Legislature's final hours will be hectic, maybe fruitful

The Delaware General Assembly's regular session ends at midnight tomorrow. If not everything gets done - and the likelihood is that it won't - legislators have tricks to extend it a few hours beyond the deadline. And there's always the possibility of a special session.

Money will dominate discussion. The Senate has passed a budget but the House of Representatives has not. Tax cuts are at the root of the standoff.

The operating budget will be settled because the state begins its new fiscal year Thursday, and without a budget some state operations would be shut down. And nobody wants to shoulder the blame for that.

A number of other issues break down on partisan lines. In a way, Delaware is fortunate the House is controlled by Republicans and the Senate by Democrats. This prevents one party from dominating.

A revenue surplus forecast for this year's budget and next year's as well has led to a scramble to spend. Republicans want to cut the gross receipts tax that businesses pay as well as the personal income tax. Democrats see the wisdom of some tax cutting this year but are more cautious, and we think more responsible.

There seems to be enough money to make a modest tax cut while funding essential programs such as education. There should be no political future in sacrificing just about anything to tax cuts.

The capital spending plan is waiting for resolution of the operating budget conflict. The timing of its passage is less critical because the state isn't likely to go to the bond market immediately.

There are hundreds of other issues before the General Assembly. Among the most important:

House Bill 99 languishes in the Senate. It is reprehensible that the Senate refuses to even consider prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. This is not a homosexual rights bill, as some who oppose it have falsely claimed. It merely extends the same protections guaranteed to many other classes of Delawareans.

House Bill 517 would virtually eliminate all minimum mandatory sentences for drug convictions. It restores judges' authority to decide appropriate punishment for criminal offenders.

The Legislature can't simply pretend the pending threat from Pennsylvania to Delaware's gambling revenues isn't there. Expansion or improvement of Delaware gaming venues is in order. So is a special fund the governor proposes to buttress slots revenue.

House Bill 358 to create a commission to study the state's justice system has bipartisan sponsorship. It ought to be passed.

Finally, the Senate ought to pass House Bill 111. Every other state has lowered its drunken driving threshold to .08 percent. If Delaware doesn't, the state will continue to lose millions of dollars in federal transportation funds. This makes no sense.