General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Report: Tues., April 30, 2013

A HUGE week coming up in Dover.

HB 75(Smith) will be considered in the Senate Executive Committee this Wednesday. If you have not yet contacted your senators, especially if your senator is either Cathy Cloutier or Bethany Hall-Long, now is the time to do so. Be friendly and positive, and encourage them to do the right thing.  Marriage equality is RIGHT THERE, do everything you can to help push it over the top.

Residents in manufactured homes communities are back and they’re seeking justice. So are the overlords, who have thrown campaign cash around to legislators in large quantities.  Except, of course, in their case, they’re paying to ensure a continuation of injustice. Meaning that, this year, legislators will either have to do the right thing or face the electoral consequences for siding with their wealthy (and amoral) contributors. And, yes, we will be naming names, both legislators and contributors. SB 33 will be introduced this week, and, once again, all it asks is that these landlords be required to justify rent increases that are larger than the rate of inflation. There will likely not be a more important legislative battle between Good and Ee-vil to be fought this year. Choose sides.

After a disorganized committee meeting last week, the House Judiciary Committee convenes solely to consider a motion to release the death penalty repeal bill from committee:

Due to time constraints at the end of the April 24 Judiciary Committee meeting because the House Chamber needed to be vacated for session, action on a motion on Senate Bill 19 was not completed. This April 30 (Tuesday) meeting on Senate Bill 19 is being held solely for the purpose of taking action on a motion regarding the bill. There will not be an additional public comment period.

I have some constructive criticism for House leadership and staff: Some House committee chairs are clearly not prepared to handle hot button topics in committee. I suggest ‘setting them up for success’ by either partnering them with experienced legislators and/or having more senior staff assist at committees where a lot of public input is expected. BTW, I’m  not optimistic that SB 19 comes out of committee as it would likely require someone who does not support the bill to vote to release the bill from committee so that it can be considered on the floor. You know, like Carper did on Supreme Court nominees Alito and Roberts.

I’m looking forward to today’s Senate Agenda. For at least the third time this year, Gov. Scott Walker Jack Markell finds himself needlessly on the wrong side of a popular issue. This time, he has strenuously opposed giving state employees even a seat at the table when it comes to benefits for…state employees. Calls them a ‘special interest’ while packing the State Employees Benefits Committee with seemingly half his cabinet. Presumably, those cabinet officials are not a special interest. SB 21(Henry) will provide for an employee voice at the table. The Governor has two choices: Lose or punt. An unnecessary defeat for this increasingly-tone deaf Governor.

The House Agenda features several bills that we’ve already discussed here. HB 42(Barbieri) ‘adds adult aunts and uncles to the list of relatives who may act as a surrogate to make health care decisions for an adult patient if the patient lacks capacity and there is no agent or guardian, no prior designated surrogate, the prior designated surrogate is unavailable, or the health-care directive does not address the specific issue’.

HB 40(Keeley) extends the Automatic Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program and the Office of Foreclosure Prevention for four additional years beyond the current sunset date in January 2014. A substantive bill, but the roll call is pro-forma. It unanimously passed in the House and the Senate, and is only being considered in the House again due to a technical amendment.

Not much to the Post-Game Wrap-Up from Thursday’s session. Here’s the entire rundown. I’m glad to see that HS1/HB41(Jaques) passed unanimously. Does anybody think that if sharks were being routinely shot by NRA members  the result would have been the same? Uh, no.

Caught the introduction of this bill by Sen. Bryan Townsend. Didja know that members of the Public Service Commission don’t have to reveal possible financial conflicts-of-interest? Now you do. SB 55 would change that. That Townsend boy just might be going places…

…As am I. Specifically, to the WDEL studios, where Al Mascitti and I will discuss  all this, and perhaps wax nostalgic over Tiny Tony DeLuca’s Farewell to His Paisans. I didn’t get my invitation. Did you? Anyway, you’re invited to join us today from 10 am to 12 noon on WDEL 1150-Newsradio.