With very little fanfare, legislation legalizing and regulating the sale of marijuana has been scheduled for its committee hearing today. The House Revenue & Finance Committee will meet at 2:30 in the House Chamber to consider the bill. The opponents, aka the self-styled grownups like the Chamber and the Medical Society will be out in force, as will those who push the most lawless tactics of law enforcement. Gov. Carney has said he opposes the bill, which reminds me: If anyone would have benefited from some dalliance with recreational drugs, it would have been our blinkered governor. Just a small dose of LSD would have expanded his world view exponentially, and made him a much better governor. But, I digress.
Rep. Lynn’s weakened gun storage bill received final approval in the House yesterday, and heads to the Governor. If this session of the General Assembly has demonstrated anything, it’s that at least two more D senators have to be shown the door before we can get serious gun safety reform to the Governor. Senators McBride and Poore broke their promise to release the bills to the floor. Their explanation? They didn’t want to embarrass senators who would have to take a stand on those bills. Including, of course, themselves. That alone should earn them primary challengers. And Cathy Cloutier, who is a pawn of the construction trades and is fearful of the NRA, should be ushered into retirement as well. But, I digress. Again.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. You will note that, on the roll call for Rep. Lynn’s gun storage bill, the following D’s voted no: Andria Bennett; Mark Brainard’s lickspittle Bill Bush (copyright pending); Lumpy Carson; and Quin Johnson. The only R to vote yes was Michael Smith.
Today’s Senate committee meeting highlights include:
*Looks like Delaware Park wants to get into the craft brewing business. And legislators are only too happy to help. Anyone wanna sample a Manure Sour Ale? Banking, Business & Insurance.
*The plastic bag ban faces its Senate committee hearing. I can only hope that the Forces Of EE-vil don’t weaken the bill too much. Environmental & Natural Resources.
*A $15 minimum wage? SB 105 would make it so. The soulless lobbyists who are paid to commit infanticide on bills like this will make sure it doesn’t happen. Labor.
*SB 99(Lawson) would, well I don’t know what it would do. But we’re talking deep-state conspiracies and Sharia Law. So, it makes for fun reading. Is Evan Quietsch working for the Senate Rethugs now? Judicial.
*SB 96(McDowell) appears to codify the intent and structure of…well, let me just share the synopsis:
In January of 2015, the Office of Civil Rights & Public Trust was created by the Attorney General to establish a centralized office within the Department of Justice for the investigation of matters concerning civil rights enforcement and the prosecution of matters concerning violations of the public trust. This office must remain an independent entity within the Department of Justice to avoid conflicts with other Department of Justice duties and thus effectively enforce laws protecting the public trust and civil rights. Thus, this Act creates the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust within the Department of Justice which will be separate from the other Divisions within the Department of Justice and have a Director who reports directly to the Chief Deputy Attorney General, to avoid conflicts of interest with the work of the other Divisions. This Act also clarifies the current scope of the Department of Justice’s ability to investigate and bring civil rights actions to protect the civil rights of all Delawareans.
The bill’s in the Elections, Gov’t., & Community Affairs Committee.
*SB 122(Townsend) ‘creates the Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative to improve pregnancy outcomes for women and newborns and such issues as obstetrical blood loss management, pregnant women with substance use disorder, infants impacted by neonatal abstinence syndrome, and advancing evidence-based clinical practices and processes through quality care review, audit, and continuous quality improvement.’ Health & Social Services.
*HB 73(Jaques) is ‘a first leg of a constitutional amendment that would eliminate from the Delaware Constitution the limitations as to when an individual may vote by absentee ballot’. In other words, you wouldn’t need an excuse to vote absentee. Nor should you. Executive.
*SB 123(McBride) ‘authorizes the Department of Correction to give minimum wage to inmates to pay off fees or fines by participating in an earned credit program established by the Department of Correction’. Executive.
Lemme pour myself another cuppa Joe before I tackle the House committee schedule.
Aahhh…caffeine. What would I do without it?
*A sharp-eyed reader noticed awhile back that HB 200(Longhurst) is very similar to legislation sponsored by Sen. Townsend last session. Regardless, it’s important legislation that would put an end to kicking the can down the road when it comes to water quality. The bill ‘…establishes a framework for assessing needs, planning and implementing projects, and providing a funding source to enhance and accelerate Delaware’s efforts in cleaning up its contaminated water resources, ensuring that all our citizens have safe drinking water, reducing flooding, and protecting jobs in agriculture and tourism’. It’s not an inexpensive proposition, but I think it needs to be done. I alwo recommend that you click on the bill link and read the synopsis in its entirety. Natural Resources.
*While the General Assembly is enacting sentencing reform, Brainard-lickspittle Bill Bush is moving in the opposite direction. HB 144 ‘…further defines Assault in the Second Degree to include other health care treatment providers and employees and hospital security personnel who are injured while performing their work related duties.’ In other words, the bill expands a protected class of victims which would result in harsher charges against defendants. This, BTW, is precisely what will happen if you limit the death penalty to, say, cop-killers. Bills like this will pop up to expand the list of victims that would render defendants subject to the death penalty. Easy demagoguery, easy grist for campaign brochures, bad policy. Judiciary.
*I know special interest legislation when I see it. And when that special interest legislation is sponsored by the ethically-bankrupt Mike Ramone, the only question is: Who benefits? Based on the fact that the other two main sponsors are from the same general geographical area as Ramone (Pike Creek), that narrows down the list of suspects considerably. The bill is HB 138, and here’s its synopsis: “This Act increases by one the number of licenses for the sale of alcoholic liquor an individual or entity may have an interest in, from two to three.” This is not some random code change. Someone wants this bill. I think the public deserves to know who and why. Business Lapdog Committee.
The Senate is also scheduled to work this agenda today. I look for a couple of nominations to be worked along with this agenda.
That’s it for today. Hope you got what you didn’t pay for.