Pickle reference? I thought it referenced something purchased at an adult store.
John Kowalko

Public Advocate Drew Slater has petitioned the Public Service Commission contending that the cash windfall from the recent lowering of corporate taxes that would directly benefit utilities, such as Delmarva Power and Artesian, should not be added to those companies’ coffers but should flow directly to electricity and water consumers.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/business/2017/12/29/trump-tax-cut-should-mean-lower-utility-bills-says-delaware-advocratepayer-advocate-calls-lower-powe/989814001/
This is a petition that should be granted without any hesitation and is another example of the dedication and thoughtfulness exhibited by Mr. Slater who takes his responsibilities to the consumers as Delaware’s Public Advocate more seriously than any other that I have worked with. Simply stated, Mr. Slater’s position is one of the most responsible, honest and just advocacies on the public’s behalf that I have had the pleasure of witnessing.
I hope all members of the public will recognize that they have finally been blessed with a true champion of their interests when Drew Slater was appointed as the Public Advocate. I’ve worked with a number of Public Advocates over the last dozen years and none of them have had the dedication and focus on behalf of the consumer’s interests like Mr. Slater. I couldn’t be more proud of a public servant like Mr. Slater whose grasp of his responsibilities is beyond comparison. Good job Drew and keep it up. The people need more public servants like you and I personally applaud you for everything you are doing.
Representative John Kowalko

I was recently contacted to sign on to a piece of legislation that purports to set up a system for removal of elected persons from their positions as locally elected school board members. This legislation is a frightening overreach of authority, poorly thought out, and constitutionally questionable. I therefore took it upon myself to raise the public awareness of this proposal and how it could compromise and negate the intentions and wishes of the voters who elected said board members and would place their fates in the hands of an unelected, gubernatorial board that might have no allegiance to the voting public’s wishes. Therefore I am posting this message that I sent to all of my colleagues and the Governor. Please share as you feel appropriate.
I sent the following inquiry to Representative Baumbach and Senator Sokola. I received a response from Representative Baumbach that he would not discuss the motives nor intentions of this proposed legislation so I am forwarding the same missive to all members of the Delaware General Assembly. It follows:
“I suspect that this proposed legislation, being circulated for signatures by Representative Baumbach and Senator Sokola, may impose a constitutionally challenged contradiction to decisions made by the voters of Delaware. To suggest that an Executive branch (Governor appointed and unelected) board should have the authority to overturn the decision of the voting public disregards both separation of powers and constitutional rights of those elected. If either of the two sponsors or the promoters of such a piece of legislation have a problem with individual board members (as seems to be the case here) then they should come up with a lawful process attended to by lawful entities. This is the type of overreach that causes the public to doubt the sincerity and legitimacy of the laws we create and pass. I hope the sponsors of this proposed legislation will quickly withdraw this legislation.
I would also ask the sponsors of this legislation to explain to me and my fellow legislators what has provoked them to solicit sponsors to support such draconian action. Perhaps Rep. Baumbach or Senator Sokola can give us examples of purported or actual wrongdoing by former or current board members. I would also suggest that the sponsors divulge who solicited such legislation/authority. That might allay suspicions that this is simply an effort to coerce and silence board members, specifically board members who have criticized some of this Administration’s plans. I respectfully await a reply from the sponsors before I will consider adding my name and suggest that all my colleagues do the same”.
I would gladly sit down and have a dialogue about creating a legitimate recall process with a serious due process contingent on the fact that it would apply to “ALL DELAWARE ELECTED OFFICIALS” and not a limited number of office holders who could be intimidated or coerced by this fanciful offering that appears to seek control over the electorates wishes. It has to involve input from the public (e.g., petition signatures), contain due process guarantees, and apply to all elected offices and all appointed school board members (e.g., charters and State Boards).

