Monthly Archives: April 2010

General Assembly Post-Game Wrapup/Pre-Game Show-Thurs., April 29, 2010

The Big News-Universal Recycling on Today’s Senate Agenda

SB 234(McBride) is first on today’s Senate Agenda. Why is this important? As always, Tommywonk explains it all for us. As he points out, the alternative of finding a replacement for the Cherry Island landfill would be difficult, at best:

Of course, we may not be able to find the required 500 to 800 acres at any cost. The footprints of DSWA’s major landfills range from 513 acres (CIL) to 835 acres (Sandtown), which comes to roughly 12 to 20 40-acre farms. If a site for a new landfill cannot be found, we would be looking at higher costs for waste disposal, including transportation costs to a downstate or out of state landfill.

Per the Wonkster:

SB 234 would establish universal curbside recycling, eliminate the current five cent bottle deposit and replace it with a four cent fee that would go away in four years.

Seriously, if you’re not reading Tommywonk, you’re just not informed on any and all issues environmental.

SB 234 appears to have near-universal support, and should sail through the Senate today.

Now back to the day-to-day mundanities. Here’s the complete Session Report from Wednesday. Except, of course, it’s not complete.

Which means it’s time for another Teaching Opportunity! The Session Day does not end when the clock strikes midnight and the calendar flips.  When the House and Senate initially reconvene today, they’ll still officially be in Wednesday’s session. The Legislative Day doesn’t change until the presiding officer adjourns and then reconvenes the body, at which point roll call is taken. so, before they ‘change the day’ today, the committee reports, including notice of which bills have been released from committee, will be read into the record.

In other words, yesterday’s Session Report excludes the meat of what went on yesterday: committee meetings. And now you know why. This knowledge will no doubt lodge itself in your gray matter somewhere near that annoying Tommy James & the Shondells song you’ve been trying to get out of your head for 35 years (Cri-i-i-imson and Clo-o-ver, overrr and overrr…). What the bleep is crimson and clover, anyway?? Some bubblegum pop stars should be kept away from drugs at all costs. Now, Hanky Panky, that was a great song.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQcjTP9RTiY&feature=related[/youtube]

But…I digress. Consumer protection legislation finally passed the Senate yesterday, and heads to the Governor for signature.

Only other real legislation of note considered yesterday, IMHO, was the beginning of the yearly procession of general corporation law legislation. Kids, this is how it’s done in a ‘business-friendly’ state. In order to keep us at the top of the corporate food chain with our ‘highly-respected’ Court of Chancery, the Corporate Law Section of the Delaware Bar annually introduces a legislative package to do so. Not a single legislator understands what’s in the legislation (well, maybe Melanie George does, but she’d be the only one), but it invariably sails through. Occasionally, someone like Sen. McDowell votes ‘no’ because the legislation is so willfully complicated, but there’s no serious opposition. Per example, here’s the synopsis for HB 341, which passed the Senate yesterday and heads to the Governor. I prefer an endless loop of Crimson and Clover to trying to decipher that.

Which brings us to today’s Pre-Game Show. More of those corporate law bills highlight today’s House Agenda.

Today’s Senate agenda, of course, features the universal recycling bill. It also features a bill allowing school buses to have LED lighting, which should improve safety.

Say, waittaminit! There’s something missing from the Activity Report (imagine shuffling of e-papers…). Remember yesterday when I raised questions about HB 166, which would allow up to eight non-residents per property to vote in Bethany Beach Municipal elections? It wasn’t voted on yesterday, and it’s not on today’s agenda. Maybe it’s possible that a staff attorney actually looked at it and realized that it had constitutional questions. I’ve got a practical one–How do actual residents of Bethany Beach feel about allowing so many non-residents to vote in municipal elections?

Which leads me to another question–Who, exactly, is pushing for this legislation? MJ? Intake Manifold? Your thoughts? Don’t make me post that Crimson and Clover youtube vid. It sucks worse than the song.

And with that–I think I’m alone now, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around…

Tornoe’s Toons: Phillies Pitching

Cole Hamels Roy Halladay Philadelphia Phillies pitching

Cross posted at Laugh!

I’ll be the first to admit to being hard on Cole Hamels. He has definitely struggled with his consistency over that last two seasons, but he does have a 36:10 K:BB ratio thus far (thanks to 10 strikeouts last night), so his 5.14 ERA shouldn’t be around for long.

We’ll see if he can become the dominant pitcher he’s been billed as, or if he’s just going to be another Barry Zito. Let’s hope he can hold-on to that fastball.

If you’d like to contact me, feel free to drop me a line at robtornoe@delawareliberal.net. You can also follow me on twitter @RobTornoe.

The Secret Plan Is Working!

Alan Colmes interviewed former Republican Congressman (and presidential candidate) Tom Tancredo. Not long ago, Tancredo made some remarks about sending Obama “back to Kenya.” Colmes asked about the birther issue and Obama’s super-secret plan was revealed:

Tancredo then claimed that Obama is purposefully withholding his birth certificate in order to fuel birther conspiracies that make the right wing look nuts:

TANCREDO: Now they very well not want to show it because they want to propagate this whole thing that’s going on about birthers. … They may be doing it for that reason; I don’t know why they don’t want anyone to see it. … They want it propagated because you know –

COLMES: It makes your party look nuts!

TANCREDO: Yeah well maybe that’s why they don’t produce document, I don’t know.

Mission accomplished!

Is Laura Bush Kidding?

From her new book:

Bush also suggests that she, her husband, and several members of their staff may have been poisoned during a G8 summit in Germany where they all fell mysteriously ill. The Secret Service investigated and doctors found only that they had a virus. “We never learned if any other delegations became ill, or if ours, mysteriously, was the only one,” she wrote.

“Mysteriously” ill. The Secret Service investigated and doctors found only that they had a virus.

Another Republican denialist.  It’s all the rage.

Republican Insults All Immigrants, Everywhere.

And notice I do not use the term “illegal immigrants.” I am talking about all immigrants. Anyone who has ever walked across the border of the United States to live a better life. Anyone who has ever come here to this country for peace, liberty, and freedom.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) says “It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen. It’s what’s in our souls…”

Well, that’s true, it does take more than just walking across the border to become a citizen. There is a legal process and you do not become an American just by coming to America.

But, how does Mr. Hunter know what is in anyone’s soul other than his own?

I suppose what Mr. Hunter is talking about is the yearning for freedom, opportunity, and liberty. Well, how does he know that an immigrant does not possess an “American” soul as described above? Indeed, many immigrants do possess an American soul by default since that is why they come here in the first place, for opportunity, liberty and freedom.

Perhaps what Mr. Hunter means by an “American soul” is that he knows who an American is by looking at them. Kinda like that wonderful porn definition from the Supreme Court: “You know it when you see it.” Mr. Hunter is comfortable with people who look like and act like him. And anything different from what makes Mr. Hunter comfortable must be alien and illegal. They must not possess an American soul, since they make Mr. Hunter uncomfortable. That does not make Mr. Hunter a racist. It makes him a xenophobe.

Mr. Hunter would also deport American citizens who just happen to have illegal immigrant parents.

“Would you support deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens,” Hunter was asked. “I would have to, yes,” Hunter said. “… We simply cannot afford what we’re doing right now[.]” Hunter made his comments at a “tea party” rally in the San Diego County city of Ramona over the weekend.

Steve Benen quickly destroys this evil, immoral and unconstitutional statement by Mr. Hunter:

Let’s be real clear about this. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that those “born … in the United States” are “citizens of the United States.” It also says that no state can “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

For that matter, the Supreme Court ruled in 1898 that a baby born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants was legally a U.S. citizen, even though federal law at the time denied citizenship to people from China. The court said birth in the United States constituted “a sufficient and complete right to citizenship.”

