The 148th General Assembly convenes today for its first regular session. Six new legislators, R Rep. Richard Collins (41st), R Rep. Kevin Hensley (9th), D Rep. Sean Lynn (31st), D Rep. Sean Matthews (10th), R Rep. Lyndon Yearick, and R Senator Bryant Richardson, respectively replace D Rep. John Atkins (defeated in general election), D Rep. Rebecca Walker (retired), D Rep. Darryl Scott (retired), D Rep. Dennis E. Williams (defeated in primary), R Rep. Don Blakey (defeated in primary), and Sen. Bob Venables (defeated in general election). The Senate goes from 13 D’s and 8 R’s to 12 D’s and 9 R’s. The House goes from 27 D’s and 14 R’s to 25 D’s and 16 R’s.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR NEWBIES
The Delaware State Senate has 21 members. The President Pro-Tempore leads the Senate, although the Lieutenant Governor often, but not always, presides over the senate sessions as a non-voting member (That, of course, will not happen this session as there is no Lieutenant Governor now that Matt Denn has become the State’s Attorney General). Here is a list of the Senate members. Here is a list of Senate committee assignments.
The House of Representatives has 41 members, currently 25 D’s, 16 R’s. The Speaker of the House presides over the body. You can find the House membership here. Here is a list of House committee assignments.
The General Assembly is in session from the second Tuesday in January through June 30 each year. Three days a week–Tuesday through Thursday. The Senate often returns for a special session in the fall to consider nominations.
The General Assembly breaks for six weeks at the end of January for Joint Finance Committee (budget) hearings and meetings. There is another 2-week break around Easter, and an additional week’s break around Memorial Day. The Memorial Day break often enables the ‘money’ committees to finish work on marking up the budget.The typical General Assembly meets in session about 50 days a year.
The House always holds committee meetings on Wednesdays until the last week or two of session, and does not generally conduct any substantive business on Wednesdays. Senate committees also generally meet on Wednesdays, but the Senate can and does run an occasional agenda on committee days.
January generally follows a particular pattern. The first day this year will be ceremonial in nature, with swearing-in ceremonies. Although the Senate officially was sworn in previously during a Special Session to consider nominations, there will be family and friends galore in Legislative Hall today to participate in the ceremonies. The House will elect its leadership and, although there were and are some hard feeling arising out of the Democratic Caucus votes, do not look for a challenge to Speaker-Designate Pete Schwartzkopf. Governor Markell delivers his State of the State Address this week, and his legislative agenda will be spelled out in that speech. By the end of January, the Governor will also submit his proposed budget to the General Assembly.
While some ‘emergency’ legislation often passes in January, it’s usually a slow month. With a new General Assembly coming face to face with a lame duck Governor, I look for the dynamics between the two branches of government to change, and not in the interests of comity. Which, BTW, is not necessarily a bad thing. Leading to my:
KEY QUESTIONS FOR THE 148TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1. Will legislators let a lame-duck governor double-down on wrongheadedness, or are they going to push back on behalf of schools, students and parents? This governor appears hellbent on destroying public education in the name of, what exactly, getting more funds from Washington to fund his bloated Department of Education? His wanton embrace of corporate education policy must be renounced and reversed. Will it happen? I used to think that equal rights for LGBT citizens would be Markell’s key legacy. I now think it will be his killing off of public education.
2. Will legislators ignore this lame-duck governor and pass a real and serious minimum wage increase? One that eliminates the ability of the Walmarts of this world to subsidize its workforce by having them claim public benefits rather than providing them themselves and/or enabling the workers to make enough to pay for them? Will legislators finally ensure that all state employees earn a wage that rises above the poverty level?
3. The ‘grown-ups in the room’ have finally recognized the obvious. The state’s mix of budget-balancing gimmicks, including escheat $$’s, incorporation fees, gambling dollars, licensing fees on everything, et al, cannot be counted on to balance the budget going forward. So, the ‘grownups’ have done the inevitable: They’ve formed a task force to study the issue. Never mind that the most obvious source of additional revenue: restoring some progressivity to our state income tax, is precisely what the so-called grown-ups in the room want most to avoid. Wonder what, if any, magic bullets they’ll come up with.
4. There is still a massive hole in our capital fund. This after coming up about $50 mill short last year for already-approved road projects. Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf says he can’t ‘even spell gas tax’, so what magic bullet will the General Assembly come up with? If you are sensing a theme here, you’re correct. Let’s see if the General Assembly addresses these financial issues, or just kicks the can down the pock-marked road. Since this is not an election year, either it happens this year or not until 2017, at the earliest.
5. While seemingly unwilling to address its mandated responsibilities, the General Assembly appears intent on continuing to throw good money after bad to Delaware’s racinos. Will this continue, and/or will they approve the opening of other casinos that don’t drain state funds, and does anybody know how to turn the gambling industry’s fortunes around?
6. Will anybody challenge the dubious ethics involved in both Sen. Nicole Poore‘s new windfall as President of Jobs for Delaware Graduates, and in Rep. Val Longhurst‘s (and Dick Cathcart’s) scheme for an underwater city at Fort DuPont? Anybody other than Delaware Liberal, that us. Oh, and what about the proposed interchange for the supposed Kent County Athletic Complex? With Sen. Brian Bushweller on both the Joint Finance Committee and the Bond Bill Committee, be afraid, be very afraid.
Enough questions for now. Starting today, some answers. And, of course, yet more questions.