General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 14, 2013
While we were busy celebrating the passage and signing into law of Delaware’s Marriage Equality Act, the House effectively killed off legislation providing a modest hike in Delaware’s minimum wage. Make no mistake: the killing of SB 6 was deliberate and planned, and the co-conspirators were all Democrats: Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, Rep. Bryon Short, and Gov. Jack Markell.
Here’s how it happened. After bargaining in what he thought was good faith with Gov. Walker Markell, Sen. Robert Marshall agreed to amendments that significantly reduced the impact of SB 6. Specifically, he agreed to push back the effective date, to decouple subsequent rate increases from the rate of inflation, and to lower the amount of the increase. Markell praised the eviscerated finished product, and said he could support the bill. Which was the last ‘support’ he provided. And Speaker Pete got the memo loud and clear: Kill the bill!
And he did. How? By assigning it to the House Business Lapdog Committee, aka the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee, instead of to the House Labor Committee. Chaired by Rep. Bryon Short. You may recall that this is precisely the same tactic that former Speaker Bob Gilligan employed when Markell wanted him to kill the bill last session. And, for the second straight session, Short did not disappoint. SB 6 was passed in the Senate on March 21. It did not receive its hearing in the committee until May 8, and that was deliberate. Short allowed the bill to languish until the last day that, according to House rules, it had to be considered in committee. Many of you are aware of the full-court press opposition led by the respective Chambers of Commerce in the past two weeks. By delaying consideration of the bill, the committee chair enabled that campaign to have optimal effect. To the point where empty tabula rasas like Andria Bennett were reciting Chamber talking points verbatim in opposition to as Democratic a bill as you’ll ever find.
Gov. Markell demonstrated some slickness here. By saying that he would sign SB 6, he eliminates any political stigma that Democrats would attach to him in a future run for political office for publicly opposing a minimum wage increase. And he gets Pete and his DLC house cronies to kill the bill. Just like he did last year. Just remember, Markell’s fingerprints are all over this. Cut’n save.
Here is the Session Activity Report for last Thursday.
As I predicted, SB 40(Ennis), which increases penalties for those convicted of committing crimes using firearms, unanimously passed the Senate.
The House passed HB 116(Viola), which permits race tracks to reduce racing days below the currently-mandated 100 days annually. In order to remain ‘competitive’ when it comes to purses. Can we finally admit that this racino scam has been a failure? The racinos were supposed to prop up the tracks. Now, they exist to lobby for more special breaks from the state and to keep other competitors out. Unfortunately for them, Delaware can’t do anything to stop competitors in Pennsylvania and Maryland. I have a solution…free markets in Delaware.
Today’s Senate Agenda features HB 90(K. Williams), which seeks to simplify public school choice:
The bill requires all local education agencies to accept a standard application form provided by the Department of Education, which must be available on the Department’s website. Further, the bill seeks to eliminate discrimination by districts against choice students by: (1) allowing districts to request supplemental application information from choice students only to the extent it requires the same information from attendance zone students; (2) limiting the supplemental criteria a receiving district may use to evaluate choice applications—after that, districts must use a lottery system; and (3) removing the provision that allows districts to reject applications of students with special needs. Districts would also be required to accept choice students until each school and/or program has reached 85% of its capacity. Districts would be required to hold a public information session about choice and enrollment opportunities by October 31 and report estimated capacity and projected enrollment information to the Department of Education by November 30; those estimates may be revised until January 30. Finally, the bill will create a task force to consider the current landscape of all school enrollment preferences to include magnet, vocational technical, and charter schools, and to develop recommendations as necessary.
The bill passed unanimously in the House. Seems like a real good bill to me. What do the education mavens reading this think?
Today’s House Agenda features HB 88(Barbieri), which attempts to address the issue of keeping weapons out of the hands of certain mentally ill individuals. I think that this is by far the most problematical bill addressing gun control facing the General Assembly. I do not question the intent of the legislation, and I recognize how difficult it is to craft a statute that balances the rights of individuals, the public, and the medical/mental health community. I guess my main concern is that mental health professionals, in particular, could be subject to second guessing whenever somebody goes off and opens fire. It’s easy to have 20-20 hindsight after the fact, which I’m afraid could well happen here. I hope that this bill will receive lengthy discussion and lots of questions. Any mental health professionals care to share their thoughts?
