Source: The News Journal
Lawmakers on the Joint Sunset Committee support several of Delaware Treasurer Chip Flowers’ ideas to increase transparency for a volunteer board that manages the state’s $2 billion investment portfolio, the committee’s chairman said Wednesday.
Flowers, who has faced criticism from fellow Democrats over his dealings with the Cash Management Policy Board, addressed the committee Wednesday to pitch reforms.
He called for requiring annual or biannual financial disclosures for members, prohibiting members from giving political contributions, limiting terms and adding more elected officials to the now nine-member board.
In January, Flowers advocated for many of those changes while lawmakers debated a bill to limit his control of the state’s investment portfolio. House lawmakers narrowly defeated amendments to the bill that would have required financial disclosure and implemented term limits for board members. The full bill passed and was signed by Gov. Jack Markell in February.
After the meeting, Flowers said he thought there was a different view.
“I think it’s a feel-good moment. There is nothing concrete except the fact that we have people on record saying they’d be supportive of it,” he said after the meeting. “Before we had a hearing today, people were opposed to all of these concepts.”
Sunset committee co-chair Rep. Gerald Brady, D-Wilmington West, said after the meeting that he and committee members support requiring board members to submit financial disclosures and prohibiting them from making political contributions.
Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark, said during the hearing that making the board’s processes more open and transparent is a good thing.
“If for no other reason, it gives the public more confidence,” Sokola said. “There are clearly opportunities for playing games and for conflicts to occur.”
Flowers has previously contended that, at times, he has to wade through “uncomfortable” situations with the board and potential conflicts.
But lawmakers on the committee do not appear as supportive of term limits or adding elected officials to the board, Brady said. The board includes five gubernatorial appointees, two members of Markell’s cabinet, the state controller general and the treasurer himself.
“Continuity of flow is key,” Brady said.
Adding elected officials creates further impediments to the board’s operations and adds an obstructive political dynamic, he added.
Sokola said several of Flowers’ ideas were good, but adding more elected officials and imposing term limits were not.
“It’s one of these situations where the structure is important, but I think the results are more important,” Sokola said, “and we have a system that has given us for the last 14 years a AAA bond rating for the state.”
John Flynn Jr., chair of the management board, said he doesn’t oppose the idea of frequent financial disclosures or prohibiting political contributions. But he asked the committee not to just single out the cash management board.
“If it is appropriate for any of these points to be addressed to the cash management board, they are also appropriate to be addressed to all of the financial boards,” he said.
The Sunset Committee is expected to issue a report on the policy board along with recommendations in May.
Flowers said requiring financial disclosures would be a “huge” victory and just getting term limits on the table is a major accomplishment.
“Sometimes conflict is good. I know in Delaware, everyone likes to get along and sing Kumbaya. But at the end of the day sometimes you need conflict to flush the issues out,” Flowers said. “We all got through it and we’re all going to be fine.”
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