I simply cannot believe that Mr. Hunter, or the GOP at large, is this stupid politically. If they keep it up with statements like this, anyone not a white male will never vote for the GOP again in life. But sometimes xenophobia is a powerful impulse.

Another Wingnut Conspiracy Smackdown

The usual repub blog suspects picked and ran with an item from The American Spectator which purported to have a bit of “news” about the HHS having information (in the form of a report from the Office of the Actuary for Medicare) in advance of the ACA bill vote that would indicate that medical costs would rise. The usual right-wing purveyors of wrong went to town with this, of course. (John Cole at Balloon Juice has the screenshot of Google showing how focused the spread of this kind of stuff is among the usual GOP suspects.)

And Guess What?

They were all wrong. Politico and NBC actually did some real reporting for a change and just called the Office of the Actuary to see what was going on. This is the deal:

1. The Office of the Actuary didn’t receive the language of the reconciliation bill until March 18 (when the legislation was posted), so the Spectator’s assertion that HHS had a copy of the Actuary’s score a week before congressional passage — on March 22 — doesn’t make sense.

2. Past scores from the Office of the Actuary came out AFTER passage of the legislation. For the House bill that passed on Nov. 7, 2009, the Actuary’s score came out on Nov. 13. And for the Senate bill that passed on Dec. 24, 2009, the Actuary’s score came out on Jan. 8, 2010. This most recent Actuary report is dated April 22.

3. Given points #1 and #2, it’s hard to see how the Actuary’s score was available before the CBO’s, which came out on March 18.

And the Actuary himself states pretty uncategorically that the American Spectator’s reporting was quite wrong. Steve Benen provides quick evidence that legislators did have this data and were debating it before the vote.

The American Spectator did come back and double down on their story — basically saying that their unnamed sources refused to change their story. But here is the thing — again. For all of the BS about getting beyond the talking points and the bromides and putting a more serious face back onto conservatism, you see right here their Achilles heel. An unbelievable reliance on news sources that are absolutely in the business of pushing the spin, the misinformation and the lies to be able to whip up the manufactured outrage. The reality based community exists and dealing with that, rather than the manufactured outrage fodder is going to be the first step in getting the serious face back. Because as long as even those with ambitions to not be part of the crazy keep pushing the clearly wrong, then they are still inmates in the asylum.

Another Bush Appointee Joins the Ranks of the Convicted

Another one of Dubya’s political appointees became a convicted felon yesterday.

The OSC is the office that is supposed to protect Federal employees against retaliation when they file whistleblower complaints. It’s supposed to enforce Merit System rules and investigate complaints. Under Bloch, the OSC failed miserably.

One of the first things Bloch did when he assumed office was to publicly state that he was going to ignore Executive Orders and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) policy banning discrimination against Federal employees based on sexual orientation. He said that the EO’s and OPM policy had no basis in law and he had no intention of following them.

He also purged the headquarters office of any employees who dissented from what he was doing and illegally closed hundres of open cases without investigation. He had been under investigation by the OPM Inspector General since 2005. After the FBI raid, he ordered his employees not to cooperate with the IG investigation. He now joins a long list of former Bush officials who have been convicted of crimes while they were serving the Bush regime.

Bloch was typical of the political appointees that Dubya installed during his administration. These people came into office with a sense of entitlement, a sense that they could do anything they wanted, to hell with the law. Thankfully, we were able to rid the government of these hacks. Kay James, Lucretia Doan, and now Scott Bloch have taken their rightful places on the dung heap of a failed adminsitration, an adminsitration that ignored the law and politicized everything, including the civil service.

