Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Week of March 31-April 2, 2015

Kids, imagine that you’re the governor of a state.  Assume that you’re, oh, around 54 years of age. Imagine that you’ve grappled with numerous issues of enormous complexity during both your private and public careers. Imagine that debate over the death penalty has been a constant during your entire adult life.  Is it plausible to imagine that such a person, during their lifetime, has not developed a position, nuanced or otherwise, on whether or not the death penalty should be retained or repealed? No, it’s not.

But Jack Markell and his ghostwriters would have you believe that he has no position on this issue, even as a repeal bill is winding its way through the General Assembly for the second consecutive session, both sessions of which have taken place while he’s governor.  Of course he has a position on it.  He just won’t say what it is publicly.  When I see stuff like that, I become more convinced that he and John Carney are looking to trade places, a la Mike Castle and Tom Carper. The plutocrats who run the country and the state would be happy with it, and both could continue to reign as faux Democrats as long as people are willing to be hoodwinked. BTW, if thoughts of Markell in Congress don’t scare you, take a close look at his official bio.  It might just change your mind. That, my friends, is a Rethuglican by-the-numbers corporate bio if ever there was one.

But, I digress.  The Senate will, in all likelihood, vote on death penalty repeal this Thursday.  SB 40(Peterson) has already been placed on the Senate Agenda for that day.  Barring unexpected absences or killer amendments, it looks like it’s got the 11 votes for passage.  I agree with those who say there should be no exception based on the class of the victims (i.e. cops).  Leaving that door open only opens the door to adding yet more exceptions down the line, which would ultimately render the bill ineffective.

Before I move on from Markell and his bio, I noticed this nugget:

“Chairman of the National Board of Directors for Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG)”.

That provides some real interesting context for this story about Sen. Nicole Poore. Just like Ruth Ann Minner did for Tiny Tony DeLuca, it sure looks like this guv greased the skids for a lucrative job for a senator who is now totally beholden to him.  President of Jobs for Delaware Graduates. 6 figures plus bennies. The Delaware Way in all its sleazy glory, ladies and gentlemen. Maybe some members of the self-styled legitimate press could ask questions about this.

Time to get back on topic.

A couple of interesting bills on the House Agenda today. HB 60(M. Smith) creates a Delaware program ‘designed to be used by persons with disabilities to save for qualifying disability and education related expenses.  This bill piggybacks on Federal legislation to enable an ‘Achieving A Better Life Experience (ABLE) in Delaware and throughout the country. HB 64(Barbieri)  makes it easier for patients to have greater control over their own health care decisions, especially as they concern end-of-life decisions.  A really good bill from one of Delaware’s better legislators.

Not much captures my fancy on today’s Senate Agenda unless SB 33, the Individualized Education Plan legislation bill, is lifted from the table.  I somehow doubt that concerns about that bill have been worked out in such a short time, but  you never know.

Man, some blasts from the past return for this week’s Senate Executive Committee meeting. A narrowly-crafted so-called ‘tort reform’ bill, courtesy of one of Sussex’s ‘honorables’. 17 Rethug co-sponsors, all from south of the Canal, except for Senators Cloutier, Lavelle, and Rep. Hudson. Similar legislation was considered last session. Colin ‘Call Me Governor’ Bonini reintroduces his bill creating a Ronald Reagan Day in Delaware. It’s just a thinly-disguised resolution in bill form. So, if you want to read Bonini’s hommage to Reagan, it won’t take long.  Maybe Brian Bushweller can explain why he’s a sponsor on the bill.  Oh, that’s right.  He’s pretty much a D in name only. A ‘Carper D’ which, as we know, is an oxymoron.

I like SB 26(Peterson), which requires the recording of ‘off the record’ deliberations of public bodies, and which makes said deliberations available to requesting parties. Also on the Senate Executive Committee agenda.

