Delaware Liberal

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 5, 2012

A glimpse inside the Delaware Way, and what it has wrought. Helene Keeley’s legislation seeking to reign in predatory lending in the form of payday loans, made it out of committee. But not before one of Delaware’s most malevolent lobbyists got an interest rate cap stripped from proposed legislation. Which, of course, wasn’t enough for him. From today’s News-Journal story:

Speaking for the Online Lenders Alliance, a payday-lending trade group, lobbyist Dave Swayze said efforts to curtail short-term lending fly in the face of Delaware’s landmark Financial Center Development Act, the 1981 law that eliminated the state’s usury statutes and allowed banks to charge unlimited interest rates. “We will let the marketplace, we will let the buyer and seller, the contract entered into by them, determine the terms of the loan,” he said.

Ah, yes, the ‘landmark’ Financial Center Development Act. Swayze was present at the creation, working for Gov. Pete DuPont at the time. The legislation that legalized usury. We must not despoil that hallowed ground, no matter how many desperate people fall prey to predatory lending practices in its name.

Along with several other legislators, Rep. Keeley has been trying to address the problem, yes, problem of predatory lending for years. It may not be the Mafia breaking legs any more, but it might as well be. And with the (wait for it) ilk of David Swayze spouting his perfumed persiflage for the industry, they even have their own consigliere. Sickening.

But not so sickening that I can’t continue.

Legislation creating a license for ‘craft distilleries’ passed the Senate and heads to the House. Truly legislation I can drink to.

Before we proceed to today’s Pre-Game Show, a couple of media updates from Leg Hall. The Senate has begun live-streaming its sessions, and you can access the stream at this site. The House Democratic Caucus is into that Twitter thingy, so if you’re even more of a political junky than I am, you can follow the tweets here. Would it be a cheap shot to urge those following The Twitter to let me know where John Atkins is celebrating Happy Hour so that I can stay as far away as humanly possible? It would be, so I won’t.

Only two bills on the Senate agenda today, as the Honorables presumably want to get an early start on their Easter recess. Of note is SB 186(Peterson), which would expand the restrictions against motor vehicle parking in residential districts to trailers that are not attached to a motor vehicle. The bill also limits the parking of non-oversized motor vehicles with trailers to locations immediately adjacent to the owner’s residence. All of the bill’s sponsors hail from New Castle County, so it will be interesting to see if there is any opposition from downstate. Since the bill requires a 2/3 majority, some compromise might be needed if any opposition surfaces.

While the House agenda features nine bills, I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that they won’t work all nine. For the third (or fourth) time, legislation linking graffiti offenses to loss of driving privileges tops the agenda. No amendment has yet to be filed, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see that they’re working on one, perhaps to exempt travel to and from work from the ban on driving.

HB 277(Heffernan) creates the new crime of ‘home invasion’, presumably because the dozens upon dozens of crimes to which this can be added are not sufficient. Don’t believe me? Read the bill, and just check out that list. A real good election year bill that will just add one more offense to the many for which perpetrators can already be charged. Which may or may not make it a good bill. But I defy any legislator to vote against it. You see how easy it is to demagogue pointless legislation, no matter how pointless it is? Let me just say that I don’t believe that any suspect is at risk of being ‘undercharged’ should this bill not pass. I’ll start ducking now.

HB 191(J. Johnson) requires all commercial vehicles operated in the State of Delaware to be equipped with an audible reverse warning signal that adequately places an individual within 50 feet of such vehicle on notice that such commercial vehicle intends to and/or is in the process of reversing. I see nothing wrong with that.

I’ve discussed a couple of the other bills on the  House agenda, and it should be an interesting session for as long as it goes.

As, I hope, was this article. It’s over. Well, not quite:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMc263klrMQ[/youtube]

Thanks, Roy. Now, it’s over.

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