Delaware State News | Letter to the Editor | by Rep. John Kowalko Would it be impertinent of me to ask, on behalf of Delaware taxpayers, that the multi-billion-dollar corporation Amazon return the $4.5 million in taxpayer money gifted to them earlier this year by the Partnership for Prosperity and the Delaware Economic Development Office? Amazon owner Jeff Bezos is estimated to be the wealthiest individual in the world with a net worth ranging somewhere over $100 billion. The Amazon distribution center sited for the old GM location has already […]
Protect emergency service providers by providing COVID-19 info
Delaware should adopt similar policies as other states to further protect our courageous emergency service personnel and the Delawareans they bravely serve. These policies should be implemented immediately and examples of other states actions can be emulated as follows: State and local governments are beginning to share the addresses of people who test positive for Covid-19 with police and other first responders in an effort to help protect emergency personnel from getting infected. Health officials in at least three states—Alabama, Massachusetts and South Carolina—have all decided to share the information […]
COVID-19 awareness is a right and a responsibility
Full transparency in government matters is of the utmost importance in embracing and appreciating the public’s right to know. Full transparency guarantees that the public’s need to know is not obfuscated under some misguided interpretation of the public’s right to know. During this most threatening and serious crisis enveloping Delaware and its families faced with economic upheavals and palpable threats to the health and welfare of the public, the government must be totally and honestly transparent in regards to the information it is releasing, the policies it is formulating, the […]
Close child care centers to all but essential workers’ children
It’s time for Delaware leadership to get serious about protecting its population from the spread of the deadly coronavirus. It is no longer an option to claim that child care facilities are safe places or “controlled environments” or that children are less likely to contract the virus. The reality that a positive test for the virus has occurred in a child care center sounds a vivid warning that Delaware must act quickly and resolutely. New Jersey’s Governor has issued an executive order (Executive Order 110) to close child care centers […]
News Journal spreading false information on coronavirus at daycares
I have repeatedly questioned the Department of Health and Social Services and the Governor’s office recording their ongoing promulgation of erroneous data and misrepresentations in their recommendations to childcare providers. Although I have made available well sourced studies that challenge the validity of their persistent pronouncements that daycares are “controlled environments” that are able to limit infectious contacts and behaviors, the Governor’s office and now the News Journal have doubled and tripled down on the falsities that they continue to spread. These misrepresentations of the truth not only misinform the […]
DHSS daycare guidance puts our communities at risk
UPDATE: The News Journal is now spreading the same false information as the governor. Read my most recent post about the misinformation on the risks at daycares. DHSS and the governor have continued recommending that PRIVATE child care settings not be closed. They previously released a press release supposedly issuing “Guidance for Childcare Providers on Coronavirus”. Yet this information is not about providing guidance to child care providers. This is about telling parents to continue sending their children to child care “for structure” and “keeping non-public school childcare open helps […]
Testimony against Amazon corporate welfare
Here are the remarks I made in testimony before the Council on Development Finance in an unsuccessful attempt to have them deny the latest corporate welfare giveaway of taxpayer money to the obscenely wealthy Amazon corp. Please feel free to post or share as you wish. Please also note that on Friday, Amazon shares traded at $2,095 EACH. John Kowalko State Representative 25th District I am here today at the request of many of my constituents and on behalf of all Delaware taxpayers and their families. Enough is enough. I […]
Amazon’s corporate extortion supported by the “Delaware Way”
Once again Delaware taxpayers can bear witness to the ugliness and venality of the so called “Delaware Way.” Amazon, the multi-billion dollar conglomerate owned by the one of the richest individuals on the planet, Jeff Bezos, is asking for $4.5 million in Delaware taxpayer money to “establish its operations in Wilmington.” This is another “prime” example of wealthy corporations seeking corporate welfare from ordinary working families who struggle each day to afford basic essentials. Throughout my entire tenure as an elected State Representative, I have dedicated myself to exposing these […]
Closed door manipulations betray the public trust
Once again, our Governor and his staff have decided to conduct business involving Delaware taxpayers’ money behind closed doors. This all too common practice should and must be challenged and stopped. This particular secret land deal is being consummated without any consultation with the entire General Assembly and instead is being slipped into the Bond Bill, which is voted on in the waning hours of the session at the end of June. Further compounding the lack of transparency is a significant perception of favoritism. The prospective purchaser of the property […]
Kowalko: Hey, UD president: Not so fast with the stats, bud
The News Journal | Guest Column | by Rep. John Kowalko It is a fact that the University of Delaware is a premier secondary educational institution in Delaware. It is also a fact that total student enrollment has been growing steadily while the percentage of Delaware resident students has declined significantly. Receiving over $120 million in taxpayer monies each year should allow UD to provide more access and outreach to in-state students. Instead Delaware taxpayers and families are presented with statistical data by President Assanis that is purported to be […]