Political Hot Stove Chatter-Delaware General Assembly Edition

Lotsa stuff percolating on the stove. Let’s try to bring ’em to a boil…

1. Democratic Primary for Oberle Seat

Two D’s have filed in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Bill Oberle in this blue-collar Newark-area district. The D registration edge is so daunting that the winner of the primary almost certainly will win the General…unless Brian McGlinchey and his ‘Working Families Party’ decide to make mischief again. The two candidates are Kay Gallogly and Edward Osienski. I’m sure I’m not alone here at DL in wishing that at least one other candidate with whom we’re familiar would jump in. Osienski contributed to Bill Oberle’s campaign–in short, the type of ‘D’ that kept this seat ‘R’ for so long. Wouldn’t be surprised if he is DeLuca’s/construction trades’ stalking horse here.

2. Cathcart’s Got an Opponent

Democrat Richard Griffiths of Townsend. Don’t know much about him, except that a Google search shows that he is a Commissioner and Head Referee for the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend Youth Soccer League. Not a bad start for a candidacy. Also found out that someone named Richard Griffiths appeared in the original stage production of Equus. Reliable sources indicate it’s not the same guy.

3. Miro’s Got an Opponent

And, on paper, he looks like a good one. David Ellis of Yorktowne has the type of profile that might prove attractive to R’s in this R-leaning district. The R’s have a plus-300 registration margin, but Sokola-like candidates have won in districts far more daunting than this one. And Miro has grown awfully comfortable and may not want to go out and knock doors any more. Worth keeping an eye on…

4. Face-Off in the 36th

D Russ McCabe vs. R Harvey Kenton is one of the most intriguing political matchups on the landscape. Despite a Democratic registration edge of about 1,000, this has been a reliably Republican district. With the retirement of long-time Rep. V. George Carey, however, both parties have landed top recruits. Kenton won the endorsement from the 36th Republican Committee. Here’s a puff piece on his candidacy from the Cape Gazette. McCabe, the long-time director of the Delaware Public Archives, also enjoyed a puff piece in the Cape Gazette. Here’s more about Russ. I have no clue who’s gonna win this one. Anyone from downstate care to hazard a guess? I know and really like Russ McCabe which, I suppose, makes his odds of winning that much longer.

5. Blevins Has an Opponent

Well, she does if Fred Cullis can be considered an opponent. A former ‘candidate’ for the US House of Representatives race, Cullis has instead endorsed Michele Rollins for the post (wonder how his fellow teabaggers feel about that) and has announced his candidacy for Patti Blevins’ state senate seat. Oh well, at least Blevins HAS an opponent, which she deserves, and there is enormous comedic potential in Cullis’ candidacy. He’s got no chance of winning in this overwhelmingly D district, however.

6. The Westhoff Candidacy

I really wish this guy lived in New Castle County. He seems to have everything but geography going for him. Hard to see how he beats good ol’ boy David Wilson, but, if there’s ever going to be a more progressive D Party in Sussex, then we need candidates like Westhoff and Ron Robinson. I intend to send a few shekels his way, hope you’ll consider doing likewise.

7. Punkin’ Chunkin’ Guy to Challenge Ruth Briggs King

Don’t know if he’ll have the D field to himself, or if Ron Robinson will run again, but Frank Shade appears to be a formidable candidate.

Here’s one final observation–while most are projecting Rethuglican gains this year, the Democrats, at least at the legislative level here in Delaware, have been far more successful to date in attracting top-tier candidates. Hard to see how the Rethugs retake the House if the current trend continues.

Bring your feedback and, of course, juicy rumors to this post. Let’s really get this stove all warmed  up.

Wednesday Open Thread

Welcome to Wednesday! We’re finally seeing some beautiful spring weather again so I’m hoping that means flowers and birds rather than itchy, watery eyes and sneezes. It’s time again for an open thread so let’s get started.

Bipartisanship! Democrats and Republicans agree – the RNC has gone too far with their fake census mailings.

