Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010

Post-Game Wrap-Up

I interrupt this report to start out today with a raging screed. To the surprise of absolutely nobody.

Yesterday, the Delaware State Senate unanimously approved the nomination of Diane Clarke Streett to become a judge on Superior Court. I know this because the Governor’s office sent out a congratulatory release about this. However, not a word of this is in the official Session Activity Report that is posted on the General Assembly’s website. And, to make matters worse, the Senate still does not post its Daily Journal (the official session record) online. The House has posted its Journal online forever. There simply is  no excuse for this. It is time for the Senate to stop deliberately withholding basic information from the public.  It serves no purpose other than to make the Senate look like it’s hiding something.

It is possible that the Senate approved other nominations yesterday, but I don’t know as there no official record of them. If a confirmation takes place and nobody hears of it, did it really happen?

OK, that major cavil aside, here’s what I know happened yesterday, aka the official, although incomplete, record.

The Senate passed a key piece of legislation designed to hasten the implementation of table gaming in Delaware. SB 188 (Sen. DeLuca) establishes criminal offenses and penalties relating to cheating at table games and/or avoiding taxes on winnings. It is a companion piece to HB 310 (Rep. Schwartzkopf), which authorizes the introduction and operation of table games in Delaware. HB 310 was released from House committee yesterday, and is expected to be worked today. It is clearly the intent of the General Assembly leadership and the Governor to have this legislation enacted into law before the General Assembly breaks for Joint Finance Committee hearings at the end of January.

Also, both House and Senate committees released a myriad of bills yesterday. I will defer discussion on them until and unless they surface on an agenda.

Pre-Game Show

Governor Jack Markell delivers his State of the State Address today at 2 p.m. It is not likely to cause anyone to well up with unbridled optimism. A reworking of the state’s Blue Collar Jobs Act will provide upfront financial incentive for businesses creating new jobs. The News-Journal’s Jeff Montgomery reports the story here. While admirable, the $10 million available for this initiative really is just a drop in the bucket and illustrates how circumscribed the state is in jump-starting economic development.

No doubt the address and reaction to it will highlight today’s activities.

SENATE AGENDA

Of primary interest to me are SB 189 (Sen. McDowell) and SB 81 (Sen. Sokola), both previously discussed in detail here. McDowell’s bill will likely move through with little or no opposition. Sokola’s nutrition labeling bill appears likely to encounter some opposition.

HOUSE AGENDA

The first two items on the agenda are notable. Rep. Schwartzkopf’s table gaming bill, HB 310, is expected to be worked today, and should pass with a comfortable margin, although there will almost certainly be a few ‘no’s.

HB 300, sponsored by Rep. Bennett, requires a timely (within 10 days) response by state agencies to FOIA requests. The bill was released from committee yesterday. It likely will meet with unanimous approval.

BTW, this is not only good policy, but smart politics. Kids, if you’re looking to protect your freshman legislators, you make sure that they get bills like this to sponsor. Bennett can now run as a good/open government advocate. No downside whatsoever.

For me, I’m on the downside until Tuesday, when the next legislative wrap-up/preview comes your way.