The hymns of praise that the Hessian Finance Minister Michael Boddenberg (CDU) sings on the special fund for the financial management of the Corona crisis have the effect of whistling in the forest. The Union politician knows, of course, that his budget plans could be obsolete by October 27th. On this day, the state court called on by the opposition pronounced its judgment on the authorization decided by the black-green coalition to take out loans of up to twelve billion euros despite the debt brake. Around half of the amount has now been launched.

If the State Court declares the project unconstitutional even in part, the state government is faced with the ruins of its policy.

During the hearing, it became clear that the judges are skeptical of the approach taken by the black-green coalition.

It was not evident that the arguments put forward by Boddenberg and his lawyer had any effect - on the contrary.

Question mark behind special funds

President Roman Poseck's question, for example, as to whether the federal states that waived the formation of a special fund were getting along worse, remained unanswered. The State Court also considered aloud whether, instead of the long-term investment fund, current, situational and short-term measures might not be much better suited to do justice to the respective situation. In their answer, the judges will now include Boddenberg's announcement that of the twelve billion euros approved in principle for the special fund, probably only nine billion would have to be used.

In itself, of course, that's good news. But if a quarter of the billions in debt is not needed at all, this shows that the state government did not even roughly survey the economic situation when it crammed the special fund against the sharp protests of the opposition by parliament. Ordinary, tried and tested supplementary budgets would have been a suitable means of meeting the financial needs resulting from the pandemic. The special fund, on the other hand, only served Black-Green as a show of power.