General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., June 17, 2015

Color the fate of the gray fox…gray.  The R’s found a way to provide enough cover to make the bill palatable to 2 D’s, Bruce Ennis and Bethany Hall-Long, and HB 25 passed by a 12 Y, 8 N, and one Not Voting roll call. Here is the skilfully-crafted amendment that did the trick. Bottom line: No harvest season for gray foxes, no taking of gray foxes north of the canal, only ‘collateral’ taking of the gray fox in Lower Slower. “B-b-but it looked like a red fox.” One thing we know that Lower Slower hunters are not is color-blind. But they’ll now have plausible deniability.  Oh, well. It could’ve been worse. Still has to pass the House in its amended form, which it will.

My, how times have changed. So much so that HB 115(J. Johnson), which ‘permits individuals subject to the supervision of the Delaware Department of Correction to effect a name change based on a sincerely held gender-related identity’, passed the Senate and goes to the Governor. Two R’s, Cloutier and Lopez, voted for the bill, leaving only the Rethug Haters to either vote no or go not voting.

Rep. Kowalko has introduced two bills providing for higher tax brackets for those making over $125K per year.  HB 181  and HB 196.  While HB 181 is a straightforward addition of two upper income brackets, HB 196 ‘lowers the current tax rates by .05% for each bracket. The bill also creates a new tax bracket at $125,000 with a rate of 7.05%, and an additional bracket at $250,000 with a rate of 7.80%. The bill also provides a tiered reduction of the otherwise available itemized deduction based upon the individual’s taxable income’. I hope that legislators consider these proposals this year. Otherwise, next year’s fiscal picture will make this year’s look tame by comparison. And, uh, next year is an Election Year.

Check out yesterday’s full session report here.

Before I move on to committee meetings, I have one question. Can anyone tell me what Dairy Cattle Tail Docking is? It may soon be a misdemeanor. Never mind, I found out. It’s the cutting or removing ‘ of any portion of the flesh or bone of a bovine’s tail’. OK, I’m relieved. After all this is a family-oriented website. So why is this song running through my brain?

(Deep breath as I dive into today’s Committee meetings.)

Highlights from today’s Senate Committee meetings:

*The Total Wines and Spirits Act of 2015 will be considered in the Banking & Business Committee. Since the title of the bill is quite broad and encompasses the entirety of Title 4 of the Delaware Code, an amendment could easily be added to the bill to expand liquor sales to grocery stores and other ‘convenient’ locations.  Hey, it’d generate some serious licensing fees as well.  This bill, however, is not for customer convenience, regardless of its expressed rationale, it’s for Total Wines’ business model.

*Education committee considers several key House bills today: HB 82, HB 146, and HB 148.  While we’ve previously discussed HB 82 and HB 148 here, we haven’t mentioned HB 146, which is an important bill. Here’s the synopsis:

Delaware is one of only a few states that does not charge a fee for educator licensure or for certifications. Delaware processes approximately 10,000 applications for licensure and certification each year, in addition to other processing requests for current educators, such as plus credits. Because of reciprocity agreements and the lack of license fees in our state, the Department of Education processes approximately one to two thousand applications per year from applicants outside of the State of Delaware who do not become employed here. Establishing a $100 fee for new licenses will help deter applicants who apply because of the lack of cost and with the intent to seek reciprocity elsewhere. This will reduce the processing burden and allow the licensure office to better serve the needs of Delaware’s educators.

The bill easily passed the House with only The Inscrutable Richard Collins voting no.  Guess he didn’t want to stop wasteful spending in this case. I think there will be 21 Y’s in the Senate.

*Here’s a fascinating bill I hadn’t read about. SB 130(McDowell) enables:

any local government to promote economic development by entering into an agreement with the Department of Transportation to create transit-oriented development districts, called “Complete Community Enterprise Districts”. Complete Community Enterprise Districts may be designated in downtown or urban core areas, traditional towns or villages, or regional activity centers. They are characterized by their mix of land uses, efficient use of public infrastructure, efficient use of public services and multiple modes of public transportation combined with environmentally friendly private transportation.

I love this bill. On issues like these, Sen. McDowell has been decades ahead of his time.  Judging by the bipartisan group of co-sponsors, his time for this may have finally come.  I can see so many synergies coming out of this. Energy & Transit Committee.

