General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., June 12, 2012

The payday loan bill passed the Senate and the Governor says that he will sign it! No amendments, and only one no vote (Mike Katz, whose actions get more inscrutable by the day). Congratulations to sponsor Helene Keeley, Paul Calistro, and to a dedicated and politically-savvy group of supporters. If you contacted your elected officials on this bill, consider yourselves congratulated as well. No, the bill doesn’t have everything supporters would have liked in it, but it’s a major improvement, and it’s more than I thought would get through this General Assembly. A rare victory for progressivism in Dover. Savor it.

The Senate also passed HB 257(Gilligan), which would suspend the professional or occupational license of those who owe the state money. We’re basically talking the professions referenced in Title 24 of the Delaware Code, doctors, accountants, medical professionals of all types, electricians, plumbers, etc. The basic idea is that the State grants the licensee the right to practice as long as they meet the conditions set forth in the Delaware Code. The bill would add a new condition: Pay what you owe the state if you want to keep practicing. As it should be, IMHO. HB 257 now heads to the Governor for his signature.

Perhaps Sen. Liane Sorenson‘s final piece of legislation passed the Senate unanimously, and now heads to the House.  It’s a bill that typifies this superior legislator.  SB 22 provides for insurance coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. The bill passed unanimously, leaving me to wonder why it took this long for the Senate to consider legislation that was introduced in March of 2011.

The House passed SB 193(Sokola), which “provides for the development of a statewide, fact-based cyberbullying policy to be adopted by local school districts and charter schools.”

Here’s the entire Session Activity Report for last Thursday. If I missed something that strikes your fancy, comment away!

Where there was one bad, very bad, bill on Thursday’s House Agenda, there are now two bad, very bad, bills on today’s House Agenda. I’ve previously discussed HB 204(Scott), which would:

…in essence, prevent the whistle-blowing that led to us finding out about the whitewash that Auditor Tom Wagner conducted on behalf of his political ally, Richard Cathcart. Because this proviso is buried in a bill that would otherwise make boilerplate changes to the office’s charter, Wagner hopes he can sneak it through. Memo to legislators: A simple amendment striking the offending section should suffice. Let’s see if anyone does the right thing here.

I’m still trying to figure out why a really good legislator (Rep. Darryl Scott) is sponsoring a bill that does something this bad. Could he be considering a run for auditor some day? If so, all the more reason to oppose this end-run around transparency. By now, the House knows that the bill includes this loophole. Wonder if they’ll do something about it.

The second bad, very bad, bill is sponsored by one of our worst legislators. HB 333(Viola) legalizes internet gambling in Delaware. And the chumps pissing away their child support can only be residents of the State of Delaware. Makes perfect sense. Why have a fair and equitable tax system when you can instead squeeze yet more shekels out of the degenerates at home? And why permit the building of additional casinos that would at least, you know, create jobs, when you can protect the so-called horse racing industry and the racinos at the expense of the degenerates at home? And only Delaware homes at that. Let’s be honest here. While the state may consider this to be HB 777, it is in fact, HB 666. Hey, a friend of the devil is a friend of mine:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDgPZScj5Ak[/youtube]

The rest of the House agenda consists of bills that were on Thursday’s agenda, with the exception of a new agenda devoted exclusively to bills recommended by the Joint Sunset Committee. The Joint Sunset Committee reviews various state agencies, boards, and commissions, and recommends legislative changes. It can also propose the ‘sunset’,  or doing away, of an agency the Committee deems no longer serves a public purpose. While most of the bills may seem relatively minor, I consider the Sunset Committee to be as close to a ‘good government’ committee as you will get.

Not too much on the Senate agenda–a couple of bills dealing with survivor benefits for police and fire personnel, and what I consider to be a good bill continuing to reform the criminal justice system. SB 226(Blevins) furthers the State’s move away from the mindless minimum mandatory mentality thrust upon us by the Fearsome Foursome of Jim Vaughn, Jane Brady. Tom Sharp, and Wayne Smith. The bill “promotes informed decision-making in the criminal justice system by institutionalizing the use of evidenced-based practices in decisions concerning bail, rehabilitation and probation supervision and helps ensure scarce resources are focused on higher-risk offenders.”

That’s it for today. Be sure to tune into an (Almost) All Politics Edition of the Al Mascitti Show today from 10 am to 12 noon. WDEL Newsradio-1150 on your AM dial. We’ll be talking Chip Flowers, Mitch Crane, legislative retirements and their repercussions, not to mention the latest breaking news in the world of pro rasslin’! How many radio shows can offer you that!?