Archive for January, 2015
Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015
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.
Come inside for so much more….
![Tuesday Daily Delawhere [1.13.15]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7511/15562713094_f7eaa7522d_c.jpg "Tuesday Daily Delawhere [1.13.15]")
Wilmington’s Business Community Says Enough Is Enough
Yesterday, the NJ published a lengthy article where Wilmington’s business community officially went on the record to voice their disapproval of the Williams’ Administration’s approach to managing crime in the city. While news and complaints about the crime problem are not new, the fact that portions of Wilmington’s business community is willing to talk to journalists about their concerns is new and huge, I think. Previously, they could just reach out to the 9th floor and they usually had not just a sympathetic ear, but also an administration that at least tried to address their concerns. Not, the problem (while admittedly not that much bigger than before) is exacerbated by both the glib promises made by the Mayor and his people as well as an administration that is utterly MIA on this issue. It isn’t just that no one from the Administration will speak or even be seen to be proactive on safety issues (even the perception of safety issues), Wilmington’s business community has met with the Administration multiple times asking how they can help AND communicating that they can be counted on to support solutions. This effort has been met with silence.
Matt Denn Off to Great Start!
Two major initiatives, and I like them both.
First, his creation of a new Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust is designed to eliminate inherent conflicts within the AG’s office where attorneys represent both agencies and members of the public with concerns about said agencies. This has been an issue dating back as far as I can remember. And then the new Attorney General unveiled a new bill aimed at violent offenders who are prohibited from having weapons and violent offenders who are committing gun-related violence.
![Monday Daily Delawhere [1.12.15]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8602/16185088435_069fea54c3_c.jpg "Monday Daily Delawhere [1.12.15]")
Late Night Video — NYPD #PMS
This is Bill Mahar hilariously commenting on the NYPD snit over accountability:
![Sunday Daily Delawhere [1.11.15]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7502/15999290927_57b90dc851_c.jpg "Sunday Daily Delawhere [1.11.15]")
John Carney Mad About the Fight Over the Dodd-Frank Rollback
We already know that a provision to roll back the Dodd-Frank provision that forbid banks from booking their deriviatives in the the parts of their business that is insured by taxpayers. They would have to keep them in the portions of their business where losses were borne entirely by the bank and their shareholders. Elizabeth Warren led what Bloomberg called The Great Swaps Rebellion during the Cromnibus negotiations. And John Carney was peeved:
RIP: Popsy Dixon
The Holmes Brothers, and the world, have lost the great Popsy Dixon. Passed away of cancer at the age of 72. His butterscotch tenor/falsetto and drumming style will resonate in my mind and heart until the day I die. Also, he, Wendell and Sherman were the nicest artists I ever brought to the Arden Gild Hall. A very sad day for me. Please remember him along with me….
Wilmington Education Advisory Committee Weighs In On Priority Schools
The letter inside was sent to Governor Markell yesterday. It is asking for the same thing most of us are asking – to slow down the process because more time is needed.
One thing is clear. The more people learn about the Priority Schools Plan the more they ask for more time before implementation.
The time frame is what frustrates so many – it simply cannot be taken seriously. The problems facing these schools are complicated, and ones we’ve ignored for years. Sadly, there is nothing in those MOUs that address, let alone acknowledge, the real issues facing these schools. And longer school days, getting rid of teachers and bringing in new “school leaders” (I hate that phrasing, btw) doesn’t address the very real challenges these children, and the schools serving them, face every day.
I stood on the steps at Warner when the Priority Schools plan was unveiled and, when the announcement was over, I walked away shaking my head. By the time I got home I realized that the main priority of the plan was the consequences of failure; that the only thing carved in stone in the MOU was the loss of our public schools. The time frame all but guaranteed that outcome. Hopefully, this letter will help slow things down.
![Saturday Daily Delawhere [1.10.15]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7513/15999036269_eff9d2ee9d_c.jpg "Saturday Daily Delawhere [1.10.15]")
Friday Open Thread [1.9.15]
![Friday Open Thread [1.9.15]](http://delawareliberal.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DL.Open_.Thread.Black_-240x180.png "Friday Open Thread [1.9.15]")
Sen. Joe Manchin has a sad. You see, he is so West Virginia dumb that he doesn’t understand basic balance of power stuff about the three branches of government. He said he was disappointed that the White House threatened to veto his legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline, arguing the president’s move was “not the way a democracy works.” Oh really?
“He never even gave it a chance, never even gave it a chance. Now, that’s just not the way you do legislation. It’s not the way a democracy works. And it’s not the way the… three branches of government should work.”
Well, first off, you are the one not giving something a chance. You are the one who wants to rush this to a conclusion, you dumbfuck Carper wannabe. The State Department and the Nebraska and U.S. Courts are reviewing the pipeline, so you are not giving them a chance to complete their work. Second, the President is free to tell Congress at any time he wants that “hey, Congress, you might not want to waste your and the taxpayer’s precious time on this ill conceived bill, because I am just going to veto it anyway.” There is nothing anti-democratic or unconstitutional about that. In fact, he is doing Congress a favor. Now, if Congress wants to waste their time and pass the bill anyway, that is of course their prerogative. But that does not require the President to sign it. You see, some Republicans, and obviously some West Virginia Democrats, believe that when Congress passes a bill it is automatically law. Go back to Social Studies class, Senator.
The 62 Project: Version 2.0
The 62 Project ranks the legislators based on the entirety of their careers. Version 2.0 reflects the departures of legislators, the arrival of new legislators, and adjustments to the rankings based on events that followed my initial ranking of individual legislators. For those not familiar with the original project, here’s the link where you can find out a lot more info (and snark) regarding your favorite legislators. I will offer comments for those who moved significantly in either direction. Since the new legislators have not yet…legislated, I have assigned them placeholder positions based on my sense of where they project as we kick off the 148th General Assembly….
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