Brad Bennett announced he would not seek reelection to the 32nd Representative District seat. He did it publicly on the House floor, he did it with dignity, and I wish him success in addressing the issues that led to his announcement.
The legislative agendas ran true to form yesterday, with both the good and the bad passing muster. The bad? HB 87(Brady), which heightens the level of crimes when public transit operators are the victims. We’ve done this with first responders and others, and the Solomoronic solons are now well into creating a caste system of victims. One of our commenters, Andy, who represents DART bus drivers, made the case as well as it can be made:
HB 87 not only increases the penalty for Bus operators in this state but also tries to protect the public as well. Can you imagine a bus going down king st and and some one who get angry with the driver for what ever reason, a fare dispute, the bus is late what ever and decides to take a shot at the driver while the bus is moving. An out of control 40 foot dart bus with about 30 to 50 people on board going down a city street at rush hour is not a good thing. Assaults on bus drivers have risen in Delaware as well throughout the country. All you have to do is go on youtube to see what is happening. A bus driver is basically defensless in the seat with no where to go there is no drivers side door on a dart bus. rather than complaining about this bill maybe we should look into giving a little more protection to the 7-11 cashier.
Just for disclosure I am the Union President for the DART Drivers and Mechanics
OK, Andy, I’ll bite. Then how about private bus drivers, or Greyhound bus drivers, or camp counselors who shepherd kids around, or teachers? That’s my point. Either the crime is heinous enough to warrant an increased penalty regardless of the victim, be they public transit driver or 7-11 cashier, or leave it as is. This bill will not be the last of its kind, trust me. Just as we’ve created a veritable cornucopia of ‘special license plates’, we’re on the road to creating an ever-increasing special class of victims. BTW, the bill passed the Senate unanimously. As Al Mascitti said yesterday, this bill is pandering, pure and simple. Which is why more of its kind are coming, and coming soon.
Common sense legislation which “simplifies the mandatory report requirements for schools, ensuring that the most serious offenses shall be reported to law enforcement while giving schools discretion to handle minor offenses without mandatory reporting”, passed the House, with only five Rethugs displaying a lack of common sense. They are Reps. Lavelle, Lee, Manolakos, D. Short, and Wilson. Re lack of common sense: ‘Dog Bites Man’.
The entire House deserves credit for unanimously passing HB 309(Scott), which begins to protect privacy of students’ social media networks. Hmmm, I wonder if legislation protecting employees from snoopy employers will receive a similar unanimous vote…
Today is a HUGE Committee Day, with interesting bills galore. Before I start my rundown, I urge you to pay special attention to the following two bills:
SB 205(Ennis) will get its hearing in the House Manufactured Housing Committee today. If you’re one of the very very few who is just coming to our blog, you can read more about this issue right here.
Now, here’s one that illustrates the Delaware Way. Nancy Willing called Al’s show yesterday and brought it to our attention and, boy, is she right. Not only is HB 261 special interest legislation introduced on behalf of Delmarva, it is special interest legislation introduced on behalf of Delmarva with the intent of terminating service for people with serious medical conditions. And, get this, only John Kowalko had the empathy and decency to vote against this bill in the House. How cold and bloodless is this blatant attempt to literally take power away from the powerless? Let me quote from the bill’s synopsis:
This bill amends the current utility medical certification program that protects customers with a medical certification from termination of utility services. The current medical certification law is so broad that it is being used as a method of bill avoidance by numerous customers who do not need to be on the program, which is impacting all customers of the utility. Thus, this bill clarifies the parameters for a utility medical certification…
Now, read the highlighted portion, and ask yourselves: “Who has determined that the current…law is ‘so broad that it is being used as a method of bill avoidance by numerous customers who do not need to be on the program’?” Did legislators form a task force, examine this issue and reach this conclusion independently. No. Delmarva has made this assertion w/o any demonstrable public evidence to support it, and they’ve convinced their bought-and-paid-for General Assembly to accept it uncritically. But, don’t worry, legislators. The phony ‘lobbying reform’ bill you passed ensures that Delmarva’s lobbyists don’t have to reveal that they lobbied you, and that they lobbied you on this bill.
And you just know that horror stories are coming when/if this bill takes effect. It will be just like that federal bankruptcy bill that Carper loved so much and that has destroyed millions of families throughout the country while propping up the big banks. Look, there might in some cases possibly be some, some, merit in Delmarva’s claim. But a lot of people who need the service are gonna get hurt by this, and Delmarva knows that a lot of innocent people are gonna get hurt by this. Legislators, now you do too. If you do Delmarva’s bidding, the blood will be on your hands. And, no doubt, Delmarva’s blood money will be in your hands.
There’s lots more where that came from. My rundown of the other bills of interest to me in committee today, starting with the Senate:
SB 212(DeLuca) “will use the internet as a means to modernize the notice requirements for procurement bids, agency meetings, and public hearings. This Act will provide more convenient and universal access to legal notices for all interested parties and will do so in a cost-effective manner.” In the Senate Executive Committee.
HB 325(Schwartzkopf) seeks to end the lawless reign of the Sheriff of Nuttingham and his Posse Comatosis. In Senate Executive Committee.
The Senate Finance Committee will consider the following bills. Kids, I’m offering up a rare teaching opportunity here. Yay! The reason why these bills are being considered now and not earlier is b/c they each have some sort of fiscal impact. Until the Joint Finance Committee concluded its budgetary deliberations, there was no official clarity as to whether funding would be available for these initiatives. Now there is, which is why these bills are now being considered. This happens every year, there’s nothing sinister about it, but I just thought you should know.
Rep. Lumpy Carson’s “Get Out Of My Way, I’m Late for Happy Hour” bill will be considered in today’s Senate Highways & Transportation Committee.
Finally, a rare shoutout to Tony DeLuca. His Senate Executive Committee has already announced a list of gubernatorial appointees the committee will consider on June 13. That’s transparency I can support.
And, on the House side:
HB 211(Scott) requires that admission to vocational-technical high schools be determined through a lottery system rather than any other criteria. House Education Committee.
HB 292(Bennett) requires that a background check be completed on a new public school hire before that person begins employment. House Education Committee.
HB 362(Bolden) would place non-voting members from the City of Wilmington on the public school boards serving Wilmington, appointments to be made by the Mayor. House Education Committee.
HB 311(Barbieri) “significantly updates the laws under which a person can be held involuntarily for up to 24 hours for a mental health evaluation. In place of the current system where a person is transported in handcuffs by police to a hospital emergency department, the bill allows a psychiatrist or credentialed mental health screener to evaluate a person anywhere and then transport that person to the most appropriate location for evaluation or treatment in the most appropriate and least restrictive manner.” More great stuff from Rep. Barbieri. House Health & Human Services Committee.
SB 143(Katz) is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that will likely lead to greater use of absentee ballot provisions. House Administration Committee.
And finally, just like in the Senate, the House Revenue & Taxation Committee has a series of bills that can be considered now that budget deliberations have concluded.
The Senate Agenda for today includes the so-called campaign finance reform package, which consists of HB 300(Gilligan), which I support, and HB 310(Longhurst), which I don’t. Check out this exceedingly well-reasoned and well-written (‘Dog Bites Man’) post to find out why.
If you’ll please excuse me for today, I must now feed our hounds before I have a real ‘Dogs Bite Man’ story on my hands.