HB 89(Rep. Q. Johnson) has received its share of controversy as well. The bill ‘promotes and facilitates the construction and operation within the State of Delaware of freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, which generally are capable of providing services to victims of stroke, spinal cord injuries, amputation or other traumas.’ This is really a jobs bill, and its opponents include other hospitals. Because, you know, they don’t want competition. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the ‘free market’ at work, so I have no problem with it.
Finally, we have another key gun control measure on the House Agenda. SB 16(Henry) ,as amended ‘would require owners of lost or stolen handguns to report such loss or theft within 7 days of discovery. Owners may report such loss or theft to the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction, or to any State Police Troop.’ You will recall that SB 16 only passed the Senate by an 11-10 vote, so passage is not assured. Contact your state representatives if you want to see this bill passed.
Tune in tomorrow, Wednesday the 15th, to hear me on the Al Show, WDEL 1150-AM. 10 am to 12 noon.
Tags: Delaware gun control, Delaware racinos, Delaware school choice, El Somnambulo, Gov. Jack Markell, Pete Schwartzkopf, Rep. Bryon Short, Steve Tanzer Delaware
The thing about HB 89 is that it specifically exempts whoever wants to build a freestanding rehab hospital from the Certificate of Public Review process. As I look at the Guiding Principles that I linked to here, I’d love to know what it is about these principles that we want rehab hospitals to be exempt from. Rehab is one of the bigger ticket items of recovery from a major illness AND good quality rehab contributes to a long term good outcome from that illness. Why would the state want to exempt these facilities from the kid of oversight that other inpatient facilities have to live with?
Can we finally admit that this racino scam has been a failure?
Yes We Can. Sheesh. There is also a bill from D.E. Williams to add two more casinos, right? One in Sussex and in Wilmington, if I am remembering correctly. Supposedly to better compete with the new business in other states. Not that this expansion has anything to do with free markets (or, really, with smart competition), either.
Has Mayor Williams said anything about a casino in Wilmington, as I recall, when this was an issue in 2009 he was against a Casino anywhere in the City limits.
Andria Bennett is no blank slate, BTW, she seems to have a pretty keen understanding of legislation. I think she gets it more than her husband and her father put together.
Despite the problems with racinos, shortening the race schedule at Delaware Park actually would improve the horse racing, for exactly the reason Viola claims — spreading the purse money over fewer days will result in larger purses. If you want to keep Delaware Park as the mostly-open space it is today, keeping the racing operation alive is key. You don’t need that acreage for casino games; you do need it to stable horses.
On Hb 89… read this clause that is inserted and see if you can see what is being jerked off right beneath your eyes?
c. “Freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital” shall mean a facility that satisfies, or is expected by the person who will construct, develop or establish the facility to satisfy, the requirements of 42 C.F.R. § 412.23(b); provided that, if such facility is not paid under the prospective payment system specified in 42 C.F.R. § 412.1(a)(3) within 24 months after accepting its first patient, then it shall not be considered a freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital under this section. No freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital is subject to the Certificate of Review process, and thus no such hospital shall have any license or authority to operate denied, revoked or restricted on the grounds that a Certificate of Public Review has not been obtained.“
Um, this is NOT the free market at work…
Regarding HB 88, mental health professionals are already at risk of being held accountable for people doing crazy things. I don’t see this bill putting them at any more risk. Actually, in some ways it makes the job easier, because, a client does not have to be “commitable” to take action.
The Jockey Club estimates that in North America there were 27,233 Thoroughbreds produced in 2010. Only 60% to 65% of the thoroughbreds foaled are destined for a career on the track of which even fewer make actually make it to their first race.
Want to guess what happens to the 35% to 40%, or more, of those who never see the track? For bonus points, given that most of these horses only race until the age of 6, want to guess where most of them go for the remainder of the plus 20 years of life?
