If you’re getting this report on your Delaware Liberal I-Phone app, you’ll want to pull over onto the shoulder before reading this. The Delaware State Senate voted yesterday to ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. This is a signature accomplishment for this General Assembly and the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Darryl Scott and Sen. Brian Bushweller. Verizon’s opposition to this has been relentless and, up until now, successful. Rep. Joe Miro deserves special mention for having led the lonely fight for several legislative sessions. It often takes many years to overcome corporate and institutional resistance, and that is what has happened here. While a pro-forma House vote is still required, it will happen. Sen. Booth’s ‘killer amendment’, which would have made cellphone use a secondary offense, was overwhelmingly rejected, 3 Yes and 18 Nays. 18 senators voted ‘yes’ on final passage, a resounding rejection of Verizon’s tactics. I’m guessing the three ‘no’s’ were Booth, Bonini and Simpson, just because I can.
All in all, yesterday was a very good day in Dover, IMHO. HB 443(George), which significantly reforms Delaware’s minimum mandatory sentencing laws for drug offenses, passed the House. This is an essential reversal of disastrous public policy. The Neanderthals who either voted ‘No’ or ‘Not Voting’: Atkins, Bennett, Briggs King, Carey, Carson, Cathcart, Hocker, Walls, Wilson.
HB 420, which eliminates ‘post-claim underwriting’, unanimously passed in the House. So did HB 41, which enumerates residents’ rights in community-based mental health facilities.
In the Senate, one of Sen. McDowell’s Green Energy bills, endorsed by Tommywonk, passed with one ‘No’ vote. I’m guessing that, in keeping with his desperate cries for attention, Bonini was that vote. I’ve decided that, from here on in, since the Senate doesn’t deign to put roll calls online, I’m within my parameters as a blogger and (let’s face it) performance artist to simply guess on votes like these. Increases the Fun Factor pour moi. And, I hope, pour vous.
While both houses hold committee meetings today, the Senate has an agenda with at least a couple of interesting bills. SB 275(Marshall) revisits a formula that has been implemented for day cares, and which he proposes to utilize for health care. The service letter concept was adopted following the the tragic death of a child at the hands of a day care provider who had a history of abuse. The provider, however, moved from job to job before actually getting fired for abusive conduct towards children. SB 275 would “…require doctors applying for licensure or relicensure to present service letters from health care facilities through which they have had direct access to patients, or admitting or staff privileges, attesting to their good character. The letters would contain information, if it exists, about any reasonably substantiated incidents involving violence, threats of violence, abuse or neglect toward any other person, including any disciplinary action taken as a result of such conduct.” In the aftermath of the Bradley disaster, this seems like a rational way to help smoke out perennially-dangerous health care providers whose conduct may fall just short of criminality or, as in the case of Bradley, who manage to stay one step ahead of the law.
SB 267(McDowell), also Tommywonk-endorsed, is on the Agenda.
Lotsa stuff in committees today. Highlights in the Senate:
Rep. Keeley’s bill barring prisoners from being counted for reapportionment purposes at their ‘current’ addresses is in the Senate Admin. Services/Elections Committee.
HB 198(Rep. D. E. Williams), which helps pave the way for a national popular vote means of electing the President, is in the Senate Executive Committee.
Several of the bills in the ‘Bradley’ package will be considered in today’s Senate Judiciary Committee meeting.
The following committees will meet, but have not bothered to post agendas: Children, Youth & Families (McDowell); Community/County Affairs (Hall-Long); Energy & Transit (McDowell); Finance (Cook); Labor & Industrial Relations (Marshall); Revenue & Taxation (Marshall). So. Out of 13 scheduled committee meetings in the Senate today, only seven have posted agendas. Is there one Senator of either party willing to come over here and explain how this is open government and how this secrecy (and/or incompetence) is good for the public? Anyone?
Let’s head over to the House, which has always been much better about these sorts of things. Highlights in the House:
Not sure I like this one in the House Greed Is Good Committee: HB 453(B. Short) would ‘update the provisions of the Delaware Insurance Code governing the conversion of a mutual insurer to a stock insurer. It is intended that new Chapter [49A] will facilitate the recapitalization of the insurance industry nationally by establishing a proven method of capital formation for insurance companies that elect to domicile in Delaware.’ Hmmm, doesn’t moving from a mutual insurer to a stock insurer tend to benefit stockholders at the expense of policyholders? After all, one way to recapitalize is to take in premiums and not pay out any claims. Stockholders love that. Policyholders? Not so much.
The House Education Committee considers legislation to reorganize the deck chairs on the Early Education Titanic in order to seek more federal funds. Sorry to sound so skeptical, but the principal reason we sent our kids to private school was the never-ending reorganizing in public education. It was kinda like “Wake me up when you stop experimenting”. Experimentation continues. Hopefully for the better but my kids are almost ready for college now.
The House Energy Committee will consider the practice of smart metering. As Rep. Kowalko has pointed out, the only people currently coming out of this looking smart are the bean counters at Delmarva. Consumers save energy, but Delmarva reaps the financial reward. IMHO, it’s hard to choose between Delmarva and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware when it comes to “Most Deserving of Being Tried Under the Federal RICO Statutes”.
The House Health & Human Development Committee considers several more bills from the ‘Bradley package’ today.
Yet another bill to add more state troopers, this time with a ‘Special Fund’. Oh, and the special fund creates incentives for state troopers to stop yet more people since that’s how the positions will be funded. Sponsored, of course, by a former cop. In the former cop’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee. Oh, and another bill giving police chiefs more due process than you or I would ever get. Once again sponsored by a former cop.
Although, come to think of it, I’d be OK with the ‘Special Fund’ coming out of fines for hands-on cellphone use while driving. I’m all for that incentive.