General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Wednesday, January 13, 2021

The virtual pageantry is over, the leaders and committees have been made official, and both chambers are ready for action.  Not, of course, w/o some protest votes from the toothless Senate Rethugs:

Sens. Colin Bonini, R-Dover; Bryant Richardson, R-Seaford; Dave Wilson, R-Lincoln; and Sen. Lawson voted against a resolution establishing Senate rules because a provision requiring anyone in the chamber to stand and salute the flag when appropriate, chiefly with the daily Pledge of Allegiance, was removed. The four also opposed a separate resolution setting up special rules for virtual proceedings.

Knock yourselves out, fellas.

Hoo boy! Wednesday! Committee day! My favorite legislative day of the week! Annnnd–yes, we have committee meetings! With some interesting bills! (Stop with the exclamation points. I know you’re excited. But, still…)

The Senate Executive Committee will consider several gubernatorial nominations.  To a large degree, this is a shuffling of responsibilities among existing officials.  The full Senate will then take up these nominations following the committee meeting.  Hmmm, with Cerron Cade moving from the Department of Labor, pay close attention to whomever Carney appoints to replace him. I’m sure that the senators will be doing so.

Here’s today’s House Committee Meeting  schedule. You will note that there have been committee meetings scheduled for next week as well.  Plus, there’s a meeting of the Business Lapdog Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow.  There’s some good stuff here:

HB 1 (Schwartzkopf):  Extends provisions designed to help food and drink establishments during the pandemic. House Administration.

HB 15 (Bentz): The second leg of a Constitutional Amendment that would ‘eliminate from the Delaware Constitution the limitations as to when an individual may vote by absentee ballot‘.  If passed in both houses, it becomes law. Does not require the signature of the Governor.  Kids, I’d like you to take a look at the sponsors on the bill.  Notice anything missing?  If you guessed ‘Republicans’, you would be correct.  Needless to say, D’s want people to vote, Rethugs don’t. House Administration.

HB 29 (Baumbach):  This one’s interesting. I like it, however there’s one caveat.  The bill ‘eliminates the ability of a candidate to change their candidacy to become a candidate for a different office after the deadline for notification of candidacy has passed’.  In other words, it would stop the frivolous game of musical chairs that often infects candidates for office in the City of Wilmington. I agree with that.  However, there is a ‘lumpy mattress syndrome’ element as well.  Had this bill been in effect in 2020, Ken Boulden’s scheme to in effect install his chosen successor as Clerk of the Peace would have succeeded.  House Administration.

HB 65 (Osienski): This bill ‘provides COVID-19 related relief to both claimants receiving unemployment benefits and employers who are assessed unemployment taxes, and extends the end date of the Secretary of Labor’s COVID-19 related rulemaking authority’.  Like HB 1, this bill is time-sensitive, and almost certainly will become law before the break for the Joint Finance Committee budget hearings.  House Administration.

HB 18 (Osienski):  This bill revises requirements for ‘Complete Community Enterprise Districts’.  I suspect this is due to what people have learned since the initial implementation of the legislation.  One key note:  The bill repeals the definition of “isoperimetric quotient”, which saves me the time of looking up what just what an isoperimetric quotient is. Transportation/Land Use & Infrastructure.

HB 28 (Schwartzkopf): This bill ‘increases the minimum amount of property damage that triggers the mandatory reporting of a vehicular collision to police from $500 to $2,000. This bill also increases the minimum amount of property damage requiring police agencies to investigate from $1,000 to $2,000’.  Why? Because ‘other states’ are doing it.  There’s a lot of bad legislation enacted in ‘other states’, not to mention our own.  Seems like a pretty precipitous increase to me.  Of interest, all five ex-cops serving in the General Assembly are on the bill as sponsors. This must be legislation the police want, said Captain Obvious. Call it what it is: A ‘We don’t want to deal with this shit any more’ bill. Transportation/Land Use & Infrastructure.

HB 200 (Longhurst):  This is the third bite at the apple for this bill.  I’ve always agreed with the intent of the bill, which is to clean up Delaware’s waterways.  However, this bill had always had a fatal flaw previously:  You can’t clean up streams when there is no revenue stream to fund it. Up until now, Our PAL Val was scamming supporters in order to give herself a pat on the back. Time for a trip in the Wayback Machine (Damn, I really nailed this one):

On May 30, 2019 (remember that date), HB 200(Longhurst) is released via pre-file to much fanfare, including a public rally where Longhurst addresses an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.

Did you remember that date? Here’s why it’s important. By May 30, the Joint Finance Committee had already wrapped up their budget deliberations for the year. In other words, the introduction of the bill came too late for consideration by the JFC.

Well, you might say, surely HB 200 provides for the additional funding needed for this huge undertaking. No, and don’t call me Shirley. Here’s where Val Longhurst is revealed once again to be a charlatan playing the role of hero.  Not only is there no such new funding in the bill, the proposed funding that IS in the bill would simply be taken from existing revenue sources. Meaning, it would open up spending shortfalls elsewhere…

To be sure, there are a couple of other revenue sources, some Federal EPA money and some water pollution fine money. But $25 million, which is, pardon the expression, just a drop in the bucket, would be taken from other priorities in the annual budget. What would Val cut?

What Longhurst so proudly proclaimed as landmark legislation is, in fact, false advertising of the most cynical kind. Unless that $25 mill (and a whole lot more to meet the well over $500 mill that will be required to address the state’s clean water infrastructure), is replaced, other programs will suffer.

You know what’s great about quoting myself? Besides, I mean, the unassailable quality?  I don’t have to deal with Fair Use provisions.  But, I digress.

I have been given to understand that there will be at least a $50 million revenue stream to fund this bill that won’t result in cuts from other programs.  If so, let’s pass this and get started. Natural Resources.

You may have read that the slackjawed mouthbreathers have introduced legislation that would substitute the judgment of the slackjawed mouthbreathers for the emergency powers of the Governor.  Because, who better to deal with the Covid crisis than slackjawed mouthbreathers who don’t wear masks and carry around AK-47’s?  You would be correct. Hey, another Mikey Ramone sighting.  Don’t worry, the bill’s not going anywhere.

But I am. Until tomorrow.