I need our readers to enlighten me on two roll calls that took place yesterday:
1. HB 330 (Heffernan), which unanimously passed the House, was defeated in the Senate. 7 Y, 13 N, 1 NV. That’s rare, especially with both houses in control of the D’s. And this vote didn’t reflect a partisan split. Here’s the bill’s synopsis:
All Notices of Intent issued by the Division of Child Support Enforcement are sent regular mail except for the insurance lien notices. This Act removes the requirement that notice to non-custodial parents for insurance settlement liens taken for child support arrears be sent by certified mail and, instead, substitutes notification to the non-custodial parent via regular first-class mail. This legislation will allow for this section of code to become uniform and reflect more recent administrative enforcement notice requirements such as State and Federal Tax Refund Intercept, Notice of Income Withholding, Passport Denial, Lottery Offset, and Credit Bureau Reporting.
Does anyone have some insight into what happened? Call me curious.
2. When it comes to braking systems, I don’t know jack. Or is that Jake? HB 288 (K. Williams) increases the penalty of unlawfully using any brake or braking system that is attached to, or an integral part of the vehicle’s internal combustion engine or exhaust systems, also known as a jake brake, to include a moving violation. Could someone automotively-inclined explain to me why this is dangerous? And could someone politically-inclined explain to me why 11 Rethugs voted against it? Is it simply b/c ‘gummint’?
I consider it progress that only five reps voted against HB 373(Bolden), which:
amends the definition of family to make spouses and couples gender neutral. This bill also permits the transfer of misdemeanor criminal jurisdiction in cases involving former spouses, persons cohabitating with or without a child in common, and persons living apart with a child in common from the Court of Common Pleas to Family Court. Currently, Family Court has civil jurisdiction to issue civil protective orders between former spouses, persons cohabitating with or without a child in common, and persons living apart with a child in common and this bill would add misdemeanor criminal jurisdiction for those relationships to Family Court.
The usual southern trogs. In this case, Briggs King, Collins, Dukes, Kenton, and marble-mouthed auctioneer Wilson.
Just click on 5-17 here to see the entire day’s legislative activity.
Today’s Committee Schedule:
Here are the items that I find interesting:
*Ya wanna have a big ‘barn party’? SB 260 (Simpson) includes that as an accepted activity under the Agriculture Lands Preservation Act (it’s not just for farming any more). Senate Agriculture.
*If you wonder why I’m such an admirer of Sen. Bryan Townsend, SS1/SB 134 is one reason. The Homeless Individuals’ Bill of Rights:
An individual’s housing status should not be a basis for discrimination. This bill establishes a “Homeless Individual’s Bill of Rights” that provides rights to protections for individuals experiencing homelessness, including protections from discrimination while in public and while seeking access to housing, employment, and temporary shelter. This bill vests important investigatory and enforcement authority with the State’s Division of Human Relations and the State Human Relations Commission, similar to their roles with Delaware’s Equal Accommodations Law and Delaware’s Fair Housing Act.
In Senate Community/County Affairs Committee.
*SB 250(Simpson) proposes that a special election be held when the post of Lt. Governor is vacant. All R sponsors. This is the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment. As such, it must pass in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly. Senate Executive Committee.
*Another proposed Constitutional Amendment does away with the elective office of Registers of Wills in all three counties. In their place, the Register of Wills function would be statewide and under the jurisdiction of Chancery Court (the Register of Wills currently acts as a clerk to Chancery Court). Senate Executive Committee.
*SB 259 (Henry) provides for a statewide expansion of the needle exchange program. The program is currently limited to the City of Wilmington. Senate Health & Social Service Committee.
*The annual corporation law package has passed the House and will be considered in today’s Senate Judiciary Committee. As you likely know by now, these are the bills prepared by the Corporation Law Section of the Delaware Bar, and are purportedly designed to keep Delaware on the ‘cutting edge’ of corporate jurisprudence.
*I really like HB 381 (Baumbach), which requires greater transparency, efficiency, and fairness in health insurance pre-authorization programs. Unfortunately, it’s in the House Business Lapdog Committee, so let’s see if the committee believes insurance industry lies as readily as it buys into Chamber of Commerce talking points on minimum wage.
*Farmers vs. DNREC, The Battle Continues. Once again, the downstate forces are coming to the aid of farmers with runoff ‘issues’. This time in the guise of HJR 11 (D. Short), which, citing that ‘Regulations Flexibility Act’, seeks to tie DNREC’s hands in enforcing stormwater runoff regulations. I warned everybody about Bryon Short’s Regulations Flexibility Act, which purports to eliminate bureaucratic red tape that impedes business growth, but, in fact, makes essential regulation and protection more difficult to enforce. We now have the Chicago School of Economics standard, and it’s cited in HJR 11: “(A) deliberate process allowing for a review of alternatives is necessary to assure that the burden of compliance does not significantly outweigh environmental benefits.” You know, environmental benefits like keeping all that chicken shit out of the coastal waters. In the House Natural Resources Commitee.
There is a Senate Agenda today. Perhaps most noteworthy is HS1/HB 1(K. Williams), which requires stronger reporting requirements for incidents of assault at institutions of higher education. The bill passed unanimously in the House. Barring another hinky roll call, I expect a similar result in the Senate.