General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 18, 2022

Filed in National by on May 18, 2022

Shouldn’t have been so naive as to believe that the lemmings would stand up to Longhurst.  Last comment on the corruption at Ft. DuPont–until/unless someone gets in trouble. Not holding my breath.  The fix has been in for years now.

Otherwise, a pretty productive session yesterday.  Notable and, IMO opinion, positive bills that passed yesterday.  SS1/SB 4 (Sturgeon), To Governor; SB 292 (Hansen), To House; HB 205 (Lambert), To Senate; HB 277 (Lynn), To Senate; SB 253 (S. McBride), To Governor.

There’s a brief Senate Agenda today that will likely include some confirmation of nominations.  Well, actually one.

Otherwise, it’s a committee meeting day.  Today’s Senate Committee highlights:

SB 280 (S. McBride) ‘requires medical marijuana compassion centers and safety compliance facilities that have 20 or more employees to have a labor peace agreement with 1 (or) more bona fide labor organizations’.  Since labor’s top legislators have signed off on the bill, I guess it’s fine.  Health & Social Services.

SB 290 (Poore) ‘require(s) training and education on issues related to inappropriate relationships between adults and children, such as grooming’.  Education.

SB 291 (Poore) ‘requires each school district and charter school to adopt a policy regarding appropriate relationships between school employees, contractors, coaches, and volunteers and students.’ Education.

SB 270 (Hansen) ‘establishes an evaluation and assessment system created by the Department of Education to determine whether a school facility is in good repair to assure that school facilities are clean, safe, and functional for staff and students.’ Education.

SS1/SB 134 (Paradee) ‘prohibits a food establishment from providing consumers with a single-service plastic coffee stirrer, cocktail pick, or sandwich pick or with ready-to-eat food or a beverage in polystyrene containers. SB 134 also prohibits food establishments from providing single-service plastic straws, unless requested by a consumer.’  Yes, please.  The bill, not the straw.  Environment & Energy.

SB 35 (Walsh) ‘defines specific violations of wage payment and collection laws under Chapter 11 of Title 19, as wage theft and provides specific penalties for these violations, including a new a new criminal offense of wage theft, with a mechanism for the Department of Labor to refer completed investigations to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Clearly defining wage theft protects Delaware workers and Delaware taxpayers from employers who pay their employees “under the table” because this practice results in lost tax revenue to this State and exposes employees to personal risk in the areas of unemployment compensation and workplace injuries.’  Labor.

Today’s House Committee highlights:

Uh, oh, is this even possible?  Stephanie Bolden might get yet another chance to screw her constituents by carrying Buccini/Pollin’s water?  Believe it or not, Pistol Pete reassigned SS1/SB 101 (Townsend) to the Appropriations Committee.  Yes, he was within his rights to do so since the bill has a Fiscal Note which, BTW, has been funded in the draft budget.  However, he oft-times doesn’t do this.  It’s arbitrary.

Check out the membership of the House Appropriations Committee.  You, uh, see the problem?  If Bolden votes against releasing the bill even though it’s been funded, and if the Rethugs and/or Lumpy himself vote against releasing the bill, we once again have the same stand-off that was resolved only after Bud Freel was added to the Housing Committee.

Rep. Minor-Brown has a package of bills designed to improve the quality of maternal and infant health care in Delaware to reduce infant and maternal mortality.  Looks like an excellent package.  Health And Human Development.

HB 395 (Baumbach) ‘is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that would require legislators to remain domiciled in the districts they represent for the entirety of their term of office.’ Administration.

HB 252 (Wilson-Anton) ‘requires each county to reassess the value of real property in the county on a regular basis that occurs at least once every 5 years. The first 5-year period starts when the reassessments being conducted under the settlement agreements in the case In re Delaware Public Schools Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0029-VCL (County Track) (Del. Ch.) are completed’.  Hey, we know the counties won’t do this on their own.  Housing & Community Affairs.

HB 389 (M. Smith) ‘removes the up to 10% increase in school property taxes allowed after reassessment’.  In other words, a bill designed to thwart one of the reasons why there was a lawsuit in the first place. Sponsored by the usual Rethug suspects.  Education. Where it should be buried.

See ya tomorrow.

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