The greatness of a society and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
~Mahatma Gandhi.
The end of horse racing in it’s current formed will not be mourned by many. Replace it with slot machines. They don’t die for our entertainment.
I accidently posted a comment about horse racing on the War on Terror thread. Can someone move it here please?
Moved!
Leaving aside the moral issues, when the horses go, so will the open space.
Dave: The moral argument is a strong one. Regardless, the loss of the industry at DelPark would result in a loss of the horse-stabling operation. The lost jobs aren’t high-wage, but the owners would welcome the opportunity to jettison the high-cost horse operation in favor of the low-cost casino, and once the horses are gone the rest of the land will be ripe for further development.
Maybe we could deed the land to Woodlawn Trustees. They are tireless conservators of the environment. Uh, what’s that? Never mind.
Or they could add on an amusement park or waterpark — isn’t that what the casino that Speaker Pete was championing in Sussex wanted to do? I think they call it “making the place more family friendly”.
In Sussex they were aiming for beach vacationers.
I should have put an eyeroll emoticon on that post. I’m not seriously suggesting an amusement park, but then, I have no idea what vacationers Great Adventure is targeting but they do get busloads of them.
I’m just saying that the marketing conditions in Sussex are different. People are actually there for family vacations, which makes a no-minors venue like a casino a tough sell without amenities for the kids.
“and once the horses are gone the rest of the land will be ripe for further development.”
But it’s not development of the land that would be objectionable right? Isn’t it the type of development? What would be compatible, common sense uses? A park? Recreational use? A revenue generator for the state? If you could envision an optimum land use future for the horse part of the park, what would it be?
Stables.
I don’t have the moral objections to horse racing that you do, pretty much for the same reasons that I don’t have moral objections to people eating meat.
Look at it this way: Capitalism produces not just winners but lots of losers, too. Should we therefore abandon capitalism, despite its ability to raise living standards, or modify it to make it more equitable?
Horse racing produces lots of excess horses. I fail to see how they differ from cattle, another species that essentially would not exist if we did not breed them for food. But for sentimental reasons, Americans refuse to treat horses as a source of protein (dogs either, for that matter). We’ll eat damn near anything, even without gravy, except for Man’s Best Friend and the Noble Steed.
For some reason, I am moved to quote from the Nick Lowe song, ‘Marie Provost’:
“She was a winner
that became a doggie’s dinner
She never meant that much to me.”
As you were.
“I don’t have the moral objections to horse racing that you do”
“I fail to see how they differ from cattle”
I don’t have any moral objections to horse racing pe se. It’s a bit more complicated than that and you are right, horses are not much different than cattle (or cats or dogs for that matter which are food in other countries as well).
My moral hackles rise when other creatures are used by humans for sport and in the pursuit of that sport these creatures are harmed, either intentionally or unintentionally. Things that fall into that category are bear hunting with dogs, fox hunting, chicken fighting, dog fighting, and horse racing to some extent.
There is a big difference in my view between someone who hunts to put food on the table and someone who hunts for sport/entertainment.
That difference is that we humans kill to be entertained.
That an animal must run and in that running sustains injury that results in their death so that I can hit the trifecta makes it difficult to describe myself as a human being, a sentinent higher order species. Or rather, it’s not the kind of human being I’d like to be. I eat meat but it doesn’t have to entertain me first.
Or let me say it this way. If it’s food, I don’t give it a name and an identity. That’s not the kind of human being I am.
don’t breed horses for man’s enjoyment? then we’ll have very few horses in the world. these horses would not be alive in the first place if not for racing. i am, of course, for treating them well during their racing career and after. the racing community should make that a high priority. but simply training them for racing is not cruel. horses like to run and they like people paying attention to them. the “fighting” sports you mention are a totally different thing. and if a horse is injured and must be put down, it no longer exists, just as it would not have existed in the first place without racing. no cruelty there unless it is not done humanely.
Dave: I understand everything you say. I’m still haunted by the image of a horse breaking down at Point to Point a few years ago.
