General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 2, 2013
The question of the day: ‘Why Tuesday, Why Not Today?’ Why is HB 75 (Marriage Equality), which cleared the Senate Executive Committee yesterday, not being worked today? The questions, and my highly-speculative answer are herein reprinted in their entirety:
Dale: Does anyone have any insight as to why the Senate vote on HB 75 was scheduled for next Tuesday, a full week (not actually) after the committee vote?
El Somnambulo thought that it might be scheduled for the very next day. And I read on the site of the conservative DE Family Policy Council that they thought the same thing. Why put it off a week? Could this mean that the 2 “undecided” senators are not simply keeping their intentions under wraps, but instead might genuinely be undecided and need more time? Is Hall Long requesting the extra time so that she can “poll” her district, as the News Journal reported?
El Somnambulo: Good questions, Dale. Blevins knows what she’s doing here, and your speculation could well be accurate. If she thinks that they need a little room to come to grips with their decisions, then I think that’s the right thing to do.
There might, repeat, MIGHT, even be an Alphonse/Gaston situation here. What if two senators are reluctant to be the ‘deciding’ vote on an issue, but would each conceivably be ‘yes’ votes if theirs was the 12th rather than the 11th vote? That way, they’d have cover that their vote in essence made no difference. Seems crazy, I know, but stranger things have happened.
I know that this issue is a ‘no-brainer’ for a lot of us, but there’s lots more at play than meets the eye with some legislators. I DO know that HB 75 has a superb grassroots lobbying effort behind it, so I don’t think we’ll lose ground between now and next Tuesday. Might just gain some.
Anyone have anything to add? Keep in mind that the goal of supporters should be to help these senators get to ‘yes’.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. You will note that the Senate passed HS1/HB 41(Jaques), which:
…forbids the possession, sale, offer for sale, and distribution of shark fins in the State of Delaware. Shark finning (whereby a shark is caught, its fins cut off and the carcass dumped back in the water while the shark is still alive) is already prohibited by federal law and Delaware regulations and is not currently being practiced by Delaware fishermen. However, the possession, sale or distribution of shark fins produced by live-finning outside the United States is still legal in Delaware. By prohibiting trade in shark fins, Delaware will eliminate the local market for shark fins and shark fin products, and hence contribute to ending this barbaric practice throughout the region and the world.
I know that it’s a rhetorical question. But what kind of putative human beings comprise ‘the local market for shark fins and shark fin products’? I’m guessing the same kind of putative human beings that shoot dazed pigeons who are electronically pushed out of a box. Sen. Simpson went ‘not voting’. Feel free to ask him why. A sop to Sigler?
Two controversial bills highlight today’s Senate Agenda.
SB 16(Henry) ‘would require owners of lost or stolen handguns to report such loss or theft within 48 hours of discovery. Owners may report such loss or theft to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction, or to any State Police Troop.’ This bill would help put a huge dent in straw purchases of guns that almost invariably are used in crimes. Here’s how: You currently sell a gun registered to you to someone, the gun gets used in a crime, the police trace the gun back to you, and you say, ‘Oh, that gun was stolen from me six months ago’. Happens all the time. That’s what SB 16 seeks to stop.
SB 51(Sokola) seeks to strengthen standards for entry into the teaching profession in Delaware. If you have substantive objections to the bill, let us know what they are.
The House Agenda promises to be less controversial. Although…I just have to comment on SB 17(Blevins). The river and bay pilots have a nice racket going. This bill provides them with a 3% increase annually from 2014 to 2016. A 3% increase each year. Wouldn’t it be nice if state employees got the same consideration as the pilots? Then again, the Pilots’ Association for the Bay and Delaware River ranks among the Top 20 Delaware political contributors, and the association is best-known for hosting a sumptuous cruise for legislators and politicos of all stripes every other (the off-election year, of course) year. All the food and drink you can pack away. I’m not necessarily arguing against the increases, just pointing out how easy it is to get elected officials to do your bidding if you spend your money smartly.
Every now and then, a bill gets introduced that is so blatantly designed to benefit a small special interest that I just can’t resist highlighting it. Ladeez and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to HB 113(Outten). Please feel free to parse every syllable:
This bill allows a nonresident farm owner, who owns but is not an occupant of a farm in this State containing 20 acres or more and where the science of husbandry is practiced, and the immediate members of the family of the nonresident farm owner to hunt, trap, and/or fish on the farm if the farm occupant or resident, if any, gives the owner written permission or if hunting, trapping, and/or fishing is permitted pursuant to a written lease, if any, between the farm owner and the occupant or resident of the farm.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here. Whoever would be impacted by this bill has paid for the privilege of its introduction and consideration. Sponsors, could we please have the name or names? You know, in the interests of open and transparent government? Oh, and whatever political contributions the party or parties have made?
While I wait for what no doubt will be a full reply, I take leave (of my senses) for today.
