General Assembly Post-Game Show/Pre-Game Report: Tues., June 22, 2010

Only six or seven days left in this session of the Delaware General Assembly, and bills are still being introduced in large numbers. Why? Because there are many reasons to introduce legislation. Here are some: (a) To pass something the legislator deems worthwhile; (b) to pass something sought by the Governor or other State agency; (c) to sneak something through in the waning days of session that lobbyists want w/o that annoying disinfectant of sunlight; (d) to create an action-forcing mechanism, as in ‘if you won’t do this on your own, we’ll do it, and you won’t like what we’re doing’; Rep. Walls’ bill regarding Artesian and southern NCC sewer capacity just might have been one of those bills; and (e) ‘Help, I haven’t done a bleeping thing all session, and I need something for my reelection brochures’; Colin Bonini’s BS now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t SB 288 is an example of this, as are, IMHO, the bills turning some county row office responsibilities over to the state.

Other than the money bills and, in this session, the Bradley package, very little desirable, or ‘serious’, legislation is introduced in June. There simply isn’t enough time to afford it reasoned consideration.  The row office legislation just as easily could have been introduced in January, and, who knows, might have been enacted. I think that the principal purpose of these bills was to give a certain freshman legislator something he could use to run for reelection. Which is why I wasn’t surprised that the House Administration Committee tabled the bills in committee. The bills had already served their intended purpose. Maybe next session, these bills will be afforded serious consideration. In fact, I think they will.

Enough with the biased civics lesson, let’s hop into the Wayback Machine, and set our target for Thursday, June 17, 2010. Sherman and Mr. Peabody no doubt would have elicited a few chuckles over the fate of SB 253(Bonini), which essentially rewrites the Charter of the Town of Magnolia. Dozens of these bills fly through the General Assembly each year. But this one failed to reach the 2/3 requirement for passage (11 Yes, 9 No). Why? Probably because the Senate is sick of this grandstanding blowhard and wanted to show him that he is not the master of his domain. Forget about SB 288. This Limbaugh wannabe had served on JFC for years (he no longer does) and, for just about every one of those years, had grandstanded on June 30 and announced he was going to vote against the budget he presumably had helped to craft. And, while I doubt that any R’s voted against SB 253, you can bet that at least a couple of them enjoyed the spectacle of this narcissist eating Humble Pie. The pie, not the band. Although I think they serve pie at the Marriott (OK, music geeks, explain that obscure reference).

On Thursday, the Senate passed legislation increasing the fines for residents failing to register their motor vehicles in Delaware, and legislation strengthening net metering provisions in Delaware.  The House passed HB 453, HS1/HB 390, and and SB 254. I had previously voiced support for SB 254 and skepticism regarding the other two bills. SB 254 heads to the Governor, while HB 453 and HS1/390 head to the Senate where fairly swift passage is likely.

Time to check out what’s on today’s docket. The Senate Agenda features several previously-discussed leftovers, including more pieces of the Bradley package. However, I’m most interested in HB 198(Rep. D. E. Williams), The bill:

“…enters Delaware into an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives the states exclusive and plenary authority to decide the manner of awarding their electoral votes. Under the compact, the state agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential ticket that receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have joined the compact. A state may withdraw from the compact; however, a withdrawal occurring six months or less before the end of a President’s term shall not become effective until a President and Vice President have been qualified to serve the next term.”

In other words, the bill provides for the popular election of the President when and if states with enough electoral votes agree to the Interstate Compact. I’ve heard all the arguments pro and con. And you’re welcome to rehash them here. For the life of me, I cannot understand how electing the candidate who received the most votes can ever be a bad thing. The alternative is allowing political hacks like the Florida and/or Ohio Secretaries of State determining our President. And, folks, they did. Case closed. Vote for the bleeping thing.

The House will (hopefully) pass final judgment on the amended version of HS1/HB 229(Scott). Rep. Briggs-King has introduced what appears to be an unnecessary amendment in an attempt to keep ping-ponging this bill back and forth between chambers. The people and the General Assembly have spoken. It’s finally time to finally enact bans on driving with a bleeping cellphone in the drivers’ hands. Do it and be done with it.

Also on the House Agenda: More pieces of the Bradley package; legislation helping to ensure more humane treatment of dogs; and, on House Agenda I, two of the education pieces sought by the Governor in order for Delaware to access Federal education $$’s: SB 261 and SB 263.

There are two bills that I just can’t let go by without comment. First, HB 481(Kowalko). On the surface, this may appear to be a simple Sunset bill making changes to the way the Board of Dental Examiners operates. But, it does much more than that. For the first time, dental hygienists are accorded something close to the kind of input they should have over their profession, and how it impacts the public’s safety. This should have been done 25 years ago. In fact, it almost was done 25 years ago. I know because I was the Research Analyst for the Joint Sunset Committee at the time. The committee had crafted legislation providing for hygienist membership on the board; affording hygienists the opportunity to perform their own licensure exams, based on national models; and simply enabling them the ability to provide input into the practice of dentistry and dental hygiene. The legislation had been drafted, and everything was set. Until uber-lobbyist Ned Davis skulked into the office of President Pro-Tem Richard Cordrey, told Cordrey that the dentists were not happy with the uppity (and primarily female) hygienists, and that the Dental Society (one of Davis’ clients) wanted the hearings reopened. Much to the chagrin of then-chairs McDowell and Roy, enough members petitioned for another meeting, and the reforms were nixed. Of particular note were Reps. Casimir Jonkiert and Bill Houghton, neither of whom had deigned to attend a single public hearing the entire cycle, who nevertheless helped repeal the proposed reforms. The public is well-served by more involvement by dental hygienists. After all, they spend much more time with patients on routine visits than do the dentists themselves. So, kudos to Rep. Kowalko, Sen. Hall-Long, and the entire Sunset Committee, for doing the right thing.

Finally, I’m amazed that HJR 10(Oberle) has made it to the floor.  This Joint Resolution would create a committee to establish a curriculum to teach the history of the labor movement in Delaware schools. How is this wrong? Let me count the ways:

1. Who says that the history of organized labor is not already incorporated into history, social studies, and related curricula?

2. What, exactly, is a “unbiased, fair, and comprehensive manner” when it comes to teaching this? Who determines it? The committee established in the resolution?

3. If it is indeed the committee that determines an unbiased, fair, and comprehensive curriculum, then does this look like the committee to do it?:

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the 145th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the Governor, that the Secretary of the Department of Education convene a committee comprised of, but not limited to, a member of the Delaware State AFLCIO, a member of the United Auto Workers Local 435, a member of the Teamsters Local 326, and a member of the Delaware State Education Association, to be appointed by the presidents of the aforementioned organizations.

Nothing says ‘unbiased, fair, and comprehensive’ quite like that.

4. What, exactly was the impetus for this legislation in the first place? My guess is that organized labor will use this as a club in the fall elections, which is probably the intent. I think virtually every member of the General Assembly, including the sponsors, knows that this is a joke. But, what do you do if you’re faced with this legislation and you know that a ‘no’ vote will mean labor opposition?

Which, after a brief return sojourn in the Wayback Machine, brings me back to the top of today’s column. Legislation is often introduced for a variety of reasons. We have just seen, through the cynical but ingenious vehicle of HJR 10, yet another one.