*A busy day for the Judiciary Committee. SB 18(Marshall) is the second leg of a Constitutional Amendment relating to bail reforms. Should it pass in the identical form as was passed in the previous General Assembly, it becomes law w/o the Governor’s signature.  It is far from a sure thing. The second leg is always the toughest. The committee also considers approximately a zillion nominations:

D.Catts	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Douglas Catts	Diamond State Port
G.Esposito	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Gerald Esposito	Diamond State Port
G.Chambers	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Gregory Chambers	State Board of Elections
G.Marcozzi	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Guy Marcozzi	Environmental Appeals Board
J.Sterling	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. James Sterling III	State Board of Elections
J.Laws	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Joseph Laws III	Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association
K.McDerby	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Kevin McDerby	Lottery Commission
L.Smith	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Lawrence Smith	State Board of Elections
M.Begatto	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Mike Begatto	Diamond State Port
N.Rosal	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Nathaniel Rosal	University of Delaware Board of Trustees
T.Koston	Senate Executive Committee		Mr. Thaddeus Koston	Victims’ Compensation Assistance Program Appeals Board
C.Porretti	Senate Executive Committee		Ms. Claudia Porretti	University of Delaware Board of Trustees
K.Bifferato	Senate Executive Committee		Ms. Karen Bifferato	Diamond State Port
K.Pugh	Senate Executive Committee		Ms. Karen Pugh `	State Board of Elections
L.Messick	Senate Executive Committee		Ms. Lynda Messick	Cash Management Policy Board
N.Jordan	Senate Executive Committee		Ms. Nelly Jordan	State Board of Elections
S.Williams-Mayo	Senate Executive Committee		Ms. Sharon Williams-Mayo	State Board of Elections
J.Bullock	Senate Executive Committee		The Honorable Jeffrey Bullock	Diamond State Port

I’m glad that Gov. Markell is promoting more diversity on the University of Delaware Board of Trustees, although an additional African-American or two would surely be welcome.

*The Senate Judiciary Committee considers HB 39(Keeley), which would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Here’s hoping that the cops don’t emasculate the bill any further than they did in the House.

Across the Hall we slog to check out today’s House committee highlights:

*The Business Lapdog Committee considers HS1 for HB 134(Hudson),  which would enable wine producers to ship wine directly to consumers. There is not now, nor has there ever been, any legit public interest in prohibiting this practice.  Political influence is why this hasn’t been done.  Let’s see if this year is different. Our current law is restraint of trade, pure and simple.

*Education Committee considers SB 122(Henry), which could result in the redrawing of boundaries for Wilmington public schools.

*The House Administration Committee, aka the Pete ‘n Val Show, may or may not reconsider HB 42(Kowalko), which was tabled in committee back in March. The bill ‘fully applies FOIA to the University of Delaware and Delaware State University, including the Board of Trustees’.  The bill is on today’s committee agenda, subject to a ‘motion to lift from table’.

*Did you know that, since 2009, approximately 90 children between the ages of 7 and 9 have been prosecuted for mostly low-level misdemeanors in Delaware’s Family Court? HB 126(Barbieri) adopts the American Bar Association standard for ‘juvenile delinquency by establishing the age of 10 as the minimum age of responsibility in juvenile prosecutions’. Judiciary Committee.

*Hmmm, based on the sponsors, this looks like Elsmere might have been the inspiration for HB 192(Mitchell), which “establishes that municipal governments may pass ordinances regulating the possession of firearms, ammunition, components of firearms, and explosives in municipal buildings and police stations subject to specific requirements. The act further allows municipalities to establish penalties for violation by ordinance.” I, of course, have no problem with this.  Betcha that more than a few legislators might, though. Which brings me to this thought: If the bleeping police agencies spent about 1/10 the time and effort supporting stronger gun control measures that they spend fighting recreational marijuana use, they might make a positive impact and actually have more respect.  Instead, they offer lip service. Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee.

*The Kowalko tax bracket bills are on today’s House Revenue and Finance Committee agenda. There are 13 members on the committee, and it looks to me that there could well be enough votes to get the bills to the floor. In direct contrast to HB 149(Ramone?!), which repeals Delaware’s Estate Tax as of July 1, 2015.  Just in time for the start of the Fiscal Year. Once fully implemented, this would cost the state around $4 mill annually. All co-sponsors are, of course, Rethuglicans.

Today’s Senate Agenda includes the ‘opt-out’ bill, as well as SB 83(Henry), provides that ‘any person who is prohibited from purchasing, owning, possessing, or controlling a deadly weapon because the person is subject to a Family Court protection from abuse order is so prohibited immediately upon the entry of the protection from abuse order from purchasing or otherwise obtaining, and within 24 hours of personal service of the order, from owning, possessing, or controlling any deadly weapon. I, of course, love this bill. The 2nd Amendment Uber Alles folks likely won’t.

Stick a fork in me. I’m done.