Hmmm, here’s a bill that raises some red flags for me.  SB 27(Senators Lopez & Lavelle) would terminate pension rights and benefits for state employees convicted of certain offenses.  We’re not talking about offenses committed in their service as state employees, just a series of serious offenses including, or so at least it appears, viewing kiddy porn.  All of the sponsors are R’s, and it’ll make for great demagoguery, but it hardly seems fair to me to deprive employees of benefits they earned, regardless of what they may have done outside of the workplace.  Also in the Senate Executive Committee. As is SB 18(Marshall),   the second leg of a state Constitutional amendment that would ‘modernize the bail provisions within the Delaware Constitution and clarify the power of the General Assembly and the Courts to define certain felony offenses for which and circumstances under which, pre-trial release on bail may not be available’.  In order for a constitutional amendment to be codified, it must pass in identical form in two consecutive General Assembly sessions. It is not subject to signature or veto by the Governor. Since this is the second leg, it would become law if passed by both houses during this two-year legislative session.

The Senate Executive Committee looks like pretty much the only senate committee willing to do some work during this pre-Easter week.

House committee members have their working shoes on, though. Here’s what interests me:

HB 69(B. Short)  would help enable greater use of ‘telemedicine’ in Delaware. From the synopsis:

Geography, weather, availability of specialists, transportation, and other factors can create barriers to accessing appropriate health care, including behavioral health care, and one way to provide, ensure, or enhance access to care given these barriers is through the appropriate use of technology to allow health care consumers access to qualified health care providers. Delaware is well-positioned to embrace efforts that will encourage health insurers and health care providers to support the use of telemedicine and that will also encourage all state agencies to evaluate and amend their policies and rules to foster and promote telemedicine services.

Sounds good to me. In the House Business Lapdog Committee (for newbies, aka the House Economic Development, Banking, Insurance, Commerce Committee).

I don’t particularly like HB 58(Jaques), which would enable the New Castle County Vo-Tech District to raise its tax rate without any sort of referendum.  The Sussex Vo-Tech District is trying to do the same thing, but is getting a lot of pushback from Sussex legislators.  I first want to see the district return to its original purpose, which was to provide essential vo-tech and occupational training to students who were not candidates for college. They’ve expanded their scope, and it’s not clear if students are the beneficiaries of this expansion. Then we can talk. In the House Education Committee.

Here’s an education bill that I like. HB 53(Rep. K. Williams)  requires charter school audits to go through the State Auditor’s office, as is required for other public schools. Granted, our Auditor is a pathetic layabout, but there’s no reason that charter schools should be exempt from these requirements.  I’ll be interested to see the roll calls on this bill, should it get out of committee.

The House Health & Human Development Committee considers this year’s midwifery bill, which creates a two-tiered system for licensure. The committee also considers legislation adding e-cigarettes to the Clean Indoor Air Act. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that e-cigs in any way contribute to indoor air pollution, do they? So, why is this bill being pushed? It’ll look good in brochures, though. Oops, just answered my question.

There’s gonna be plenty of Harley Davidson sleeveless T-shirts in the Hall this week. HB 54(Lynn) requires that motorcycle riders wear helmets. The law already requires (I’m not making this up) that riders must have helmets on the bike, but does not require that they wear them. Why? Because when a buncha guys who look like Hell’s Angels with the ability and desire to beat the shit out of you descend on Legislative Hall, the Honorables crank up “Born to Be Wild”. Here’s a phrase that hasn’t been heard in the Hall for about 20 years, but will be a rallying cry for the bill’s opponents:

“Let those who ride decide.”

I’d like to decide that taxpayers shouldn’t have to underwrite the medical expenses of those who take unnecessary risks.  Barring that, however, make ’em wear the bleeping helmets. Ya big babies.

Following this week, the General Assembly breaks for two weeks for Easter. There are so many key issues left unresolved that there had better be a lot of meetings going on during the break, or the Chaos Theory (and Husker Du album title) could indeed be operative:

“Everything falls apart.”