Schwartzkopf To File His Casino Expansion Bill, HB 40, On Thursday

(presser)

Schwartzkopf Bill Would Allow Two New Delaware Casinos
Independent five-member commission would determine location of New Castle, Sussex facilities

DOVER – House Majority Leader Rep. Peter C. Schwartzkopf released draft legislation Monday, which he will file later this week to authorize two additional casinos in Delaware, one each in New Castle and Sussex counties.

The proposal, which will be House Bill 40 when formally filed on Thursday, differs from previous casino expansion legislation in that it would establish a commission to determine the location of two new casinos: one each in Sussex and New Castle counties. The governor-appointed Lottery Redevelopment Committee – which would include the Secretary of Finance, Delaware Economic Development Office director, a retired judge, a retired law enforcement officer and a retired banker – would have the final say in which two proposed casinos get licenses.

The existing three Delaware casinos have fought any proposal to add another gaming facility, but Rep. Schwartzkopf noted the state authorized and funded an independent study that determined last year the market would support two more casinos in Delaware. Additionally, the owners of Delaware Park in Stanton recently opened a casino just south of the Delaware line, Ocean Downs, which Rep. Schwartzkopf said will take revenue out of the First State.

“Their target audience is the same people who live in Sussex County and play at Harrington Casino,” said Rep. Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach. “So what we have now is the owner of Delaware Park taking millions of dollars out of New Castle County and investing it in Maryland so that they can take millions of dollars in revenue out of Sussex County.

“This legislation will accomplish several things: it will create thousands of good-paying jobs, both construction and permanent, for Delawareans; it will increase revenue to the state; it will increase revenue to the horsemen and the racing community; and it will protect the current number of racing days for the tracks.”

Under the proposal, the Lottery Redevelopment Committee would be appointed within 30 days. Project applications would be submitted 90 to 120 days after the application process begins, and the committee must make its decision on the two locations – by majority vote – within 60 days of the submission deadline.

The committee would review each application and judge them based on multiple criteria, including, at a minimum:

• Overall anticipated revenue of the Delaware Lottery at each location;
• Capacity of the project to create the maximum number of permanent and temporary jobs filled by Delaware residents;
• Business plan for the project and the “core project elements” – components of the project that would be complete when the gaming facilities are ready to open;
• Financial viability of the project and the financial investment made to date;
• How soon a project could be open for business;
• Effects on the surrounding community.

Rep. Schwartzkopf said having an independent group make the final decision based on set, empirical criteria takes the politics out of the process. The commission’s decision cannot be appealed.

The two new venues would contribute to the horsemen and the racing community regardless of whether they have a racetrack. Having contributions from five facilities instead of three will increase purses. The legislation also guarantees a set number of racing days for the industry.

Rep. Schwartzkopf said that comparisons some make to Atlantic City are both unfair and misleading. “Atlantic City jams 11 casinos into a city that is less than 12 square miles, and the casinos would probably fit into two square miles,” he said. “Delaware has three casinos in two counties. We’re talking about a total of five venues spread out across 2,000 square miles.

“The independent study commissioned by the Video and Sports Lottery Commission says that the market would support two more casinos. At a time when our primary focus is putting Delawareans back to work, this proposal does just that while increasing revenue to the state and protecting the horse-racing industry.”

HB 40 will be assigned to the House Gaming & Pari-mutuels Committee.

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Sign The Petition - Ask Coons And Carper To Support Senator Bernie Sanders' Social Security Protection Act Of 2011!

From the inbox ~ Tell Sens. Carper and Coons: Support the Social Security Protection Act of 2011. Take Social Security off the chopping block.

Click here to add your name to this petition to Sens. Carper and Coons: "Social Security is one of the most popular and most effective social programs in our country's history. We cannot allow its opponents to undermine it.Help take Social Security off the chopping block by co-sponsoring the Social Security Protection Act of 2011."

We need to take Social Security off the table as a bargaining chip in talks about the budget deficit and federal spending. Social Security is one of the greatest anti-poverty programs in our country's history and is wildly popular. In addition, despite fearmongering to the contrary, Social Security is currently running a surplus, is fully solvent for decades, and is prohibited by law from adding to the deficit. In fact, the only crisis facing Social Security is caused by opponents of the program who are crying wolf about a crisis in order to justify undermining one of the most popular social programs in our history.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced a bill on Thursday called the Social Security Protection Act of 2011. The bill would take Social Security off the chopping block by requiring a two-thirds super majority to reduce benefits, raise the retirement age or privatize the program. Tell Sens. Carper and Coons: Support the Social Security Protection Act of 2011. Click here to automatically sign the petition. Make no mistake, enemies of Social Security are trying to sabotage it even as they try to bamboozle the rest of us about their real aims. And we already know that some plan to use the prospect of a government shutdown or the fight around the debt ceiling as leverage to undermine Social Security.