Earlier this month, President Obama signed legislation that passed both the House and Senate unanimously to outlaw “deceptive” mailings disguised to look like official Census documents. Congress took up the measure after Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Steele sent fundraising mailers marked with the words “census document,” and “DO NOT DESTROY OFFICIAL DOCUMENT.” But despite the new law, a number of news outlets report the RNC is continuing the send “virtually identical” phony Census forms:

An RNC mailer obtained by TPMmuckraker bears the words “Census Document” and, in all caps, “DO NOT DESTROY/OFFICIAL DOCUMENT,” on the outside of the envelope. In smaller letters, it says: “This is not a U.S. government document.” The new law requires, among other things, that such mailers state the name and address of the sender on the outside of the envelope — something the RNC’s missive doesn’t appear to do. Inside, a letter from RNC chair Michael Steele, dated April 12, asks recipients to fill out a questionnaire about their political views, and solicits donations of as much as $500 or more.

This is the second time this year that Congress has addressed these RNC mailers. The RNC doesn’t think their in technical violation of the law (apparently the word “census” appears through the screen on the envelope and is not written on the envelope). Congress will pass another law to close this loophole and the Postmaster General is investigating the mailers.

This shouldn’t be a surprise.

Mexicans in Arizona should carry documentation and “act carefully” after the state passed a law requiring local police to determine the immigration status of anyone suspected of being in the country illegally, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said the warning is directed toward Mexicans living, studying or planning to travel to the southwestern U.S. state, which shares a border with northern Mexico, according to the e-mailed statement sent today.

Other organizations are calling for boycotts of Arizona and companies based in Arizona.

Oklahoma Doctors Get Okay To Lie To Patients

Angry Mouse at kos points out the crazy.

The second measure passed into law Tuesday protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. The intent of the bill is to prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion.

Read that last part again: …prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion.   In other words, in Oklahoma, Doctors can legally lie to you because of their personal beliefs.  And, make no mistake, they will be lying.  When I (and every other mother I know) was pregnant the one question I asked at every OB-GYN appointment was, “Is everything okay with the baby?”  I can’t imagine a doctor telling me anything but the truth.  I can’t imagine not being prepared for every parents’ worst nightmare.

But it seems that informing women in Oklahoma is situational.

The Oklahoma Legislature voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to override vetoes of two highly restrictive abortion measures, one making it a law that women undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before having an abortion.

Amazing.  Angry Mouse sums it up best…

In other words, if you’re a woman in Oklahoma seeking a legal medical procedure, you will first be forced to have a completely unnecessary procedure so the doctor can show and describe to you your beautiful, healthy little bundle of joy.

This is Oklahoman for “informed consent.”

But if that bundle of joy isn’t so healthy? Tough shit. The doctor doesn’t have to say a word.

At this rate maybe Oklahoma doctors can start issuing sugar pills in place of birth control pills without telling the patient.

It’s a sad day when knowing your doctor’s politics matter as much as his/her medical skills, but I sense that’s where we’re headed.

The GOP FinReg Proposal — A Good Sign or Bad?

Last night, Republicans released their counter-proposal to Chris Dodd’s Financial Reform Bill (full text here). I don’t claim to have read either in its entirety, but the general consensus seems to be that they are not all that fundamentally different. Annie Lowrey of the Washington Independent has a good comparison of the two proposals. Here is some of what she has to say:

First, the similarities. There are many. Both bills create systemic regulators to keep watch over risky firms. Both ensure that taxpayers will never be on the hook for Wall Street bailouts again by creating some form of resolution authority – Democrats by taxing banks for a $50 billion liquidation fund, to be used in the event that a systemically important bank needs to be shut down; Republicans by requiring that the Federal Deposit Insurance Co. get back any government money spent in the process of liquidation. Both require hedge funds to answer to a regulator: in the Democrats’ case, the Securities and Exchange Commission; in the Republicans’, a new oversight committee. Both vaguely hold that credit ratings agencies will receive bolstered oversight, but in both cases, the ratings agencies’ fundamental business models do not change. Both provide weak proposals to institute some form of the Volcker Rule, banning proprietary trading at many banking institutions. Both improve Fed oversight, though without a strong requirement for an audit of the Fed’s books. Both create a powerful consumer financial protection agencywith rulemaking authority, though only in the Democrats’ version would the CFPA have the ability to oversee firms like payday lenders. Both make derivatives a regulated product, Democrats by requiring that derivatives used by financial firms to speculate go through clearinghouses; Republicans by giving a regulator authority to say if they should. Both make the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York a presidential appointee.