Representative John Kowalko

Alby
I totally agree with your comment but I am terribly disappointed in the reality that we hear barely a peep in support of good policies or in opposition to bad and harmful policies from Democrats. In fact the Democratic party seems to condone and reward apathetic and unsympathetic posturing since there is no risk of failure if you don’t give a damn or take a stance against ideological evil (Bannon, Trump, McConnel, Graham, oh hell all Republicans). But I find that type of selfish dispassion as evidence of complicity and inexcusable behavior and quite frankly immoral.
Representative John Kowalko

I think we are witnessing some of the more self-destructive tendencies that has been exposed in the Democratic Party by its own congregation of electeds. We have Democratic Senators calling for a Franken resignation (regardless of any truths that might be unearthed in an investigation he has welcomed) while we are on the figurative eve of ending health care for children via the CHIP funding expiring. Now a reasonably idealistic Democrat might ask why (any or all of) you resignation-demanders are so willing to suck the media and public attention air out of the room, yet silent as lambs on an issue that threatens the health and security of tens of millions of innocent children. Could it be that your moral compasses have been frozen by the opportunity of self-promotion that will cement your credentials as an outraged and morally righteous candidate who might aspire to a higher office. Maybe your voices, unified in anger at the prospects of those children being sacrificed at the altar of corporate greed, would not be effective in changing things but (for God’s sake) “TRY IT” goddammit.
I know it must be easier to be seen and heard as a media shill wearing that cloak of righteousness you are so eager to embrace. But once, just once, try to be a true Democrat who believes in the principles of the Democratic Party. Try to be a public servant who is willing to be an idealist and fighter for justice, fairness, equal treatment and opportunity for all. The opposite of what the Republican ideologues have become and are. I honestly believe that if you paid as much or more attention to the needs and rights of all Americans you would be pleasantly surprised at how easily you would attain those ambitions because people of all stripes and parties want someone willing to fight for them and believe in them. You would also get your picture and name in all of those media outlets you seem to be so distracted by.
Representative John Kowalko

Correction: running for “Auditor”. No this is not the new face of the Delaware Democrats. In fact it is more like the old face/guard that should not be allowed to lay claim to Democratic Party idealism without any regard for Democratic Party idealism, in fact disregarding basic principles of one “person” one vote and individual rights superseding corporate interests.
Re[Representative John Kowalko

I’ve prime-sponsored property reassessment bills more than a few times with former Senator Blevins as the Senate prime and every time she asked me to test the waters in the House caucus I did so. The proposal almost always received a frigid response. I believe that you might find little enthusiasm from those members of the General Assembly, (current and former), who own some of those high-priced/low-assessed beach and shore homes. We can never reform education funding in Delaware without a fair and honest reassessment of property values accompanied by regularly scheduled reassessments.
Representative John Kowalko

Liberals are “idealists” = “the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc” noun– “a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc”.
Conservatives are “ideologues” = “an often blindly partisan advocate or adherent of a particular ideology”
noun– “a person who zealously advocates an ideology”.
There you have it.
Representative John Kowalko

I remain convinced that the nearly 450 “super-delegates” decisions to pledge their votes to Clinton before the first caucus or primary votes were cast contributed to the primary defeat of Sanders. Every newscast from every network would project Clinton’s total with those vote totals identified in the number for super-delegate promises. The system itself is as undemocratic as you can get when it allows such an advantage in perspective and actuality. I also firmly believe that most of those pre-vote committed “super delegates” were influenced, swayed, cajoled and persuaded by the prospect of the deep-pockets Clinton cabal and its planned $$$$ disbursement to them or their special interests. The corruption and influence peddling permitted by the status-quo preserving rules of the Democrat party is responsible for this deranged nightmare of a president as any individual for condoning and encouraging this behavior. As long as Perez has his slimy paws on the tiller (steering on behalf of the Clintons and their status-quo maintaining third-way acolytes) I have no hope that the course will be corrected and the reef lies dead ahead.
Representative John Kowalko

Pardon me. “Delouse” is the appropriate term
John K.

Dear Heffron, Bullock, Geisenberger, members of the Corporate Bar Commission and all my Chamber of Commerce friends,
I DO NOT WANT TO KILL OR HARM THE GOOSE. I ONLY WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE DE-WORM IT AND DE-FLEA IT SO IT WILL NOT DIE AND DECOMPOSE CORRUPTING ALL OF THE LEGITIMACY AROUND IT AND POISONING DELAWARE’S AND IT’S TAXPAYERS’ REPUTATION.
Wishing you all the success that money can buy I remain sympathetically yours,
Representative John Kowalko

