General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., June 30, 2022

SS1/SB 101.  The entire Senate D Caucus (with the exception of Champion Of The Overdogs Spiros Mantzavinos) wants the House to pass this bill that affords legal protection for renters. The bill passed the Senate on June 8, 2021.  Speaker Pete has been playing Rope-A-Dope with the bill ever since.  Buried it in Stephanie Bolden’s Housing Committee until Bud Freel joined the committee and cast the deciding vote to release the bill.  Speaker Pete then reassigned the bill to the House Appropriations Committee even though funding for the bill had been provided in the budget, making the reassignment not only unnecessary, but blatantly designed to kill the bill.  Which Stephanie Bolden and Lumpy Carson were only too happy to do.  The Delaware Chapter of the ACLU spells out why the bill is so necessary:

In Delaware, 86% of landlords have representation from an attorney or agent in evictions court, but only 2% of renters do. Renters facing eviction are left to navigate this legal hurdle by themselves, without representation or legal assistance in a system that’s designed to protect landlords, not the renters who rely on them for a safe, secure place to live.

Delaware has an opportunity to level the playing field by securing the right to representation for eviction defense statewide. SS1/SB 101 would create a right to representation for eviction defense for covered individuals, subject to a 3 year phase-in period. This legislation covers renters whose household income is not greater than 200% of federal poverty guidelines. SB 101 also does the following:

• Requires landlords to provide notice of the right to counsel at certain designated intervals of a tenancy and in eviction proceedings.
• Creates an Eviction Diversion Program designed to help resolve payment or other issues prior to a landlord filing for eviction.
• Prohibits landlords from filing for eviction unless the renter owes at least one month’s rent or $500 — whichever is greater — and prohibits landlords from continuing an eviction action if the tenant pays all rent due.
• Allows renters to stay in their home if they pay all back rent, fees, and costs prior to an eviction.
• Provides COVID-19 specific relief for certain renters whose evictions were stayed “in the interests of justice” during the pandemic, per Governor Carney’s Emergency Declaration.

The question persists: Why does a purportedly D Caucus so oppose such a bill?  I understand Stephanie Bolden and Deb Heffernan’s opposition:  Their pockets are lined with campaign contributions from Buccini/Pollin (which is one reason why they must be defeated).  I understand Bill Bush.  He’s not a Democrat.  But why the rest of them?  Not a single D representative has publicly explained why they oppose the bill.  Most of them support the bill, but the leadership has been resolute in refusing to allow it to surface.  Call your reps and ask them to push for the bill to be brought up.  The Senate is trying their best, but they need your help.

A few notes from my time off:

Sen. Nicole Poore and Rep. Heffernan, now firmly ensconced in their dual roles as members of the Ft. DuPont Board and co-chairs of the Bond Bill Committee, gifted their Board yet another $2,250,000 from the public coffers.  What they’ve done is blatantly unethical, but too many legislators have their own special ‘projects’.  Which reminds me. Looking forward to seeing how much funding will go to Jobs For Delaware Graduates (Poore) and Delaware Police Athletic League (Longhurst) in the Grants-In-Aid bill.  Oh, wait…the Grants-In-Aid bill has been posted–let me look:

Jobs For Delaware Graduates:  $1,395,197.  An obscene total for this utterly worthless program.  Over 31.5% of all grants-in-aid funding for disabled/health/labor. (Memo to self: Ask future candidates for governor where they stand on funding this program.)

Police Athletic League of Delaware: $192,890

Police Athletic League Of Dover: $23,000

Police Athletic League of Wilmington: $150,204.

Now you know how Delaware’s two least ethical legislators got these jobs w/o having to compete for them based on, you know, merit.

Here are the Session Activity Reports for both Tuesday and Wednesday.  Of interest to me:

I really like HB 419 (Minor-Brown), which is headed to the Governor.  I hope he signs it, but you never know with him.

HB 455 (Minor-Brown), a key bill in protecting women’s reproductive health rights, also heads to the Governor.  Both Reps. Ramone and M. Smith ‘took a walk’ on this vote, meaning they ‘took a walk’ on protecting women’s reproductive health rights.  It’s a disgraceful reflection on the two D rep. district committees that they haven’t identified challengers to these two.  The demise of Roe v Wade should signal the demise of these two legislators.  If not, it’s the fault of the D’s in those two districts.

It looks like the bill that increases the legal age for possessing a firearm from 18 to 21 has been amended to delay the implementation of the bill for three years. Well, that sucks.  Had to be a deal that was cut with the House.  Don’t know what the Senate got in return.

Despite the expressed concerns of noted constitutional scholar Colin Bonini, ‘vote-by-mail’ legislation has passed both houses and heads to the Governor.  This might be a good time to point out that Carney’s obsession with maintaining a relatively equal number of D’s and R’s on the bench could cause problems should a challenge arise.  Yo, John, there is no such thing as bipartisanship any more. (Memo to self: Ask future candidates for governor where they stand on this issue.)

With the exception of the Grants-In-Aid bill, and two Senate bills that have returned with House amendments, the entire Senate Agenda consists of House bills.  I’m particularly partial to HB 244 (Lynn) and HB 354 (Morrison).

Here is today’s House Agenda.

I would be totally remiss in not thanking noted progressive warriors Reps. John Kowalko and David Bentz for their abiding commitment to helping those who most need it.  They have also helped to pave the way for progressive victories to come.  While I wish they could have perhaps stayed long enough to see progressive leadership take control in the House, they can feel secure in their knowledge that such a victory is now within sight thanks to their efforts.

I also want to thank one of my favorite, albeit more conservative, legislators.  Sen. Bruce Ennis has long championed the little guy.  Sure, he was less progressive on gun issues and police reform than we might like, but he both voted and legislated on behalf of the least powerful among us.  He was a first-term legislator way back when I first went to work for the House after the 1982 election.  I know him to be a truly good person who always went to bat for his constituents.  I wish him all the best in his retirement.

This will likely be the final legislative session that will have to proceed past midnight, as a constitutional amendment that would do away with the arcane procedure requiring it is wending its way to passage.

Accordingly, and in closing, it’s time for, yes, a little Sondheim to mark the occasion: