Let us talk about claustrophobia. Went for an MRI this morning (shoulder pain from carrying this blog on my back, if you must know). Had no problem with the tube, hell, they give you a mask (or is it a blindfold?), fer cryin’ out loud. I was fine. Until they asked me if I wanted music. I thought, “I like music, why not?” On go the headphones, I’m sucked into the maw of the tube, and sucked into 25 minutes of the worst music and radio imaginable. Does anyone here listen to WJBR? I hope not. The supposed music of ‘the eighties, the nineties, and today’. Which I suppose would be true if drums and actual, what’s the word I’m looking for…instruments, had been banned from music back in the eighties. Swear to Allah, not one real instrument in 25 minutes. Except for a power ballad piano, that might have been a real piano. Or not. Probably not one real voice, just autotuned melismatics. And nothing but songs from American Idol winners and losers. Plus, of course, Madonna, to keep it real. Oh, and every commercial was run at Chipmunk Warp Speed. Ladies and gentlemen, that was 25 minutes of claustrophobia. I dared not scream “Change the station, Al’s on!” b/c you’re not supposed to move anything, including your gums.
The above submitted as a plausible explanation as to why this post is late today. (Deep cleansing breaths.)
The House passed the Budget Bill yesterday. Did any of you kiddies do your assigned homework this weekend and actually read the bill? I know, I didn’t either. What to do? What to do? I’ve got it. Nancy, why don’tcha take a few days off from calling radio stations, and read the bill and report back to us? Problems solved. BTW, Rep. Ruth Briggs King was the only ‘no’ vote, something about ‘with so many people out of work, we shouldn’t be increasing the budget’. Because, you know, cutting the budget will put people back to work. Idiot.
Otherwise, things went pretty much as predicted. Here is the Session Activity Report, Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m disappointed that HB165(Jaques) passed, and will be signed by the Governor today. But the Senate also passed two bills sponsored by Sen. Townsend that will make that passage at least a little more palatable. SB 147 creates more of a partnership between charters and public schools, including the sharing of ‘best practices’. Here is the 17-4 roll call. SB 148:
promotes transparency in government spending relating to competitive grants administered by the Department of Education by requiring that the Department publish on its website the eligibility requirements, criteria and successful applications for every competitive grant it administers.
I believe that the Markell Administration has signed off on both bills. Seriously, you don’t see legislating of this quality very often in Dover. A lesson to legislators: If you know you’re gonna lose on an issue, at least try to get something positive out of it. Sometimes you succeed. And thanks to the Markell Administration for working with Sen. Townsend on this.
SS1/SB33(Ennis) got final Senate approval and heads to the Governor. Yay!! The two bitter holdouts who voted no were Bloviator Bonini and, wait for it, Pope Pompous I, formerly Monsignor Lavelle. To quote the parrot from ‘Aladdin’, “Why am I not surprised?”
The House passed HB 193(Mitchell), which “promotes the safety and welfare of the State’s citizens by making failure to wear a seat belt an independent civil violation. It would no longer be an aggravating circumstance for sentencing on other violations. There are still no motor vehicle points assessed and no entry on the persons driving record.” While I expected the bill to pass, I confess I’m surprised that it passed unanimously. No ‘Big Brother’ism?
The House defeated a bill that would have permitted the sale of ‘unpasteurized raw milk to a final consumer’. Here’s the roll call. As you can see, the votes were all over the map here. If anyone has insight, let us know. I, for one, did not find this legislation to be udderly absurd.
Another huge legislative day is in store. The Bond Bill tops the Senate Agenda. Nancy, should you get your review of the Budget Bill done in time, put down that phone and peruse this one. Folks, here’s what you need to know about the Bond Bill: It requires a 3/4 vote in each house. You can only get to 3/4 if you have something in there for everybody. Or, at least 3/4 of everybody. The rest of the Senate Agenda generally reflects what was on yesterday’s agenda. Which I discussed yesterday.
Two bills of interest have been added to today’s House Agenda. For anyone who thinks that it’s easy for government to resolve messy family situations, check out HB 125(M. Smith). The bill “allows for the reinstatement of parental rights where a child remains in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families, despite reasonable efforts to secure a permanent plan of adoption. Where it is in the best interests of the child, this bill allows for the legal relationship between the child and his or her biological family to be reinstated.” That’s pretty much the definition of an imperfect solution, but have any of us got anything better? I strongly support HB 178(Barbieri), which does away with one of the worst of the exclusionary professional practices remaining in Delaware, the requirement that applicants for licensure as physicians in Delaware undergo a personal interview with a member of the Board of Medical Practice. Again, good legislating by one of Delaware’s best legislators. (And don’t give me any HB 165 crap with Barbieri. This is a year where every single legislator will have at least one black mark next to their name from progressive purists. But, anybody who pays attention to the kind of legislation that Barbieri works on will recognize that he’s one of the best and most knowledgeable that we’ve got. And he’s a lot more effective than most of the legislative ‘purists’.)
Hey, some important committee meetings today. The Senate Executive Committee considers a spate, or is it a slew, of nominations. The House Education Committee considers SB 27(Sokola), which I like, but seems to be disdained by some self-professed educational experts. If someone can explain to me why providing accelerated programs that challenge public school students is a bad thing, I might be willing to change my mind.
We have some substantive substance bills in the House Health & Human Development Committee. The House Judiciary, Public Safety & Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committees also meet. Only item on the all-important Veterans’ Affairs agenda, and I quote verbatim from said agenda:
HJR 8 PROCLAIMIING THE STATE AS A PURPLE HEART STATE HONORING THE SERVICE AND SACRIFICE OF OUR NATION’S MEN AND WOMEN IN UNFORM WHO WERE WOUNDED OR KILLED DURING ENEMY COMBAT WHILE SERVING TO PROTECT THE FREEDOMS ENJOYED BY ALL AMERICANS.
Sponsor : Brady
No question that the bill makes it out of committee. Just wonder whether any, or all, of the typos make it out as well.
Well, the hands of time are closing in on me (who says that I can’t create a quality mixed metaphor?), as are the walls. Time to put on my blindfold and crawl into my tube.