General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., Jan. 27, 2016

We could still have an epic week in store–or it could turn into a nothingburger.  The minimum wage bill still awaits Senate action, and death penalty repeal maybe gets considered in the House. Or not.  Probably depends on whether the respective sponsors think they have the votes.  If you haven’t contacted YOUR legislators, what are you waiting for?

The minimum wage bill has already been amended primarily to reflect the fact it wasn’t considered last year.  Senate Amendment 3, which passed by a 13-8 vote, adjusts the effective dates for the increases, and accordingly delays the implementation of the COLA increase until 2021. Pure party line vote. The bill appears to need at least one more D vote to pass. DINO Brian Bushweller is one of the holdouts.  Who are the others? BTW, check out Colin Bonini’s amendment to the bill. The guy is a joke.

Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.

The Senate unanimously passed SB 139 (Lopez),  which enables the state to  ‘place liens on retirement accounts held by noncustodial parents who owe past due child support. This Bill will amend the Delaware Code to include public and private retirement fund accounts by including them in the definition of “account.” Only those accounts that are created and funded voluntarily are included in the definition, thus excluding certain pension and state retirement accounts’.

The Senate passed yet another vanity plate bill, this one for professional and retired paramedics.  The three (correct, IMHO) no votes were Lavelle, McDowell, and Simpson.

The final committee meetings before the six-week break for budget deliberations feature the following highlights:

Today’s Senate Committee Meetings.

*The Community/County Affairs Committee considers SB 179 (Townsend),  which ‘prohibits housing discrimination based on source of income by adding “source of income” as a protected class under the Delaware Fair Housing Act and the Landlord Tenant Code…(t)his measure will prevent and address discrimination against those who receive part or all of their income from child support, government or private assistance programs, or any lawful occupation’.  Just one more reason I’m a big fan of Brian Townsend.

*The Education Committee considers SB 180 (Poore), which ‘provides procedures to ensure that each child with a disability who has reached age 18 has an identified educational decision-maker to exercise rights under this chapter’.

*The Executive Committee considers several nominations, including that of Patrice Gilliam-Johnson to be Secretary of Labor.  Words cannot express what an improvement she would be over the thankfully-retired John McMahon.  Get some construction trade thugs to oversee the Labor Department, what could possibly go wrong? What the bleep was Markell thinking by backing McMahon and Deluca?  Is she allowed to fire Tiny Tony’s ass?  Or is he still untouchable?

*The Judiciary Committee considers legislation that would eliminate the ‘Three Strikes, You’re Out’ provision of a lifetime mandatory sentence for those deemed habitual offenders.  SB 163 (Peterson) is one of the most progressive bills we’ll see this year.

Today’s House Committee Meetings.

*Oh, I like this one.  HB 231 (Matthews) requires charter schools to participate in the state retirement system.  Education Committee.

*Pete ‘n Val’s House Administration Committee considers HB 165 (Heffernan), which ‘requires that all full-time employees of the State, including employees of school districts, continuously in the employ of the state for at least one year, shall be eligible for 12 weeks of paid leave upon the birth or adoption of a child 6 years of age or younger. Both parents would be eligible for such leave’.  Paid family leave. About damn time.  This one may require some heavy lifting so, when the time’s right, contact your legislators.

*Not sure how I feel about this one.  HB 239 (Dukes) creates the new crime of  “Drug Dealing–Resulting in Death”. I understand that the bill is trying to get ahead of the epidemic of OD’s on controlled substances like heroin and fentanyl.  But we’ve just gone through a period of 3-4 years where the General Assembly has wisely cut back on the excessive mandatory sentencing encoded during the Tom Sharp/Wayne Smith/Jim Vaughn/Jane Brady years. If there is a gap in current law, then fine. But if this is just one more charge to be piled onto a raft of other charges that can be levied, then this would be a reversal of the progress that the General Assembly has made.  Out of the (I’m giving legislators the benefit of the doubt here) best of intentions often comes ill-considered legislation. Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee.

Here is today’s Senate Agenda. Since Sen. Marshall has already laid the minimum wage bill on the table, it will be reconsidered only if he requests that it be brought back up.  HB 245 (Q. Johnson) will be worked on Thursday.  It’s sort-of a clean-up Bond Bill, and addresses funds for possible downstate court expansion as well as authorizing $400,000 in community redevelopment funds for the Jackson Street and H. Fletcher Brown Boys and Girls Clubs. The bill passed the House with one no vote (Matthews) yesterday.

One final note. I think that the Governor’s proposed FY ’17 Proposed Budget will likely surface tomorrow. As if we didn’t already know, let’s see who he screws this time.