A pretty active day in Dover yesterday. The Senate passed legislation doing away with five agencies you never heard of. In addition to passing two City of Dover charter changes, the Senate also passed Colin Bonini’s annual ‘contribution’ to the legislative mix. That’s right. Recognizing Feb. 6 as ‘Ronald Reagan Day’ in Delaware. I got news for the Rethugs. Reagan ain’t comin’ back. And the Party has no spiritual heir. I guess wallowing in nostalgia is all they can do. Thank you, Colin. Now back to that back row.
The House did not pass, nor apparently even consider, HB 222, which would require that the Department of Labor publish the names of employers who have violated the Workplace Fraud Act, by misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor or otherwise. The reason why is that an amendment, which would significantly slow down the release of the names of the employers, has been filed, no doubt to ensure passage. The amendment “clarifies that the Department of Labor would not post the name of any employer that has violated the Workplace Fraud Act until all appeals had been pursued and/or forfeited.” That, of course, could take years. And the employer, of course, could agree to a fine without acknowledging guilt. And the public, of course, would not know that these employers were ripping off employees by classifying them as ‘independent contractors’. The bill still deserves passage, but my enthusiasm has somehow…waned. You can’t spell wane w/o ‘wan’, which is what this bill has become.
Citizens can no doubt breathe a sigh of relief that the House had no similar reservations when it comes to killing Bambi with handguns. Likely filled with ‘cop-killer’ bullets. This no doubt vindicates the NRA position that there is no such thing as a dangerous handgun. Unless, of course, you’re a deer. Somewhere, bug-eyed State Rethuglican Chair John Sigler is chugging a beer stein filled to the brim with animal blood. Makes him feel like a man. The three ‘no’ votes were Dennis P. Williams, Stephanie Bolden, and Deb Heffernan. Good for them.
The House unanimously passed HB 239(Schooley), which permanently authorizes the Teach for America (TFA) program as an alternative route to teacher licensure and certification.
As expected, Brad Bennett’s bill adding an additional $100 penalty onto crimes against seniors passed unanimously. Nobody has a political death wish, regardless of how insignificant the impact of this bill will be.
The House also unanimously passed HB 250, which cleans up some technical issues with last year’s redistricting legislation.
The Senate agenda consists of one bill, I think a good one. HB 292, sponsored by Rep. Q. Johnson:
“…makes it an offense to use a handicapped plate or placard issued to another person, unless that person is also in the vehicle. The Bill aims to curb the use of handicapped parking spaces by persons who do not actually need them. Under the Code, a person who violates this provision will “receive a mandatory fine of $100 for a first offense, and for a subsequent like offense, a mandatory fine of $200 or a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 nor more than 30 days, or both.”
Other than that, it’s Committee Day for both houses.
Here is the complete list of scheduled Senate committee meetings. You can click on each respective committee link to see the agendas. I’m particularly interested in the following:
Senate Executive Committee: Will consider several nominations and renominations, including that of Elaine Manlove to serve as State Commissioner of Elections. Now, look, I understand that the respective counties have their own elections departments and that Manlove’s influence over them may well be limited. But there’s no excuse for having, at the state site, such a user-unfriendly impediment to reading campaign and organizational financial reports. Of course, that may be just the way the General Assembly likes it. But it’s wrong, and the public deserves better. I sincerely hope that some senator presses her on this issue today.
Senate Insurance Committee: This bill gives me pause. Why? (1) I don’t understand it, always a red flag for me when it comes to insurance legislation; (2) it is touted as ‘more comprehensive’ by the sponsors, nowhere do I see the word ‘better’; (3) A national group of insurance commissioners crafted this legislation, and it apparently has been put forth by our own *cough*cough* insurance commissioner; and (4) the prime sponsor is the same person who pushed the Highmark legislation through the Senate. In other words, this bill gives me pause b/c it could be bad for the citizens of our state. I freely admit that I don’t know that for a fact, but, Mitch Crane, if you’ve got a couple of minutes, could you let us know what you think?
Senate Judiciary Committee: This bill had seven legislators go ‘not voting’ in the House. HB 70 “increases the minimum fine (from $100 to $250) for purchasing or providing alcohol to a person under the age of 21 and makes performance of community service mandatory for such an offense. The Act also establishes a civil cause of action which would allow a person injured by intoxicated minor (defined as person under the age of 21) to sue the adults which provided alcohol to the minor.” This bill, which ‘enhances’ penalties for certain crimes resulting in property loss, had 4 no votes in the House. I expect that both may at least incite some lively discussion before moving forward to the Senate floor.
Let’s skip across the lobby and see what’s cookin’ in House committees today. I’m drawn to the following:
House Economic Development/Banking/Commerce/ Insurance Committee: I like HB 242(D. Short), which “sets certain regulations for motor vehicle data-reporting devices to prohibit the use by insurance companies of such data for anything other than consideration for premium discounts, requires disclosure to the insured of others who may gain access to such data, and otherwise prohibits insurance companies from releasing such data to others.
House Education Committee: A substantive agenda, including HB 244(Heffernan), which increases the age for mandatory school attendance from 16 to 18; and HB 243(Barbieri), which restores common sense to the reporting of school incidents. I’d love to hear feedback from JC and others over the increase in the mandatory school attendance age. I’m not sure if it benefits other students to have students who have already mentally opted out sharing the same classrooms. In other words, I don’t see it as a slam-dunk. Whaddayathink?
House Administration Committee: A mischief-making bill that I wholeheartedly endorse, and from Monsignor Lavelle, no less. HB 176 “clarifies that the term “public record” as it appears in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) includes information collected or compiled by a State agency regarding the hours worked in a merit position held by an elected official who is also a State merit system employee. ‘Information collected or compiled’ includes but is not limited to electronic-swipe and other time-clock documents that record when an employee enters or exits the workplace.” Hmmm…wonder who this bill could be aimed at…
As always, check out all the listings as YMMV. It’s not every day that I enthusiastically endorse two bills sponsored by R’s, but today’s that day.
Tomorrow, Bob Marshall’s minimum wage increase, not sponsored by any R’s, hits the Senate floor. See y’all then.