We’re number one!
Per the filed indictment: Manafort and Gates owned or controlled 23 “Domestic Entities” used in the scheme. Of those 23 domestic entities (LLCs) 9 were Delaware LLCs. Congratulations, Delaware, you are number one again.
Please call and write your representatives and senators demanding that they move HB 57 to the floor for a vote. HB 57 strives to reform current Delaware code regarding Delaware LLC licensing law to ferret out these individuals and entities that engage in nefarious abuses such as money laundering, arms dealing, drug trafficking and human trafficking.
The bill’s synopsis reads thus: “To obtain obedience to federal laws protecting national security, with the help of registered agents, this Bill will prevent the use of our Limited Liability Act by persons and nations identified by federal agencies as a threat to this country. The bill also seeks to prevent existing limited liability company owners who are on the lists of prohibited persons or governments, but may have formed a Delaware LLC already, from getting involved in industries in which the federal government has placed restrictions on certain investments. Requiring clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. for their plans will enable the Secretary to waive this provision when it is received. Registered agents must be the parties to screen for identified threats because those with a contract with the Department of State enter applications on its computers on a regular basis. CFIUS seldom prevents investments, (two since 1989 to be precise) but it may ask for mitigation in some way to reduce the potential threat involved. This Act will not impact the ability of almost any applicant to easily form an LLC nor does it require any companies to disclose more information to the Secretary of State in its application for certification than is now required”.
Please call and email Representative Melanie Smith and demand that she stop opposing release of HB 57 from the House Judiciary committee and vote it to the floor for a full House vote.

Representative John Kowalko

There are such things as negotiating, compromising, strategic retreat, truce, conditional surrender, unconditional surrender, abject failure with admission of such and finally prostrating oneself at your opponents feet, groveling and sniveling for forgiveness for having dared to challenge them and kissing those same feet in an embarrassing display of subjugation without even admonishing yourself for your failure. That’s what Delaware’s Democratic Party seems to have devolved into. Rep. Kowalko

I’m also sorry for any type O’s (blood) that are Republican ideologues or D leaders (it is a common blood type) so I guess we’re stuck with the good and the bad. My excuse is that I’m on a train and have fat, insensitive (like the ideologues) fingers. What’s theirs?

You can visit my Facebook page to see my first posting re the budget debacle. Taking a brief break but will be writing more extensively on an advised path forward. The Polish Confusius (kowalko) said: This budget will prove that there are no rivers to deep to cross as long as you have enough poor people to stack on each other from the bottom to keep your own feet dry. Yes Dukes is.

Educational Paras in Delaware are paid a wage that keeps many of them below the poverty level and I, and some others, have fought to have that wrong righted over the past four to five budget cycles. I show up ant any press conference anywhere that is convened on behalf of people, families and children in need, low-wage fast-food workers et al. and suggest that you and others members of the “concerned” public join me so that those types of people do not feel like nobody gives a damn. “Satire” no, not at all, “honest” yes. I am a proud, unabashed and vocal supporter of a fair wage for an honest days work and a livable wage for all. Are you?

Merry Christmas to all of you Fast-Food and Walmart minimum wage earners and let’s not forget a special Merry Christmas to our own State employees like the education para-professionals, many of whom are forced to apply for food stamp assistance since I’ve conveniently not provided an above poverty level wage for you in any of my budget proposals. Rest assured that once I’ve waved that magic wand of wage increases for the middle class through my policies of multi-million dollar grants to Bank of America, Astra Zeneca, RODEL, Bloom, Innovative schools and any charter school applicant with a corporatist agenda or sponsor, than, you, the peons at the bottom can pick yourselves up by the bootstraps and get in line for one of those good-paying jobs. In the meantime take heart in the fact that as long as you are making slave-wages for your forty hours of labor you’ll have to work eighty hours to survive ensuring that you have less leisure time in your day to spend that excess money that you don’t have anyway. Merry Merry Christmas. Ho! Ho! Ho!
your friend and benefactor “The Gov.:

It’s a sad day for the people of Delaware when the only statewide newspaper chooses to show a bias and favoritism to one side of a discussion. It is, however, infinitely more egregious when that same media source chooses to publish a rather duplicitous and disingenuous account that seems to be offered only to misrepresentative actual facts and mislead opinions. I am referring specifically to the News Journal’s Sunday article headlined “Markell’s plan provides “MORE” education funds”.
This goes beyond the pale of honest and objective journalism and seems to be a biased force-feeding of unsubstantiated information by DOE and OMB. I presented the exact opposite of this skewed perspective during the debate on HB 165 both in committee and on the House floor. Those facts show that of $67+ million in cuts to education (including but not limited to: $9.4M–Reading Resource Teachers, $3M—Math Specialists, $1.35M technology Block Grant, $8.2M—School-Based Discipline Program, $4.59M—Academic Excellence Allotment, $1.1M Teacher Cadre and Mentoring—and many other necessary “EDUCATION” programs) only $27.4M is being backfilled by the “Educational Sustainment Fund-AKA –proposed budget. This leaves a conservatively estimated shortfall of over $40M in public education funding not an increase of $30M. I will attempt once again to bring an honest clarity to the facts at hand.
Leading off with the statement that the Governor’s proposed budget includes “no new education cuts” intentionally fails to admit or even address the reality that there are over $40 million in unrestored education cuts that were previously imposed upon public schools, districts and children.

I will attempt to dissect this misrepresentation of reality foisted upon the public as simply I can.
Of the self-proclaimed $31M in “more” education funds subtract $17.3M for the funding increase mandated by law to hire enough teachers to meet the increase in enrollment (8.8M) and “step increases” also mandated by law ($8.5M). Balance of $13.7M alleged increase
$2.65M funded for state mandated testing cannot be construed as “increased” funding. Increase balance now computes to $11.05M.
$2.25M listed to support a technology block grant (see previous tech. block grant cut of $1.354M). Balance now dwindles to $9.7M.
$3.3M to fund additional health resources personnel in schools should be listed in Social services but I will not deduct from balance that now stands.
$2M to pay for full-day kindergarten in the Indian River District is a state mandated obligation and is not “more” funding leaving the balance at $7.7M.
$1.5M to continue an “enhanced pay plan” for para-professionals is a particular offensive misrepresentation of a state obligation still unfulfilled. Paras have been paid below the Federal Poverty level, requiring many of them to need food-stamp assistance and other social safety-net monies. # years ago I presented the reality to the JFC that they would need a $2500 per year raise to reach those minimal poverty levels and it was agreed to step it up at approx. $850 per year until they reached that level. That was the best deal that could be worked then due to the recessionary effect on the state budget so part of a loaf is better than none. To $1.5M is the next step in that leveling and should not be considered anything other than a moral obligation with economic benefits to all Delawareans. Remember those “paras” are often the only teacher resource available to stabilize the school environment for severely challenged “special-needs” students. Balance of additional education funding now stands at $6.2M.
$421,000 for Early Childhood Assistance Program should come from the “STARS” or early childhood grant contest winnings and $300,000 branded as bolstering ‘gifted/talented” programs is merely another state sponsored contest for limited funds that are insufficient and not available to all children. Balance now stands at $5.5M.
$2M dedicated to a fund (upon passage of HB165) that is restricted only to Charters and access denied to traditional schools cannot be counted as “additional/more” educational funding. Balance stands at $3.5M.
$350,000 additional minor cap improvements for charters that can be used to fund improvements and appreciate values on privately (not taxpayer) owned buildings and properties. Balance is now at $3.15M.
Finally consider this little gem of deception. $3.2M to backfill state agencies “including education” that are taking hits from sequestration cuts. THIS IS TO BE SHARED AND WHATEVER SHARE GOES TO PUBLIC EDUCATION CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED ANYTHING OTHER THEN WHAT IT IS, A BACKFILL TO PREVIOUS COMMITMENTS, TO PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN, THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE.
Final balance of added state revenue to Public Education calculates to minus—$.015M.
Please post and share everywhere you wish since obviously the News Journal will not be interested in the unbiased facts being presented.
John Kowalko

Mike O.
Here is a letter from my wife (a former Christina School Board member and “Gifted Talented” program coordinator for Christina) which mirrors many but not all of my concerns with establishing a competition for limited funding in place of restoring adequate funding. Much like the Charter School aberration passed yesterday.
John K.

Subject: Opposition to SB 27
The exact same Bill as SB27 (HB 46) met strong and valid opposition in the House Education Committee last week and failed to get released. I imagine that this is no more than an end run around the well thought out opposition to this bill in the House.
I will be posting a letter presented to the House Education Comm. expressing reasons to oppose this poorly thought out “competitive grant” (the rich get richer and finite money is not available for the needy think RTTT)
Here’s the letter.
Gentlemen
I am asking that you do not support the most recent bill concerning competitive grants for gifted education. Brandywine’s gifted program has undergone several manifestations over the last ten years because of the original acceptance into the program by means of a very subjective placement test. I knew quite a bit about the inadequacies of the test when I was in a daycare in Wilmington and many of my parents over the years had their children take this test.
However, this bill has several inadequacies which could result both in the same kind of issues happening on a statewide level, but also illustrates what has happened to gifted education in Delaware and why.
Rep. Scott, as an ex- school board member, I’m sure you are familiar with much of what I say.
Many years ago, when my daughter was in elementary school, gifted education through the districts was accommodated by a line item in the district budgets. Later- maybe 1998 or 2000?- this was eliminated and districts used the Academic Excellence Units to pay for their gifted teachers. (Districts were awarded excellence units based on student population and they could be used to hire teachers or turned in for “cash” allowing districts to either buy teachers for specific programs or buy a specific program.) While parents of gifted children weren’t always pleased with this, as districts prioritized their excellence units for what they considered necessary, at least there was some method for districts to afford special teachers and special programs.
However, in 2009, EVEN AS THE STATE HAS STRESSED DISTRICT FLEXIBILITY in financial matters, excellence units were eliminated from the school budgets, almost eliminating any kind of real flexibility. This has caused countless problems- evidenced most recently in the loss of reading teachers from the budget and districts inability to maintain them through EUs.
I was acutely aware of how my district used EUs as I was head of the gifted/talented program in Christina for two years- when we hired 18 certified G/T teachers and introduced the Schoolwide Enrichment Model to Delaware as the prime method for reaching talent in our schools. SEM offered services to 20% of the populations in EVERY elementary school in the district, and a six week program for all students in the building. This is a program that has been impossible to continue under the reduced funding districts currently receive.
I could go on and on about the disadvantages and fallacies of competitive grants in public education. It always hurts more than it helps. It is just wrong for children in schools where we are pledging to help ALL children, and offer ALL children an equal advantage. Most important for you as legislators to realize, however, is that it is unnecessary. Districts have been asking for, and offering, ways to fund educational needs. This bill is going to be jumped on by parents and others who feel that this will be the quick fix to solve the G/T problem, and finally get some money for their children. And parents have a justified claim- there should be money for G/T education. The bill, however, should be focused towards ALL districts, and should be addressed in Joint Finance or the Bond committee.
I have attached an article and the study behind it concerning US student test scores. As the leading members of the Education committee I hope you will read these and ask your colleagues in the education committee to do the same. It is time we stopped bashing our education system and started realizing it’s not all that bad. We do ourselves no favors- and I am speaking specifically of Delaware right now- by expressing to the world that our schools and our teachers are in such dire need of improvement. It is simply not true. We have now and we have always had great public education in Delaware. We all sent our children to these schools, didn’t we? Certainly my children are shining examples of what the Christina schools have been able to do!
The announcement this morning of Astra Zeneca moving workers out of Delaware I firmly believe highlights the problem of negative advertising on our school systems. If we insist that our district, our teachers, even our colleges need to be restructured or taken over on a continual basis- and that is exactly what has happened over the last 5 years, why would companies want to locate here? No amount of financial bribery will suffice.
We need to give our schools what they say they need and start telling the world how great they are. The statistics are there. Please read the reports. For far too long leadership has been relying on insufficient and skewed data. The truth is that top students do well, and poor students are improving faster than those in other countries (and the US enrolls and tests a much higher percentage of children in poverty than most other countries in the PISA). Reading is competitive word-wide. Math in the US is competitive with math in European countries and while it is doesn’t equal Korea, the emphasis on language literacy in the US puts it at a natural linguistic disadvantage with Asian languages.
While we should always work to improve, we should be proud of our academic accomplishments (compare Nobel Prizes) not by continuing the failed practice of competitive grants but by providing districts with a solid financial structure to do the job they know how to do.
Thank you for reading this. I know it is long- but you guys are among the elite readers in the world!
Connie Merlet
14 Kells Ave
Newark DE 19711
302-737-2396

The exact same Bill as SB27 (HB 46) met strong and valid opposition in the House Education Committee last week and failed to get released. I imagine that this is no more than an end run around the well thought out opposition to this bill in the House.
I will be posting a letter presented to the House Education Comm. expressing reasons to oppose this poorly thought out “competitive grant” (the rich get richer and finite money is not available for the needy think RTTT)

Here’s the letter.

Gentlemen
I am asking that you do not support the most recent bill concerning competitive grants for gifted education. Brandywine’s gifted program has undergone several manifestations over the last ten years because of the original acceptance into the program by means of a very subjective placement test. I knew quite a bit about the inadequacies of the test when I was in a daycare in Wilmington and many of my parents over the years had their children take this test.
However, this bill has several inadequacies which could result both in the same kind of issues happening on a statewide level, but also illustrates what has happened to gifted education in Delaware and why.
Rep. Scott, as an ex- school board member, I’m sure you are familiar with much of what I say.
Many years ago, when my daughter was in elementary school, gifted education through the districts was accommodated by a line item in the district budgets. Later- maybe 1998 or 2000?- this was eliminated and districts used the Academic Excellence Units to pay for their gifted teachers. (Districts were awarded excellence units based on student population and they could be used to hire teachers or turned in for “cash” allowing districts to either buy teachers for specific programs or buy a specific program.) While parents of gifted children weren’t always pleased with this, as districts prioritized their excellence units for what they considered necessary, at least there was some method for districts to afford special teachers and special programs.
However, in 2009, EVEN AS THE STATE HAS STRESSED DISTRICT FLEXIBILITY in financial matters, excellence units were eliminated from the school budgets, almost eliminating any kind of real flexibility. This has caused countless problems- evidenced most recently in the loss of reading teachers from the budget and districts inability to maintain them through EUs.
I was acutely aware of how my district used EUs as I was head of the gifted/talented program in Christina for two years- when we hired 18 certified G/T teachers and introduced the Schoolwide Enrichment Model to Delaware as the prime method for reaching talent in our schools. SEM offered services to 20% of the populations in EVERY elementary school in the district, and a six week program for all students in the building. This is a program that has been impossible to continue under the reduced funding districts currently receive.

I could go on and on about the disadvantages and fallacies of competitive grants in public education. It always hurts more than it helps. It is just wrong for children in schools where we are pledging to help ALL children, and offer ALL children an equal advantage. Most important for you as legislators to realize, however, is that it is unnecessary. Districts have been asking for, and offering, ways to fund educational needs. This bill is going to be jumped on by parents and others who feel that this will be the quick fix to solve the G/T problem, and finally get some money for their children. And parents have a justified claim- there should be money for G/T education. The bill, however, should be focused towards ALL districts, and should be addressed in Joint Finance or the Bond committee.
I have attached an article and the study behind it concerning US student test scores. As the leading members of the Education committee I hope you will read these and ask your colleagues in the education committee to do the same. It is time we stopped bashing our education system and started realizing it’s not all that bad. We do ourselves no favors- and I am speaking specifically of Delaware right now- by expressing to the world that our schools and our teachers are in such dire need of improvement. It is simply not true. We have now and we have always had great public education in Delaware. We all sent our children to these schools, didn’t we? Certainly my children are shining examples of what the Christina schools have been able to do!
The announcement this morning of Astra Zeneca moving workers out of Delaware I firmly believe highlights the problem of negative advertising on our school systems. If we insist that our district, our teachers, even our colleges need to be restructured or taken over on a continual basis- and that is exactly what has happened over the last 5 years, why would companies want to locate here? No amount of financial bribery will suffice.
We need to give our schools what they say they need and start telling the world how great they are. The statistics are there. Please read the reports. For far too long leadership has been relying on insufficient and skewed data. The truth is that top students do well, and poor students are improving faster than those in other countries (and the US enrolls and tests a much higher percentage of children in poverty than most other countries in the PISA). Reading is competitive word-wide. Math in the US is competitive with math in European countries and while it is doesn’t equal Korea, the emphasis on language literacy in the US puts it at a natural linguistic disadvantage with Asian languages.
While we should always work to improve, we should be proud of our academic accomplishments (compare Nobel Prizes) not by continuing the failed practice of competitive grants but by providing districts with a solid financial structure to do the job they know how to do.