From all appearances, both sides seem to be pretty much on the same page on this one (or at least in the same book). Unlike, say, health care reform, everyone agrees on what needs to be addressed and the basic mechanisms for addressing them. The differences are only in the details, not in the fundamentals. This should be good news, right? I’m not so sure. Ezra Klein does a good job getting to the meat of it:

You can take that one of two ways. Optimistic spin: The two sides aren’t that far apart on policy, so compromise, and thus passage, will be easy. Pessimistic spin: The two sides aren’t that far apart on policy, which proves this is a political fight, which means compromise will be nearly impossible.

Considering that the two sides are within shouting distance of each other on this, and that Senate Republicans have now twice filibustered even bringing the bill to the floor for debate, I’m not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling about this. In Normal Times, when two sides agreed on the basics but differed on the details of a bill, they would get together and negotiate. Each side would give a little and they’d meet somewhere in the middle. But these are not Normal Times. These are the Times of No. Unless and until the Republican Party abandons its policy of “We don’t negotiate with the enemy”, I don’t see this going very far. The best hope is to peel off a few Republicans unwilling to appear to stand with Wall Street in an election year. We’ll see.

Run, Ted, Run!

Joan Walsh over at Salon.com has been delighted listening to our Senator become one of the leading voices on banking reform.  And she wants him to run.  Ms. Walsh is late to the party here, but she’s got it right (mostly):

Yes, Kaufman could be seen as complicit in that arrangement, which might hamper his standing with Delaware voters. But while he’s had the seat, he’s voted his conscience and he’s led in the ways Biden would have – and maybe even more aggressively, when it comes to bank reform. Some might say that Kaufman is only free to be so aggressively progressive because he’s not running for reelection, but I’m not that cynical. I hope Kaufman reconsiders, now that he sees what the job requirements are: strong values, and a little courage. Democrats need more fighters.

I don’t know if Biden would have taken this position on these banks — I strongly suspect not — but that takes nothing away from Senator Kaufman and his extraordinary leadership on this issue. Congress would do really well to listen to what he has to say and act on it. He understands completely the risk of Too Big to Fail as well as the shenanigans bank will pull to make sure that they continue to socialize all of the risks they take. Senator Ted was on Countdown last night discussing the Goldman Sachs testimony, which was highlighted in UI’s post this AM. And he has been just everywhere talking up the idea of tough reform.

It is too late for a Draft Ted movement, I imagine, but it is fun to see our local hero on banking reform get this kind of attention.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Report-Wed., April 28, 2010

The Insurance Commissioner got her free pass and the Rethugs in the House reemerged as the ‘Daddy’ Party. Just another day in Dover.

Mike Barbieri’s common-sense bill that eliminates mandatory reporting of  school ‘incidents’ involving kids from ages 9-12 barely passed, largely on a party line vote. In other words, those voting ‘no’, or going ‘not voting’ would substitute their judgment that administrators must report every incident to the police over the professional judgment of the school administrators. Rep. Barbieri asks the logical question in J. L. Miller’s News-Journal report:

“If it is serious, the school administration will deal with it. If they’re not [serious offenses], then why bring it to the criminal level?” Barbieri asked.

“How many times have you seen two 9-year-olds pushing each other and you called the police?” he asked.

