PDD-DL Vote Tracker for April 30, 2013

Not to steal any thunder from El Somnanbulo, but tomorrow is a big day for legislation in both the House and Senate. In the Senate, the Senate Executive Committee will consider the Marriage Equality Bill, HB 75. In the House, the Administration Committee will consider HB51, the large capacity magazine ban. To keep up to date on all legislation that is of priority to liberals and progressives, DL has partnered with the Progressive Democrats for Delaware (PDD) to compile this Vote Tracker. Now, this chart does not follow all the legislation that has been filed. We don’t report on perfunctory bills like the ones about the charter of Georgetown or ticket scalping. Nor do we follow the progress of judicial nominations, executive nominations, or Concurrent or Joint Resolutions unless they are a matter of controversy. So the legislation that is listed is a matter of concern and priority for those of us on the liberal / progressive side of the aisle. Come inside to view and download the Vote Tracker charts.

Tuesday Open Thread [4.30.13]

In Pennsylvania, a new Quinnipiac poll has such horrible numbers for the Republican Governor that I am now worried that he will bag a reelection campaign all together, in favor of a Republican that might have a chance. Gov. Tom Corbett trails all three major Democratic challengers.

General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Report: Tues., April 30, 2013

A HUGE week coming up in Dover. HB 75(Smith) will be considered in the Senate Executive Committee this Wednesday. If you have not yet contacted your senators, especially if your senator is either Cathy Cloutier or Bethany Hall-Long, now is the time to do so. Be friendly and positive, and encourage them to do the right thing. Marriage equality is RIGHT THERE, do everything you can to help push it over the top. Residents in manufactured homes communities are back and they're seeking justice. So are the overlords, who have thrown campaign cash around to legislators in large quantities. Except, of course, in their case, they're paying to ensure a continuation of injustice. Meaning that, this year, legislators will either have to do the right thing or face the electoral consequences for siding with their wealthy (and amoral) contributors. And, yes, we will be naming names, both legislators and contributors. SB 33 will be introduced this week, and, once again, all it asks is that these landlords be required to justify rent increases that are larger than the rate of inflation. There will likely not be a more important legislative battle between Good and Ee-vil to be fought this year. Choose sides. After a disorganized committee meeting last week, the House Judiciary Committee convenes solely to consider a motion to release the death penalty repeal bill from committee:
Due to time constraints at the end of the April 24 Judiciary Committee meeting because the House Chamber needed to be vacated for session, action on a motion on Senate Bill 19 was not completed. This April 30 (Tuesday) meeting on Senate Bill 19 is being held solely for the purpose of taking action on a motion regarding the bill. There will not be an additional public comment period.

Marriage Equality Committee vote set for Wednesday

The Senate Executive Committee will vote on the marriage bill on Wednesday. Which means, once it passed out of committee (which it should), it could be set for a vote on Thursday. Ask your Senator to support HB75, but we would also like you to send a note of encouragement towards Senators Cathy Cloutier and Bethany Hall Long. Their contact information can be found here. As a reminder, here is our most likely whip count.

The GOP State Convention was this weekend….

... at the Doubletree in downtown Wilmington. Not much of consequence happened. Except I did hear that the GOP was going to release doves to celebrate Sigler's reelection as State Chair of the Party, but those plans had to be scrapped because they were afraid Sigler would shoot them. ;)

Comment Rescue: Dana Garrett on SB51

SB51 sounds good (you can read the synopsis inside and the full bill at the link provided), but the devil is in the details. Take it away Dana:
Recently a student approached very upset SB 51 pending in Dover. My student is an Education major and is, without a doubt, one of the best students I've had in 20 years of teaching. But now he is thinking about changing his major and giving up on his life's ambition of teaching middle school students. Here's why. He read that SB 51 would prohibit anyone from becoming a teacher in DE who received a GPA below a 2.7 in high school. Now mind you, it doesn’t matter how high your GPA is once you graduate from college, although there is also a standard for that. You can have a college GPA of 4.0 but still not become a teacher in DE if your high school GPA is below 2.7. Now, I have had dozens of students who performed poorly in high school when they were immature but waited a few years before they attended college. In college they were mature, intelligent, and dedicated students who performed well. There is simply no reason why these students should be excluded from consideration for teacher positions. If the state of DE wants to have a GPA standard for college and/or graduate school, then that is understandable. And if the state wants would-be teachers to pass a competency test as part of the application process for being a teacher, then that also is sensible. But why a GPA far away from the application process (high school) should matter is absurd. Moreover, it is bad for the children because it could deprive them of excellent teachers, teachers who excelled in college but who performed poorly in high school. I understand that the Markell administration supports this bill and, now get this, so does the DSEA. I don't know yet what other measures are proposed in the bill. Some might be worthwhile. But the measure that exercises my student is draconian, punitive, snobbish, and absurd. Please contact your representative and ask them to reject this provision.