More Delaware Legislators Taking Top Non-Profit Jobs
By Jack Guerin
This is a follow-up to my recent “What’s Her Day Job” post. There have been new revelations. First, the original post presented data indicating that public funding for the Police Athletic League (PAL) of Delaware increased by more than 800% since Valerie Longhurst, now Speaker of the House, became PAL Executive Director in 2018.
In FY 2018, PAL Delaware received only $312,197 in state funding. My original analysis projected FY-2024 funding for PAL at $2,840,000. However, it turns out that analysis depended too heavily on the Open Checkbook data which reported only $500,118 for an American Rescue Plan grant.
Although most grant funds are totally reflected in Checkbook totals, PAL has received only part of a total $1.8 million grant from the American Rescue Plan. When those funds are received during the second half of this fiscal year, the revised total of public funding for PAL Delaware will exceed $4.1 million which reflects a whopping 1300% increase since Longhurst became Executive Director.
I also received an anonymous tip that my list of Delaware legislators getting high paying non-profit jobs was deficient in omitting State Representative Krista Griffith.
In June 2022, Representative Griffith became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware. Based on the agency’s latest tax return, the outgoing CEO was paid $98,212.
Griffith is the latest member of the Delaware General Assembly (see table below) taking a top paying job with non-profit agencies. The average non-profit salary of these four legislators exceeds six figures.
Jobs for Delaware Legislators
| Legislator | Agency/Position | Date of Hire | % Public Funding | Salary |
| Senator Nicole Poore | Jobs for Delaware Graduates President | November 2014 | 100% | $115,215 |
| House Speaker Valerie Longhurst | Police Athletic League of DE Executive Director | January 2018 | 100% | $84,000 |
| Senator Darius Brown | Wilmington Hope Commission Executive Director | September 2021 | 100% | $107,000 |
| Representative Krista Griffith | DE Children’s Advocacy Center Chief Executive Officer | June 2022 | 100% | $98,212 |
Although fundraising is the primary responsibility for most non-profit executives, tax returns indicate that these four agencies have no fundraising events, no fundraising expenditures, and no fundraising revenue. Instead, as members of the General Assembly, these executives earn top salaries by appropriating public funds for their agencies.
Both Senator Poore and Representative Griffith have been straightforward about their “Occupation” in their General Assembly Bios acknowledging their lucrative non-profit positions . The other two legislators have not been equally forthright.
The original “Day Job” post presented a screenshot revealing that, three years after accepting the position of Executive Director of the Police Athletic League of Delaware, Valerie Longhurst’s legislative Bio stated that she was a “Full Time Legislator”. This deception has subsequently been corrected. Senator Brown’s Bio omits the “Occupation” field entirely avoiding any mention of his position as Executive Director of the Wilmington Hope Commission.
Federal Relief Expands Non-Profit Funding in Delaware
By FY 2022, federal pandemic relief funds expanded the Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) to $70 million which increased to $90 million in FY 2023. Federal funds phased down in FY 2024 with total Community Reinvestment Funds (CRF) decreasing by 50% to $45 million.
The FY 2022 increase was so large that the General Assembly was unable to create the traditional list of individual projects before the bill passed with only a $70 million lump sum presented in the Capital Budget. Referring to the dramatic increase in funding, Rep. Jeff Spiegelman stated, “This is the very definition of pork-barrel-spending, where legislators have this big pile of cash and they’re forced to play a game of ‘come and grab it’ for these funds.” The greatly expanded Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) has served as a slush fund for some incumbent legislators.
The chart below presents the Community Reinvestment Funds (CRF) received by three non-profit agencies with a Delaware legislator as chief executive. Under Longhurst’s leadership, the Police Athletic League of Delaware received almost $4 million in CRF during this three-year period. PAL CRF funding increased by almost one-third in FY 2024 while overall CRF funding was reduced by 50%.
Rep. Krista Griffith’s agency, Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware, almost matched Longhurst’s PAL in FY 2023 with a $1.3 million award, but lost funding in FY 2024. The Hope Commission, led by Senator Brown, received $1 million in FY 2024.
Community Reinvestment Fund Awards to Agencies with Legislators as Top Executive
| Fiscal Year | Police Athletic League of Delaware Speaker Valerie Longhurst | Children’s Advocacy Center of DE Rep. Krista Griffith | Wilmington Hope Commission Senator Darius Brown |
| FY 2022 | $500,000 | $0 | $0 |
| FY 2023 | $1,500,000 | $1,318,789 | $0 |
| FY 2024 | $1,959,640 | $345,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Total | $3,959,640 | $1,663,789 | $1,000,000 |
The top two Community Reinvestment awards in FY 2024 went to the United Way of Delaware ($3.2 million) and the First Community Foundation ($2 million). These two organizations are both grant making agencies, providing funds to smaller organizations. This funding role provides a rational for these agencies to receive the top two CRF awards.
