Even though the ‘official information’ site for the Delaware General Assembly does not reflect it, the House, operating with more speed than Legislative Council, passed two bills designed to curb production and sale of methamphetamine in Delaware. Both HS1/HB28(Smyk) and HB 130(Walker) unanimously passed the House, according to the News-Journal. And, according to House roll calls. Just not according to the ‘official’ record. Some things never change. For the complete incomplete record, check here.
The House has a huge committee day today. Loads of interesting and/or important bills. Here are some highlights:
The House Gaming and Parimutuels Committee will have a ‘discussion of internet gaming and update on casino expansion’. Don’t know who’s engaging in the discussion or who’s providing the update. The chair is Charles Potter. If you want to know, I guess you should call him. But not on his cell phone, since he’s already told a reporter to “lose my number”. I’ll be happy to lose his number once he loses his bid for reelection. So far, he’s been an embarrassment to the General Assembly. Don’t look for that to change.
Some bills, and some bill assignments, make you say ‘hmmmm’. Such is the case with HB 141(Q. Johnson) which “ensure(s) that chiropractors delivering chiropractic services in the state of Delaware are subject to the jurisdiction of the Delaware Board of Chiropractic.” First of all, don’t we do this already? And second, why is this bill not in the House Sunset Committee as opposed to the House Business Lapdog Committee? There’s a back story here, and I’d like to know what it is. My take? There’s a special interest that wants this bill. Maybe a politically-connected chiropractic practice?
A bipartisan Worker’s Compensation Task Force developed the recommendations in HB 175(Short). Also in the Business Lapdog Committee. Any opinions?
One of the most controversial bills before the General Assembly will be considered in today’s House Education Committee. HB 165(Jaques) would provide yet more funds to charter schools while allegedly toughening standards. Pandora and our commenters have covered this brilliantly here. I, for one, am sick and tired of the creation of yet another ‘separate and unequal’ public education system. Charter schools have been provided advantages unavailable to public schools. Fiscal failures get bailed out by the state at the expense of public schools. Charter students get transportation funding, public choice students don’t. And now the taxpayers are about to give charter schools an additional $6 mill in this year’s Budget and Bond Bills. The deliberate destruction of public schools, indeed. A true scandal propounded and compounded by the self-selecting corporate and political elites.
Lotsa bills in the House Health & Human Development Committee. HB 131(Walker) makes clear that an arrangement between adoptees and a ‘gestational carrier’ (surrogate) is a legally binding agreement. HB 163(Bennett) ‘requires the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to create and maintain a developmentally appropriate, comprehensive program that fully integrates independent living services from ages 14 to 21 and which will assist youth with their successful transition into adulthood.’
HB 146(Bolden) would add $25 to expenses for those committing crimes within the City of Wilmington. In other words, an additional source of city revenue. In the House Judiciary Committee.
HB 138(Barbieri) raises the tax on ‘moist snuff’ to bring it up to eliminate the disparity between snuff and other tobacco products. House Revenue & Finance Committee will determine whether this bill is up to snuff.
Rethugs are hard at work trying to turn back environmental progress when it comes to auto emissions. HB 6(Briggs King) would negate the adoption by DNREC of the California Low Emission Vehicle Program by requiring legislative approval for such adoption, approval that is not currently required. Two D’s on the bill: Rep. Lumpy Carson and Sen. Bob Venables…just in case you were in doubt as to whether this is a bad bill. In the House Natural Resources Committee.
Highlights from Senate Committee meetings include:
HB 116(Viola), which would permit race tracks to reduce days of operation in order to optimize their purse structures. Passed unanimously in House. In Senate Agriculture Committee.
SB 100(Sokola), which would adopt what are considered ‘best practices’ in deterring use of seclusion and restraint in public schools. In Senate Education Committee.
SB 82(Bushweller), which would seek a permanent solution to the ‘problem’ of veterans’ and fraternal organizations ignoring state gambling laws with their video machines. In today’s Senate Executive Committee. A pretty Solomonic solution:
This Act puts in place a permanent solution to allow for a fraternal or veterans organization with national affiliation or an organization whose membership consists primarily of veterans honorably discharged or active duty service member to operate charitable video lottery machines within their organizations upon approval from the Director of the Lottery. The business arrangement calls for the charitable gaming organizations to receive 60% of proceeds after players are paid and 40% shall go to the state to cover expenses of which 1% of the state’s proceeds shall be set aside to fund programs for the treatment, education and assistance of compulsive gamblers and their families. Each eligible charitable gaming organization may have up to 10 charitable video lottery machines plus one additional charitable video lottery machine for every 70 members of the charitable gaming organization over 500 members of said organization. Effective January 1, 2014, charitable gaming organizations will be required to donate at least 40% of the organization’s proceeds from charitable video lottery machine gaming annually to a charitable purpose. Finally, it requires the charitable gaming organization to adhere to the same guidelines for deducting from prizes of winners who are delinquent on the child support payments and sets a deadline of July 1, 2014, for these organizations to be connected to the state’s central system for reporting and auditing purposes.
It now appears that there is a substitute for SB 82, as SB 112(Bushweller) was introduced in the Senate yesterday and was laid on the table. Not in the sense of what went on in Tony DeLuca’s office, but rather this means that SB 112 could sidestep the committee process in the altogether. The synopses on the two bills appear identical, thus frying my synapses.
SB 97(Henry), which would add ‘gender identity’ to the “already-existing list of prohibited practices of discrimination and hate crimes. As such, this Act would forbid discrimination against a person on the basis of gender identity in housing, employment, public works contracting, public accommodations, and insurance, and it would provide for increased punishment of a person who intentionally selects the victim of a crime because of the victim’s gender identity.” In Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee will also consider HB 88 As Amended(Barbieri), which attempts to keep weapons away from those who are dangerously mentally-ill. The bill passed the House with only one no vote. You can read a compelling narrative on behalf of SB 97 here.
I can’t hope to top that, and I won’t. Except to say that the Senate has an agenda today. I don’t find much of interest there, but feel free to rummage around.
See ya tomorrow.