We've seen how this works before. Time and again, conservatives have ginned up fake emergencies to justify far-reaching and deeply unpopular legislation. And all too often, we've seen Democrats in office do nothing to stop — or worse, actively enable — these conservative power-grabs. We can't let this happen with Social Security, which for 75 years has withstood both the test of time and the active efforts to undercut it.

Ten senators are already co-sponsoring the Social Security Protection Act. As a number of the co-sponsors of the bill wrote in a Dear Colleague letter: "Our legislation does not prohibit Congress from cutting Social Security benefits, raising the retirement age or privatizing this important program. It simply ensures that if Congress takes any of these actions, a super-majority vote is needed..." This is precisely the type of leverage we'll need in the upcoming fights. It will help stop conservatives from ramming through cuts or privatization as some sort of grand compromise on "must pass" legislation.

Once we do this, we banish the false specter of crisis, and have a real discussion about how to make changes to Social Security to keep it successful for another 75 years.

Thank you for standing up for Social Security.
Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets
P.S. The co-sponsors for the Social Security Protection Act of 2011 are: Bernard Sanders (VT), Daniel Akaka (HI), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Sherrod Brown (OH), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Barbara Boxer (CA), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Mark Begich (AK), Richard Blumenthal (CT) and Frank Lautenberg (NJ).

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Call Your Senate And House Members To Ask That They Support A Resolution To Mandate An Open And Transparent Redistricting Process

If you read Chad Livengood's article this morning [Redistricting to shift political power ] and thought that the redrawing of legislative districts should be a process open to public view, you weren't alone. Be an empowered citizen and ask your state officials to take the lead on an open and transparent redistricting!

Mandate An Open, Public Redistricting Process To Shape Senate And House Districts
As noted in a January DelCOG-CLNCC press release:

Equal population is required in legislative districts by the U.S. Constitution. Equal elections are also required by the Delaware Constitution. "When such fundamental fairness is the goal of a legislative act, it is important that the citizens feel included." said Frank Sims of the Civic League. "This promotes greater participation in democracy and less alienation in society in general".

[A]s population centers have shifted to the South, many northern voters will be really distressed if they find two members who are very popular winding up in the same district. Being able to participate in the process will give them confidence that it was done fairly.....Districts have to be balanced also by race, political party and ethnicity as much as possible.

This presents a real challenge for the Democratic Party the first time they have controlled the entire process to do it openly.....but it will benefit them to show the public they are committed to good government. Fortunately, the New Castle County Council tried it last time and found no problems in doing so.

Tell your representation that you want to be included. Ask if they will resolve to support an open, public redistricting process!
Click here to find your Legislator (must be registered to vote)
COMPLETE LISTING OF DELAWARE ELECTED OFFICIALS.

The Redistricting Working Group of The Civic League for New Castle County and DelCOG Draft Resolutions for the House and for the Senate:

A RESOLUTION TO MANDATE AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT
REDISTRICTING PROCESS WITH PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.

WHEREAS, the citizens of Delaware are entitled to comment on the redrawing of Legislative district lines as the process unfolds; and

WHEREAS, the migration of more people to the south compared to older residential patterns in this State will require the shifting of more than a few Census Tracts from within their current Representative and Senatorial districts lines to others; and

WHEREAS, not only Legislators, but their constituents, also have strong feelings about the geographic cohesiveness and the partisan balance of districts; and

WHEREAS, citizens should be able to recommend Redistricting Plans for the House and Senate they feel will represent the public interest;

NOW, THEREFORE:BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE/HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT the 2010 Redistricting process for the Delaware SENATE/House of Representatives shall be open and transparent;

THAT all drawing of lines or grouping of Census Tracts to produce new Representative Districts shall take place in a public forum with the public being notified no less than 8 days in advance;

THAT Census data for Delaware and the computer program used by the General Assembly shall be available for a reasonable fee to any member of the public who wishes to purchase a copy from the Legislative Council;

THAT opportunities shall be provided for proponents of plans to present them in public to the House and/or the committees or persons charged with the task of Redistricting the House; and

THAT the final plan or plans to be voted on by the House shall be a product of this public process.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislators believe the public can fairly weigh all information that should go into considering how Census Tracts should be grouped and while they may be likely to favor people from their area, they will also be motivated to preserve fundamental fairness for all future candidates.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the objective of redistricting, as established by the United States and Delaware Constitutions, is to make elections equal, and this shall be the goal that drives the process--numerical equality in persons represented per district, along with equality of opportunity for anyone to be elected in districts balanced by party, race and ethnicity.

