I knew, I just KNEW, that I was gonna like State Rep. Kim Williams. I had liked her votes, I had liked her positions during the campaign, and I loved her work on simplifying school choice for students and parents. But yesterday she demonstrated why she is an invaluable member of the Delaware General Assembly with this quote, courtesy of the News-Journal:
“Until recently, I was on the Red Clay School Board, and we were never informed of the specifics of this bill. I feel that we need to get more public input.”
Or at least SOME public input.
The Markell Administration is pushing HB 165(Jaques) to the max. In fact, I think they tried to put one over even on the legislators who are sponsoring this bill. Rep. Earl Jaques made clear that this bill is not going to be rushed through:
“We have a bill in front of us, let’s discuss this bill. The time for the public to get involved is now, while we’re discussing this legislation.”
Others on this blog have done a far better job of describing the issues raised by this bill than I ever could. What particularly galls me is that we don’t even know officially where this bill came from. There was indeed a group created to review ways to improve charter schools. Hell, the list has been provided here. But, get this, even though Gov. Markell appointed the 24-member working group, he claims that this group had no real authority and, as such, public meetings were not required. So much for ‘Governor Transparency’. That is one of the most disingenuous things I’ve heard out of this Administration, which is really saying something. Shades of the Port of Wilmington deal.
But, I digress. HB 165 barely made it out of the House Education Committee, 7-6. It is far from ready for prime time. It is June 6. People are already on vacation, including teachers, students, and parents. There is no way that this bill should be worked by June 30. Let’s just see what this Governor does…
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. These reports are quite lengthy at this time of the year, as committees are rushing to move bills forward for consideration on the floor prior to the June 30 recess. So, it’s especially important to pay attention right about now.
Two huge bills lead off today’s Senate Agenda. SB 33(Ennis) would require manufactured community owners to seek approval for any rent increase larger than the annual CPI (Consumer Price Index). Similar legislation passed the Senate last session however, with some changes in membership, it is not a foregone conclusion that it will pass this time. If you support this bill, contact your senator. It’s that simple.
SB 97(Henry) “adds the term ‘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.” I’d feel more comfortable if the bill had a few more Senate sponsors. In fact, the fates of SB 33 and SB 97 are far from certain. The phone lines are open. Call!!
Whoa, check this out. Supposed redistricting reform is also on today’s Agenda. SB 48(Blevins) would create an 11-member commission to conduct the redistricting process, and to present its proposal to the General Assembly for a vote. You may wonder why all the sponsors are Democrats. Well, the devil is in the details. Here is how the commission members would be selected:
“(d) The Commission shall be composed of eleven members, ten of whom shall be appointed. The Commission shall include at least one resident from each county and the City of Wilmington. By the third Tuesday of January of each year ending in one, the Speaker of the House, the House Majority Leader, the House Majority Whip, the House Minority Leader, the House Minority Whip, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Majority Whip, the Senate Minority Leader, and the Senate Minority Whip shall each appoint one member of the Commission. By February 10th of each year ending in one, the eleventh member of the Commission shall be chosen by a vote of the ten appointed members and shall serve as the Chair of the Commission. If the ten appointed members cannot elect a Chair because the vote is tied, the Chair shall be chosen by a judicial panel consisting of the Chancellor of the State of Delaware and a Superior Court Judge, which Judge shall be appointed by the President Judge of the Delaware Superior Court, and shall be of a different political party than the Chancellor. The judicial panel shall select the Chair on or before February 25. The members of the Commission, including the Chair, shall each have a vote on Commission business.
So. Assuming that both houses are controlled by the same party, you’d have six of one party, four of another, and, invariably, the chair would share the same political proclivities as the majority. If control of the chambers is split, then good luck coming up with the chair. Now, look, I’m not saying that this is bad. As someone who worked on three redistrictings, the most frustrating aspect was the micromanaging by individual senators as to how they wanted their districts drawn, which often put them at odds with other senators in their own caucus, with us stuck in the middle. Getting that out of the process is progress enough, as far as I’m concerned. But, anyone who thinks that this bill will somehow remove politics from the redistricting process is mistaken. Since I believe that it’s impossible to remove politics from the process, I’m fine with the bill and I see it as an improvement. If only a ‘one degree of separation’ kind of improvement. Memo to Would-Be Whining Rethugs: Win some elections, or shut up. Consider yourselves fortunate that you even have this much influence on the redistricting process. It’s more than you deserve.
On the same day that the Senate considers SB 33, the House considers two bills From Rep. Baumbach also intended to strengthen the rights of manufactured housing residents. HB 106 affords manufactured homeowners’ associations a stronger bargaining position should they seek to purchase their community. HB 107 gives a buyer of an existing home the option of assuming the lease of the seller or entering into a new lease with the community owner. Good stuff. Incremental progress is progress, and that’s what we have here.
Here is the entire House Agenda for today.
Look for the agendas to get longer and longer from here until the last week of June. At which point you can look for multiple agendas and bills that are run without ever appearing on an agenda. That’s when it gets really dangerous. Unless you’ve got skin in the game.