Tags: Delaware gun control, Delaware Marriage Equality, Delaware river and bay pilots, Education in Delaware, El Somnambulo, Sen. Patti Blevins, Steve Tanzer Delaware
I think they are trying to nail down Cloutier as the 11th yes, thereby giving Hall Long the option of not voting at all so as to piss everyone off at the same time. Perhaps Cloutier was going to be absent today, but would be in Dover on Tuesday.
Just a sec, my Snark Meter is not yet turned on…
LOL. However, a little birdie just told me they have 12 votes.
Hmmm, if that’s the case, perhaps Alphonse and Gaston just shook hands.
The pressure is on for Cloutier to say “YES” so the pressure is off Hall-Long. As someone in Hall-Long’s district, I understand that many folks might be reluctant to approve gay marriage, but I hope she does. She could prove to be standing on the wrong side of history if she wants to go state-wide, or even national. Personally, I hope Cloutier votes YES to continue her streak of social fairness while remaining a fiscal conservative. Nothing wrong with that!
Cathy Cloutier will probably vote yes. There is no way she can win with a “no” vote on this issue in her district. Any time you vote for a prejudice in an area of non-prejudical people, you get a stigma attached to you which you can’t shake off….
That said, these votes are the kind that are not handled by political expediencies. We who are non accountable to voters can spin and calculate the damages, but, when it comes down to a big watershed earth-shaking vote, those are usually based upon who the person is inside. When it comes down to it, legislators vote for what they think is right in these giant moral issues, not on how many votes it will garner…. Their eye is on history more than the votes.
But that said, almost everyone who still is raising children is probably in favor of gay marriage and gay rights, since they know that quite possibly it may apply to their own. In our school systems, most notably in high schools, it is probably safe to say that 20% identify themselves as gay. Since across this nation there are still a lot of old farts alive, that percentage is higher than the national average. But it is coming. This will be our future. There are a lot of parents with school aged children now living in Cathy Cloutier’s district. That is a lot of votes. David Anderson’s vision of family doesn’t play very well up there in the Brandywine…
If there is any truth to the rumor that Ramone is being treated like a leper by his caucus-it will make Cloutier’s vote more difficult.
FYI- The pilots Association hasnt took the Legislature on a cruise since 2005ish.
@anon: Yeah, I also heard from a legislator that Ramone is being treated horribly by his caucus. Fortunately, he doesn’t care too much, because this was a personal issue for him and he knew he wanted to do the right thing regardless of any consequences. Still sucks though.
SB 51(Sokola) seeks to strengthen standards for entry into the teaching profession in Delaware. If you have substantive objections to the bill, let us know what they are.
OK:
1) it doesn’t do what it purports to do
2) it challenges basic motivation by ranking schools and programs by student test scores, yet another misuse, which will yield multiple unintended consequences
3) embeds and strengthens teacher evaluations based on junk science.
wish I could find one fucking Senator to rise up and say just this.
Realist wrote:
“FYI- The pilots Association hasnt took the Legislature on a cruise since 2005ish.”
Maybe I was on the last one…probably too many Leg Hall moochers like myself, and not enough legislators.
So they skipped the middle men and women and went directly to campaign contributions instead. Makes sense, and it’s paid off. Sure miss the shrimp and the free booze, though…
El Somnambulo, thanks for the insight. Delaware Dem, I truly hope that your little birdie is right. I guess we’ll know in a few days.
SB 51(Sokola) seeks to strengthen standards for entry into the teaching profession in Delaware. If you have substantive objections to the bill, let us know what they are.
I’ve been laying them out for days
http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/2013/05/dsea-proves-once-again-that-it-does-not.html
http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/2013/04/paul-herdman-and-vision-2015-it-is-all.html
That’s great stuff, Steve. Thanks for laying out your case so strongly!
But El Som the Senate unanimously put lipstick on this pig yesterday, and the House will do so, probably next week.
In large measure this has occurred because DSEA endorsed it, even though today Frederika Jenner is partly disowning her own organization’s language.
This bill is a potential disaster for our teacher prep universities, but it is flying through in full stealth mode (did you notice today that the WNJ broke its own editorial page policy to publish a letter by Paul Herdman just days after they gave him full op-ed space? According to their own long-standing practice this is a No-No; but they are fully in the tank for this)?
The News-Journal editorial board has been a willing accomplice to failed ‘education reform’ for some time now. I remember that, during the so-called education reform of the Carper Era, they basically tore down the wall between news coverage and the editorial page. That, of course, was the MBNA-driven reform. How did that work out for us? Worked out great for Carper, though. Never had to worry about, as W would say, ‘the ol’ coffers’.
Celia has a side-by-side vote count for House and Senate on this year’s liberal agenda
http://www.delawaregrapevine.com/yes&noindover.asp
HB 50 & SB 6 (as amended) are not quite liberal bills. Maybe slightly left of center bills, definitely not conservative bills, but certainly not liberal bills.