Crossposted at the Civic League for NCC blog HERE

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Forum To Discuss "Are We Ready for a Wilmington School District?" Set For 9AM Tomorrow In The State Building In Wilmington

Update II: Wilmington leadership is looking for some local control of the education of their kids. WNJ coverage ~ Parents call for one Wilmington district. And Kilroy's Delaware has a great post up on yesterday's meeting HERE with a comment rescue HERE

"a city district into two groups” - I think it would be a good start and possible transitional step. I attended today and it really doesn’t make sense to have the city divided into four districts. What other city in America has multiple school districts?Red Clay is lighting a fuse with their call for another new K-8 school in Hockessin. Warner has many open seats as doe Shortlidge. Also, CSW is renting so-called unused space. So its obvious with the need for a new school Red Clay now needs that space. CSW space could serve as a middle schools shared for city kids and the Hockessin area which isn’t all that far. One of the issue in Wilmington on the Red Clay side is no traditional middle school. Build the Hockessin school K-5 and boot CSW and let them find their own space. However, I assure you Red Clay is putting that new school on the back burner because they know they are opening a can of worms. Keep an eye out for that announcement.

The empowerment issues of city leaders can take place now without a Wilmington School District. They could ask for a joint committee of all four school districts comprising of board members from each, community members and city leaders. Do make note when DEDOE / Markell ( no cheap shot here but fact) signed onto Race to The Top and Common Core Standards they disregarded Title 1 Section 1118 federal law that states Title 1 parents must be part of design, planing and review of Title 1 programing. RTTT and the school turn-around plans were set by DEDOE without input from parents and DEDOE / Markell came back after the fact with so-called town hall meetings. Title 1 parents weren’t part of RTTT or Common Core Standards decision nor was the community at-large.

Redrawing the district lines would require resetting local tax rates as current districts would fund less schools and a Wilmington district would require a local tax-base. It would be a political nightmare. Wilmington would most-likely see an increase as the rates would have to be realigned and established to support the needs. This issue would end up in the courts and the city folks would win re: Neighborhood School Act. Without equal access to middle schools and high schools in the city it does pose a question of “fair and equal” If there were to be a Wilmington school district it might move consolidation of the other four into two making an overall three districts counting Wilmington.

Update: WDEL coverage HERE. The meeting was a good start. A follow up meeting should have the presentation of statistical evidence and include someone like Darlene Battle who can lead a discussion on organizing the necessary citywide support. There was overall support for going forward with a court case if the powers in Dover don't agree with the ultimate recommendations of the group. Fact-finding assignments are already in the works and this looks like a plan that can be implemented this year.
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Real discussion on a Wilmington Delaware School District

Posted on February 25, 2011 by kilroysdelaware
From: Charles Potter Jr
Are We Ready for a Wilmington School district?
The Time to Decide is Now!
Panel Discussion: “We Can and Will do Better”
Saturday, March 5th from 9AM – 12PM Sat
Carvel State Office Building Auditorium
9th & French Streets
Wilmington Delaware
DIVERSE GROUP OF PANELISTS
Open to the Public
Parking lot under building
PLEASE BE PROMPT

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The Delaware Captive Insurance Association Public Reception Set For 5PM March 8th In Wilmington

Karen Weldin Stewart, CIR-ML
Delaware Insurance Commissioner

WHO? The Delaware Department of Insurance
The Delaware Captive Insurance Association

WHAT? Reception Celebrating 100 Licensed Captives

WHEN? Tuesday, March 8th, 2011, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

WHERE? Goodstay Conference Center
University of Delaware
2600-2800 Pennsylvania Avenue
Wilmington, DE 19806

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Alliance For American Manufacturing Writes: Join The 'Keep It Made In America' Campaign!

From the inbox ~

As we told you earlier this week, ABC World News has jumped on the 'Made in
America' bandwagon. Their series of segments focusing on the Usry family in Dallas have shown all of us that it is indeed possible to "Keep it Made in America."

In fact, as ABC anchor Diane Sawyer pointed out, if Americans spent an extra $64 a year on American-made goods, we could create 200,000 new jobs.

It's not just ABC News that is catching on to the importance of supporting domestic merican manufacturers and their workers, however. We've seen a massive increase in comments and traffic on our Facebook page, as more and more Americans become vocal about Keep it Made in America. The message is indeed spreading.

ABC is very committed to the "Made in America" movement and is
producing an interactive map identifying U.S. manufacturers of household goods. You can help them complete their list by sending ABC's producers an email describing any factories in your community that make furniture, linens, kitchenware, and other appliances.

