Vote Tracker Update: Death Penalty Repeal Clears Committee, and some good Republican Bills.

Well that was quick. The Senate Judiciary Committee held its hearing on SB 40, the Death Penalty Repeal bill, yesterday, and has already voted the bill out of committee for consideration by the full Senate. I suppose the fast action should not be surprising, since passage by the Senate may be a foregone conclusion since it passed 11-10 last year.

The judiciary committee hearing lasted about an hour and drew nearly 100 people to the senate chamber. Half of the public speakers were religiously affiliated, the majority of them Christian. All but one of the speakers commenting supported the bill. Supporters mostly argued against the practice on moral grounds, some calling it “barbaric.” Others brought up racial disparity in sentencing people to death. […]

Repeal advocates also point to the Jermaine Wright case, which they’re expected to lean on in the coming months. Wright was convicted of a 1991 murder and was just released from death row and prison entirely last month pending an appeal. Lewes Police Chief Jeffrey Horvath, the one person who spoke against the bill, says that case doesn’t diminish Delaware’s justice system in his mind. “We don’t see how that is a failure of our system. That is a success of our system,” said Horvath. “The person who was on the death penalty was removed from the death penalty for a good reason.”

But Sen. Karen Peterson (D-Stanton), the chief sponsor of the legislation views things a bit differently. “I would not want to be the person to tell Jermaine Wright, who spent 20 years on death row in Delaware, that he’s a success story,” said Peterson. “Really? 20 years on death row and we’re going to claim that he’s one of our successes? I don’t think so.”

I am actually surprised there wasn’t more vocal law enforcement opposition at this hearing. Maybe the deal is that the House Judiciary Committee is where all the former cops serving there will get their blood lust on.

There was also very quick action on Representative Potters’ just introduced HB 56, which places a moratorum on all new charter schools in Delaware for three years, and requires review and comment from Wilmington’s Mayor and City Council before another charter school is approved within City Limits. This bill was introduced, assigned to the Education Committee and released on its merits, all in one day.

Finally, once and a while the Republicans in the General Assembly introduce legislation that is actually good, even though their Republican sponsorship is often times cynical and an attempt to bait or embarrass the Democratic Leadership. But hey, one of the complaints of the GOP is that their bills never get a hearing or a vote on the floor. Rep. Deborah Hudson’s HB 61 requires that all public meetings of the boards of education of public school districts, vo-tech school districts, and public meetings of charter schools’ boards of directors be digitally recorded and made available to the public on the districts’ and charter schools’ websites within seven business days. That is open government transparency, and a no brainer for Democrats to get behind. Speaker Schwartzkopf, let’s get this bill on the floor.

Rep. Dukes’ HB 67 requires all statewide and other candidates that may appear on the general election ballot to disclose whether or not all their State and Federal personal income tax returns are filed and any tax due has been paid and whether or not all their real property taxes have been paid. Sure, this bill is making a political point, but I think it is still good policy nonetheless. Placing this bill in the House Administrative Committee, with is Speaker Schwartzkopf’s version of a desk drawer veto, is only giving the Republicans the issue and more time to harp on it. It is self defeating.

Finally, SB 38. This is intriguing. This bill is sponsored by Senator Colin Bonini, and allows a terminally ill patient, and his or her treating physician, to decide if they will pursue treatment with an investigational drug, biological product or device, which has successfully completed Phase One of a clinical trial. That is downright compassionate, one or two steps away from Death with Dignity, and it comes from a Republican. Shame on Democrats for not introducing this bill themselves.

There is of course more, so please check the charts. New legislation added to the chart will be highlighted by yellow. Committee action on a bill will be highlighted in blue. Any positive Chamber votes will highlighted in green. Any negative action will be highlighted in red. Remember, we are not tracking all the bills, just the bills of progressive or liberal interest, including those sponsored by Republicans, and including those that we, as progressives and liberals, want to see defeated (i.e. the Estate Tax Repeal bill). You can download the tracker in the form of a Excel spreadsheet by clicking on the menu button in the lower right corner of each box.