with a dream to start their own business and get from under the control of these major employers…. Largest of which is the state of delaware
Bane You are beyond ridiculous. JK is totally on point and your example is a fantasy at best.
John k right
Per
Usual.
Ok, I understand what your saying, but did you not read the tiered rates in there? Progressive maybe? Years ago, I lost my full time job a little while after starting a new business. I was in that position where I had no job, and had to pay the franchise tax. $50 more (on top of a fledgling business) at that point would of been a burden. ” A $25 per year increase … does not break anyone’s (financial) back.” You write that, and then proceed to say that any extra money taxed would be a burden. Which is it? Maybe we should look at the size of the entity, and make a progressive tiered rate as opposed to a blanket rate.
What I was alluding to in HB240 was the removal of the itemized deduction, which will affect the middle class more than the upper class. I did not mention the tax rates because I felt that had been covered enough in previous posts.
“The joke is in you trying to claim that you care about those mom and pop businesses…”
“The classes of people that will have their tax burden raised by HB240 do not tuck their money under the mattress, buy Berkshire Hathaway or Microsoft stocks or invest in DuPont’s recently opened Chinese factory that produces solar panels to be sold back here in the good old USA.”
Get off your high horse with your snarky unprofessional comments. Your response would of been fine without those comments added in there. It’s good to see that our representatives lead with baseless personal attacks, and useless talking points, against people they’ve never met.
Phil
Officially confirmed that you are the “joke”. Meandering every which way without the slightest attempt to quantify apples to apples, taking words out of context and deliberately misrepresenting the point of the discussion does not qualify you as either an anonymous victim or someone from whom I will accept criticisms of my comments. We can always meet if you so choose. My weekly constituent coffees are well publicized and you are welcome to a cup or two on me. Cream and sugar available but you’ll have to bring your own snark. I stand by all of my provable statements and concerns of the harmful effects to the poor and middle-class working families and individuals in Delaware that “WILL” result with passage of HB 240. I don’t own a “horse” high or otherwise but I am not going to stand by silently when any government or government official chooses to let their horse s**t on those that have much less than those special interests they support. “Trickle down” does not work, will not work and will never, ever have my support and will always earn and deserve my criticisms and disdain as will the people who peddle that bull.
Representative John Kowalko
“HCR 39 (Jaques) establishes a task force to make recommendations about school district consolidation. Education Committee.”
I asked Joe Miro if he would think about adding the State Auditor, Tom Wagner. to the bill by title to get him on the task force. He knows the money side in the historical context – more than almost anyone in Dover.
I stand by all of my provable statements and concerns of the harmful effects to the poor and middle-class working families and individuals in Delaware that “WILL” result with passage of HB 240.
If you make $60k a year your personal income tax is going up and you lose the deductions you depend on every year. What are middle class people going to do if the only provider left in Delaware’s health care exchange gets a 33% premium increase and then you can’t even write off your stack of medical bills?
We’re all going to be poor and living in tents, scrounging food from the trash cans at the Wilmington Country Club because all of the soup kitchens closed because they took away the write off for charitable donations.
WTF?
“If you make $60k a year your personal income tax is going up and you lose the deductions you depend on every year. What are middle class people going to do if the only provider left in Delaware’s health care exchange gets a 33% premium increase and then you can’t even write off your stack of medical bills?”
Exactly. Those are some of the reasons I cannot support HB240 and have introduced, filed and gotten released from committee HB 107 and HB 109. They should be allowed to come to the floor for a full House vote and everyone Democrat and Republican alike can have their votes publicly acknowledged and recorded. I have formally requested that they be brought before the full chamber (along with HB101) and now all of you who agree with that must inundate house leadership with calls, emails and letters demanding it.
Representative John Kowalko
Wow, i really don’t think you even read my posts….Or if you did, your reading comprehension is shockingly bad. Let me plainly spell it out for you in list format so I hope you understand.
My comment on HB 240 was only in relation to the body of the main post:
“HB 240 (Longhurst) increases the standard deduction and eliminates itemized deductions.”
– I commented strictly to the quote above. My statement is factually correct that that statement above will hurt the middle class the most. In my second post, I clarified that I was just commenting on that bit above.
“I did not mention the tax rates because I felt that had been covered enough in previous posts.”
-There are multiple posts on this site that outline the regressive nature of the tax rates in HB 240. I didn’t think I had to mention it one more time. And for the record, I agree with you on it being regressive. I guess you couldn’t get that out of my clarification.
My comment on HB101 i thought was pretty straightforward.
“How about tiered rates?”
-Bane picked up on what I was getting at:
“A more reasonable approach would be to increase the fee on non-delaware resident owned LLC’s. This could encourage companies to establish here rather than just to incorporate.”
You go on to call me a joke, and allude that I, ” tuck their money under the mattress, buy Berkshire Hathaway or Microsoft stocks or invest in DuPont’s recently opened Chinese factory that produces solar panels to be sold back here in the good old USA.”
– A baseless attack, when on all of my points, I basically agree with you just not completely in the execution of it.
Your second response you double down on the personal attacks (joke) and say: “Meandering every which way without the slightest attempt to quantify apples to apples, taking words out of context and deliberately misrepresenting the point of the discussion…”
– I went on to show how an increase in the LLC tax would of directly impacted me, and then provided a possible answer to said impact. A tiered or different rate that would impact small and fledgling businesses located and run in Delaware.
-Not really sure what words I took out of context to misrepresent you. You seem to be doing a fine job of making yourself look bad.
“I don’t own a “horse” high or otherwise but I am not going to stand by silently when any government or government official chooses to let their horse s**t on those that have much less than those special interests they support. “Trickle down” does not work, will not work and will never, ever have my support and will always earn and deserve my criticisms and disdain as will the people who peddle that bull.”
-Not once did I ever mention any kind of “trickle down” economic policy. If anything I was advocating for a more progressive stance on all of the tax increase issues. The self righteousness is just oozing from that quote above.
Maybe instead of fanatical attacks, just state the facts and pay attention when someone is basically agreeing with you.