Yesterday was All Ceremony. Congratulations to all. Let’s get down to business.
According to press reports, the General Assembly has two must-pass bills for January: The second leg of Delaware’s equal-rights amendment, and legislation permitting the new arena for Delaware’s minor league pro basketball team to sell alcohol. Never too early to give Buccini/Pollin a bouquet of money. Accordingly, each of the two House committees considering these bills will meet today. Here are the notices for both the House Administration Committee and the Business Lapdog Committee. It appears that the ERA bill, at least, will be run in the House on Thursday.
Uh-oh, a word of caution here. Normally, committees post agendas of what bills will be considered. In this case, however, and probably b/c the House is just organizing, what the notices provide are lists of all bills in committee. In theory, any of those bills could be considered. In practice, of course, that’s not gonna happen. For example, you can bet that Pete ‘n Val will bury Rep. Kowalko’s bill creating a couple of new upper tax brackets. However, there is one bill that Speaker Pete could try to sneak through in January. This bill, which is in the House Administration Committee. It may merely reflect boilerplate changes. However, does anybody remember this? Yes, I’m at least a little suspicious. Why? Because charter changes like this one proposed for Rehoboth Beach generally go through the Housing and Community Affairs Committee. So why did Pete put it in his own committee? Will he sneak this bill out of committee today? Worth keeping an eye on.
As I write this, some Senate Committee assignments are beginning to trickle in. The Senate Education Committee membership, as first reported by Kevin Ohlandt, has been confirmed. I’m vamping until the rest of the appointments are posted. So far, the only other committee with a full membership is the Senate Agriculture Committee. This…is…painful. But, hey, this is why you (don’t) pay me the big bucks. How painful is it, El Som? Thanks for asking. Well, we know that the Senate Executive Committee is comprised of the members of leadership. However, so far, only Senators McBride and Poore’s names appear there. Is someone chiseling (always an apt legislative word) these appointments in stone or something before they’re released to the unwashed masses?
OK, you’ve convinced me. I’m posting this now. More word on committee assignments if and when Sen. McBride deigns to make them public. Check back here often. Or, check back here. Hey, I’ve got stuff to do.