Thank you for reading this. I know it is long- but you guys are among the elite readers in the world!

Connie Merlet
14 Kells Ave
Newark DE 19711
302-737-2396

FYI

Sequestration projection for Delaware -$18 million

1. Personal Income Tax CUT proposed by Administration:

In excess of $60,000 taxable income will be rated at 6.6% (reduced from 6.75%)

A Delaware taxpayer whose “taxable” income is $160,000 (income after exemptions and exclusions) would receive only $150 per year extra from this proposal.

Less than 20% of Delawareans were affected by 2009 law

Similar brackets for New Jersey – 8.97%
Maryland – 8.625%
Washington DC – 8.5%

This Reduction to PIT would result in revenue shortfalls to Delaware of

$ 5.6 million in FY 2014
$14.2 million in FY 2015

Totaling $19.8 million in revenue loss IN ADDITION to the $18 million projected sequester toll

2. Gross Receipts Tax CUT proposed by Administration:

1% rate reduction across the board with additional cut to “manufacturing” tax rate of 30% while continuing to exempt all businesses’ first $1.2 million per year in gross receipts.

This proposal would result in revenue shortfalls to Delaware of:

$3.1 million in FY 2014
$9.7 million in FY 2015

Totaling $12.8 million in revenue loss.

Total revenue lost for FY 2014-2015 with $18 million sequester loss under administration’s proposals adds up to:
$50.6 million!

Not at all. Understand reality much?

Day-cares in public schools are not currently required to be licensed. Meaning they are not bound by child to caretaker ratios, not required to have minimal facility space (bathroom requirements etc.), not bound by OCCL safety rules, not bound by teacher/provider credentials not obligated by any of the constricting regulations that are applied to privately owned and/or operated child care facilities and the number of regulations and subsets of those regulations numbers over 1100 and 915 of those are being proposed to have changes made to them. It is not accurate that all of these regulations are “ALL” about safety, ratios etc. This is the type of over-exuberance that will doom an industry that for the most part is run safely, effectively and with the best interest of the children as their primary concern. No one is advocating weakening requirements that ensure the health, safety and welfare of children but overbearing regulatory agencies can and do harm these private entities while having absolutely no say in those businesses funded with taxpayer dollars. Hence the very real importance of the Joint Sunset review and legislation to require licensing of childcare in public schools.

Actually my wife does not own a daycare. She is the Director of a non-profit daycare run out of the Willa Rd. Universal Unitarian Church and her facility takes a large percentage of poor (purchase of care) kids. The regulations imposed and being imposed are making it nearly impossible for those quality day-cares (like Willa Rd) that focus on low income children so their parents can work to avoid bankruptcy. They also cannot afford to provide benefits to their employees although Willa Rd. pays much more to its wonderful staff than any Walmart. The “STARS” program does not help these struggling and necessary small businesses to survive and puts the most needy families at risk. Safe and healthy day-care environments provided by these smaller day-cares are being squeezed by government over-regulation and government agencies staffed by people who have never had the experiences nor difficulties of keeping small businesses successful. Check out the statistics of how many workers and how much tax revenue from those workers (in the child care field) goes into the state revenue stream and then ask yourself why NO public school is required to be licensed by the Office of Child Care Licensing to operate their day-cares. The fact that Delaware promotes its winning of a federal Early Child Grant as signifying progress could lead one to surmise that the little tidbit of “no licensing requirements” for public school day-cares was not a piece of info provided in the grant application.

I also debated against the bill on the floor for at least 15 minutes and was disappointed in my own inability to convey the outrageous and unconscionable effect this will have on the sick and elderly. If your child is asthmatic and needs air cond. but will not be hospitalized or institutionalized or DIE than power can be shutoff for arrearages even if the air cond. will prevent further deterioration in his/her condition. Same with Grandma/Grandpa with emphysema no “life-support” hospitalization institutionalization hope you have a neighbor with air, cause you’re out of luck. Inhumane might be a kind word.
John Kowalko