More importantly, we want to keep you as up-to-date as possible on the Keep it Made in America movement. We're hoping that you'll subscribe to our new Daily Digest. Each afternoon, we publish a newsletter with the latest headlines on "Make it in America." To subscribe, just sign up on this page, or send us an email, and we'll subscribe you. When you subscribe, you'll also have the option to sign up for an "Early Shift Email" with links to the day's top stories.

We hope you'll subscribe to our new Digest and Early Shift emails. We want you to be on the leading edge of the "Make it in America" revival. Together we can keep it made in America.
Sincerely,
Scott N. Paul, Executive Director

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Public Comments For New DelDOT Real Estate Acquisition Committee - Regulations Are Due On March 5th

Action Alert - DelDOT Regulations-Comments due March 5, 2011.
If you were planning on weighing in, see below: http://www.deldot.gov/newsy/proposed_real_estate_regs/DelDOT_proposed_regs_real_estate.pdf
Some thoughts being circulated:

· First and foremost, all acquisitions and the public comment period on these
regulations should be suspended until Governor Markell hires a new DelDOT Secretary. However, if they do not, then:

· In the first sentence of the Background, DelDOT promises a transparent, consistent, cost effective, and fair plan to move forward. The proposed regulations do not support this plan in the following way:

o Under section 3.3- Independent council/consultants/committee should review any and all hardship requests to ensure they are in line with DelDOT’s plans

o Section 5-Procedures for Review and Approval of Advanced Acquisitions-specific guidelines/procedures should be proposed, reviewed and comments on by the public before any additional acquisitions are made. Additionally, the public should have an opportunity to comment on all transactions under section 5.3

· Section 6- Consistency reviews do not mention or seem to adhere to the Quality of Life Act which requires counties to adopt Comprehensive Land Use Plans that are recognized by the State of Delaware

· Section 6 does not mention the State Planning Office which should have the ability to comment on/participate in consistency reviews (Should the argument be made that DelDOT should go through the PLUS process like any other land development?)

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John Flaherty Writes: Freedom Of Information Act Complaint Against New Castle County Council

Freedom of Information Act complaint against New Castle County Council

The Hon. Lawrence W. Lewis , State Solicitor
Delaware Department of Justice
820 N. French ST. , Wilmington, DE 19801

Dear Solicitor Lewis: February 28, 2011
I am writing to file a Freedom of Information Act complaint against the New Castle County Council for violating section 10004 (e)(3) of the Delaware Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) during their February 22, 2011 Executive/Personnel Committee Meeting.

Council violated FOIA by considering substantive legislation that was not on
their agenda for this meeting. Section 10004 (e)(3) states in part that ...‘All public bodies shall give public notice of the type set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection of any special or rescheduled meeting as soon as reasonably possible, but in any event no later than 24 hours before such meeting. A special or rescheduled meeting shall be defined as one to be held less than 7 days after the scheduling decision is made. The public notice of a special or rescheduled meeting shall include an explanation as to why the notice required by paragraph (1) of this subsection could not be given.’

At this meeting, Council introduced two changes to the rules of New Castle County
Council that would limit the power of the Council President. Council did not post these items to the agenda, there was no written version of the legislation and Council did not give advance notice that it was coming up for consideration. Council gave no explanation as why this substantive issue was not listed on the agenda for the meeting. (Agenda attached).

New Castle County Council has an obligation and a responsibility to not only make the laws but to obey the laws when they act in the performance of their duties. On February 22nd, the Castle County Council Executive/Personnel Committee did not act in the best interests of the citizens it serves when they violated Delaware’s Freedom of Information Law.

I thank you in advance for your attention to this important public issue.
Sincerely,
John D. Flaherty
712 W. 26th St.
Wilmington, DE 19802
302-319-1213

Delaware Liberal has been covering the NCC Council's mess HERE and HERE

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Inland Bay Pollution Regulation Ruling Goes Against DNREC For Not Having Secured "Specific Zoning Authority" From Leg Hall First

WDEL published this story earlier this week ~

Superior Court judge has ruled Delaware's environmental department does not have authority to set zoning rules to protect water quality in the inland bays of Sussex County. In a ruling issued late last week, the judge said the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control overstepped itsauthority in establishing its Pollution Control Strategy regulations.The regulations, which require buffer zones from 30 feet to 100 feet to reduce the amount of runoff going into waterways, were challenged by both the county and private landowners. The judge concluded the legislature did not grant DNREC the specific zoning authority it sought to exercise over land use in the inland bays watersheds.

I thought Lea Ann Walling was specifically hired by John Hughes back in 2008 to write legislation for DNREC?

What up, Lee Ann? We are also still waiting for you to kick out the Transfer of Development Rights and the State Resource Area law you were hired to produce when Minner shifted you over from her appointee to the $$$ merit job you now hold.

More on this topic soon...

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