You’re probably aware that all the same problems exist with dog racing, and a greyhound-rescue group sprang up to help place former racers as pets, and they’ve been very successful. Horses, of course, are far more expensive to keep, so similar rescue programs have had less success with them.
I’m still remembering that dude who got drunk and did donuts in his monster truck on the lawn at Point-to-Point. If you are going to be an asshole, go big.
I never understood why one wouldn’t eat horse or dog, for that matter. Unless it was my own, I guess.
I was actually pretty excited about the Schell Brothers Del Pointe project. I have never “video lotteried” or played a game of chance for money ever and probably never will, but my family and I would certainly utilize the other amenities they had planned. If they need the gaming revenue to make it all work, then I’m fine with that.
jeez, andria bennett? you dover folks really have a screw loose.
Uh, let’s dial back the rhetoric a little bit, please.
Andria Bennett is an effective, common sense legislator. I am proud to call her a friend. She thinks through the issues, works hard in constituent service, and represents the district including the Republicans and Independents not just the Democrats.
She has the right heart for public service. I guess those are good reasons to bash her here.
David, Bennett is being called out for reciting Chamber talking points verbatim in opposition to the min wage bill. Its called reading. Look into it.
@ republican David
You would be wise to treat carefully here
http://www.army.mil/article/83664/Guidelines_help_keep_Soldiers_part_of_the_voting_process/
Service members have far fewer freedoms in their political life than do civilians. There are restrictions for Soldiers when donating to candidates already employed by the U.S. government. Soldiers may be card-carrying members of a political party and may support candidates via signs, stickers and buttons. They may participate as spectators during political rallies, provided they are out of uniform and off duty.
Campaigning for a particular candidate or party is also off-limits. This includes soliciting funds from others, marching in a partisan parade, distributing literature and working as part of a campaign.
Soldiers can “friend” or “like” a political party, candidate or ideal, and “follow” politicians and candidates on Twitter. Posting, tweeting or blogging about personal political views passes muster if the writer makes it clear that their views do not reflect those of the Army or federal departments.
WHILE YOU ARE ON ACTIVE DUTY AND WEAR THAT UNIFORM YOU MUST SUPPORT THE US GOVERNEMENT AS A WHOLE – U NO LONGER BELONG TO YOURSELF- U BELONG TO THE GOVERNMENT
SAVE YOUR OPINIONS UNTIL YOU ARE NO LONGER REPRESENTING ALL THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION
IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER WHO I KNOW ….WILL SET YOU STRAIGHT. YOU ARE ON THIN ICE HERE
Also see DOD directive 1344
Peace out
Censorship is never pretty, whatever the justification.
It’s pretty damn sad no matter what the individual’s political persuasion that Aoine attempts to use an incredibly limited (not to mention defective) understanding of UCMJ to try to muzzle the speech of people he doesn’t agree with.
Ahmmmmmm. I am not attempting to muzzle anyone’s speech here Steve
I am simply pointing out the absolute HYPOCRACY of Republican Dave and how he handles HIS blog and the free speech of others
I have no power here to delete or redact comments- unlike what happens at DP – you know DP, the blod David Anderson owned, and operates under HIS rules and guidelines.
It is always amazing to me that these rules types that wrap themselves in the flag and cry PATRIOTISM and TYRANNY are the very people that flaunt tue rules they hold so dear.
I have no authority to muzzle anyone. – David is free to do as he wishes- I just pointed out the rules he is currently required to live under.
We all have rules under which we post in here to
I would not say anyone is muzzled……
The censorship comes from a document HE signed- a code he is expected to live by. As far as understanding the UCMJ – David s recent foray has come to the attention of people who actually understand the UCMJ better then me
I just have given him a heads up – dont kill the messenger .
Don’t be so touchy.
“I am not attempting to muzzle anyone’s speech here Steve…”
“SAVE YOUR OPINIONS UNTIL YOU ARE NO LONGER REPRESENTING ALL THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION…YOU ARE ON THIN ICE HERE”
We must have different definitions of “muzzle.”
“Don’t be so touchy.”
Sorry, but I’m always touchy about censorship.