Good questions. Nobody from the Daddy Party was available for response. The fact that Monsignor Lavelle didn’t rush to the microphones suggests that this was even more political than most Rethug stunts, coming on the day that Terry Spence filed to run against Barbieri. One R, Rep. Don Blakey, who is more of a D than R anyway, voted for the bill. One D, former cop John Mitchell of Elsmere, voted against. Two D’s, John Atkins and Dennis P. Williams, were recorded as ‘absent’. Which brings me to today’s Teaching Opportunity!

Kids, it’s time to tell you what ‘Taking a Walk’ means in legislative parlance. It means being unavailable for a roll call, or ‘absent’, even though you’re actually in the building, and well aware of what’s going on. While I’m not saying that Atkins or former Wilmington cop/unofficial Wilmington mayoral candidate Williams took a walk on this vote, it’s the kind of vote that they might well have wanted to avoid, and they were present and voting during the rest of session.

In an anticlimactic vote, the House unanimously approved Karen Weldin Stewart’s captive insurance company legislation. The second House vote was required b/c a Senate amendment had been added to the bill, and the bill must pass in identical form in both houses. It now heads to the Governor’s office.

Both the 10-year extension of the Historic Preservation Tax Credit and Sen. Simpson’s bill making cats the victims of dangerous dogs passed in the Senate and now head to the House.

Here’s yesterday’s Session Activity Report.

While most of today’s activity will be in committee meetings, the Senate does have an Agenda as well. HB 166(Rep. Hocker) interests me, even though it’s ‘only’ a Bethany Beach charter change, as it really gives a lot of power in municipal elections to non-resident property owners. This is an ongoing issue that is prevalent in beach communities as you have people who own property, but do not have their official residences in the beach communities. I’ve gotta ask, though, just where do you draw the line on this? Hocker’s bill draws the line at 8 non-residents per property. 8. As in “…this act limits the maximum number of persons who may vote as non-resident property owners in Town elections to eight natural persons per property.” The limit is supposedly in place to “…prevent an unduly large number of persons from qualifying to vote in Town elections as “non-resident property owners” by having multiple owners on the deed to a single parcel of real estate.”

Eight non-residents per property strikes me as an unduly large number. Non-residents could dwarf residents when voting in municipal elections. Is that fair? Is that constitutional? I’ll defer to Sussex Countians to respond. Not to mention experts in  constitutional law. Whaddayathink, John ‘Intake’ Manifold?

Helene Keeley’s oft-amended bill giving more consumer protective powers to the AG’s office is also on the agenda. The fact that the bill has been through so many permutations once again raises questions about the performance of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General, and their ability to craft legislation.

Little of note in Senate committee meetings today. Once again, a Senate Committee is meeting with no announced public agenda, thankyouverymuch, Sen. Bethany Hall Long.

The Senate Education Committee has a substantive agenda, including HB 328 which, if memory serves, raised red flags with Joanne Christian. Am I right on that, JC?

Here’s the House Committee Meeting schedule.

The House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee will consider HB 343(Brady), which would require insurance companies/health plans to, at a minimum, provide prosthetic and orthotic devices at the Federal reimbursement rate for the aged and disabled.

The House Administration Committee is scheduled to consider (and likely table) HB 214(Ramone), which would reduce the number of New Castle County Councilmanic districts from 12 to 6. Too bad, because the bill, almost by definition, would cut the number of political hacks/unethical operators in half as well, all the while saving the County quite a few $$’s. I think the bill deserves a hearing and vote on the House floor, but I doubt that it will happen.

Rep. Brad Bennett has another bill sure to get under Nancy Cook’s skin scheduled for the House Judiciary Committee today. This would put into the Kent County merit system positions in the Court of Common Pleas that heretofore have been the personal and political dumping ground for Sen. Cook and her allies.

So, all in all, a pretty interesting day. Check out the full schedule on your own and let me know if I’ve missed something that strikes your interest.