The criteria for awarding CRF grants is extremely vague. The goal is “to improve the economic, culture, historical, and recreational health of Delaware communities.” With a FY 2024 CRF grant just under $2 million, PAL Delaware ranks third among the 153 agencies receiving Community Reinvestment Funds in FY 2024—out-ranking 150 other agencies. This advantageous result for an agency headed by the Speaker of the House creates suspicion of impropriety.
An additional source of federal relief funds in FY 2024 came from the American Rescue Plan. A total of $65 million in grant funds was awarded. The table below documents that two of the legislators with top non-profit jobs were also able to take advantage of this funding. As reported above, PAL Delaware received a grant of $1.8 million.
American Rescue Plan Awards to Agencies with Legislators as Top Executive
| Fiscal Year | Police Athletic League of DE Speaker Valerie Longhurst | Wilmington Hope Commission Senator Darius Brown |
| FY 2024 | $1,800,000 | $1,000,000 |
The Wilmington Hope Commission, with Senator Darius Brown as Executive Director, received a second $1 million grant from the American Rescue Plan. This one is labelled: Mental Health: Hope Commission.
Conclusion
Delaware tolerates a General Assembly with an ethics crisis which rivals our national Supreme Court. Four members of our state legislature, including the new House Speaker, have taken top jobs with non-profit agencies funded by and through the state.
My first Day Job post explained how the General Assembly has exempted themselves from ethics oversight. In theory, the House and Senate Ethics Committees provide oversight.
The House Ethics Committee is chaired by Majority Leader Minor-Brown, with Majority Whip Kerri Evelyn Harris as Vice Chair, and House Speaker Longhurst as a member. This leadership triad represents the majority of the five member House Ethics Committee which has remained inert throughout the Schwartzkopf/Longhurst reign. The Senate Ethics Committee also includes three majority leaders. The Senate Ethics Committee has been more active.
Valerie Longhurst’s PAL has benefited from a 1300% increase in public appropriations under her tenure. The two latest legislators to follow in Longhurst’s footsteps, Senator Brown and Rep. Griffith, have also claimed significant funds for their agencies.
Where does this lead? Senator Nicole Poore, then Majority Whip, became President of Jobs for Delaware Graduates at the end of 2014. Since then, roughly one legislator each election cycle has accepted the top job in a non-profit agency. All four of their agencies are totally funded by the General Assembly.
Our General Assembly could have another three to four Day Job members by 2030. Once we get to the 10-15 range, the whole structure could become top heavy with members swapping funding among their non-profit agencies.
In 2015 the Center for Public Integrity gave Delaware an F, ranking the First State 48th in systems to deter corruption in state government. Since 2015, the situation has only gotten worse as documented above. Delaware citizens must demand ethics reform for our General Assembly.
Great work as usual Jack. Ironically as someone who works for a non-profit this is a bit of a kick in the guy. Fundraising in non-profits is becoming harder and harder. As our org deals with where to make cuts, do we not offer what for some are life saving programs, lay people off and spread the work out amongst already overworked nonprofit workers or a number of other options which we know only decreases necessary services. I’d be curious to see their outcomes for all this funding without fudging numbers. Also there is no way any nonprofit ED could do the job well and be a legislator.
WOW. They really don’t give a single fuck about how this looks, do they?
While Rep. Griffith qualifies under your criteria, one of these jobs is not like the others (and no, I’m not a fan, just noting facts).
First, she’s qualified for the job. She worked on child advocacy issues when she was with the Department of Justice. Such qualifications are not the case for any of the others.
Second, because DoJ is an administrative branch position, she could not keep it once she was elected to the legislature. That was not the case for any of the others.
The solution to this may be to make Delaware a full time legislature like PA or NY or increase pay/add per diem. They are given 50k a year but asked to be there half a year from Tuesday to Thursday. How many jobs do you know be ok with that? Just something to chew on
Maryland’s legislature operates for 90 days each year and they get their work done. It’s a bigger state, bigger budget and there are not beaks in the process to just focus on budget issues. There are fewer people in the DE Legislature, so perhaps that is a limiting factor. But it doesn’t seem to me that they have enough going on to do this job full time.
The Texas legislature meets for five months EVERY OTHER YEAR. ‘Nuff said.
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are some of the crookedest legislatures you can find. Coincidence? I think not.