General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 2, 2017

First, a wrap-up of last week’s highlights:

*The second leg of a constitutional amendment requiring expenditures from the Transportation Trust Fund to be limited to transportation infrastructure-related expenses passed the Senate. One Not Voting: Sen. McDowell.  Bill now goes to the House.

*Sen. McDowell introduced legislation barring the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ in Delaware.

*Here’s a bullshit bill if ever there was one. HB 151 (Hudson)  ‘revises Delaware’s hate crime statute to make law enforcement, firefighters and emergency personnel protected classes.’ Cops have it both ways. They can shoot minorities with impunity and never face prosecution under the current statute, and now, with this bill, any alleged crime visited upon these ‘protected classes’ can be considered a hate crime.  Hasn’t yet been assigned to committee. The D’s who have signed on as sponsors are: Senators Ennis, Marshall, and Walsh, and Reps. Mitchell and Melanie Smith.

*This one should garner some attention. Here is the synopsis of SB 5 (Townsend):

The United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and subsequent cases established that access to abortion is a constitutional right and that states may not prohibit abortion prior to viability. As a result of these decisions, and the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by the Attorney General, see Del. Op. Att’y Gen. No. 73-030, § III (Apr. 12, 1973), the Delaware Code’s prohibitions against abortion are unconstitutional, and thus unenforceable.This Act modernizes Delaware’s laws on abortion to be consistent with the scope of the right protected by the United States Constitution and the practice in Delaware for the past 43 years. In doing so, this Act permits the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability, to protect the life or health of the mother, or in the event of serious fetal anomaly.  Assigned to the Senate Health/Children/Social Services Committee. Two R sponsors on the bill: Sen. Cloutier and Rep. Hudson.

*The ‘Save the Dover Mall’ package of bills passed the House with nary a dissenting vote.

*HB 99 (K. Williams), which ‘require(s) that a resident 65 years of age or older claiming a tax credit against school taxes must be a resident of the state for at least 10 years before qualifying for such credit. The current requirement is only for 3-year residency, passed the House. 2 no votes: Collins and, wait for it, Rep. Hensley, who is a realtor.

*Harris McDowell and ‘Doctor’ Mark Brainard are at it again. Trying to let Del-Tech take money out of your wallet w/o any sort of referendum.  Just the say-so of Del-Tech’s Board of Trustees.  SB 50. Quite a few legislators who should know better are on the bill, including at least two former Del-Tech employees and, of course, Melanie Smith, Lonnie George’s daughter.  Might be time to light up the phones.  This is a money grab where none is justified.

Well, that took longer than I thought.

Today’s Senate Agenda features HB 11 (Bentz), which ‘removes the prohibition against receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (“TANF” also referred to by the name Aid for Families with Dependent Children or “AFDC”) funds by persons convicted of a drug felony, so long as that person is otherwise eligible or TANF assistance’.  Here’s more:

Under existing law, individuals convicted of any state or federal drug felony, including possession of marijuana (which can be a felony under federal law), are ineligible for TANF for life. Although the children of a parent convicted of a drug crime can still receive assistance, the family’s overall award is significantly reduced, and in practice this affects the well-being of families and children.

The bill passed the House with only one no vote: Sussex troglodyte Rich Collins. I suspect the Senate will pass this bill as well.

The Delaware General Assembly is always at its worst when it tries to prove just how tough the legislators are.  Case-in-point from today’s House Agenda:  HB 122 (Smyk),  which, oh, just read the synopsis:

‘provides greater protection to correctional officers and other state employees who are assaulted in detention facilities by prohibiting assaults committed with a reckless state of mind.’

To quote Dorothy Parker, “Backwards reeled the mind”.  The bill, of course, will not ‘provide greater protection’.  There won’t be one incident prevented due to a prisoner considering whether the act he is about to commit will reflect a reckless state of mind.  In fact, to the extent that this bill leads to longer sentences, it merely means that the prisoner committing the act will be in prison longer, thus giving him more opportunities to commit acts against officers. But, kids, and wait for it, it will look good on political brochures.  Which is why this joke of a bill could pass.

OK, I plan to be back tomorrow with a look at this week’s committee meetings.  Running a little behind due to our vacation in Oregon last week.  Did come home, though, with a New Favorite Band that my wife and I and my youngest daughter absolutely loved when we saw them in Portland.  Here’s hoping you will too. An anthem for our times: