Yet another truncated session (wash, rinse, repeat) featuring (not highlighted by) Gov. Carney’s State Of The State Address. For reasons I can’t explain, most of Delaware’s recent governors deliver these addresses robotically, Markell being the exception. Robotically–say, you don’t suppose…?
Carney will also submit his budget proposal on Thursday. A real Democratic governor would embrace the proposal to raise taxes modestly on the top earners in the state. Keeping in mind that your first $125K remains at the lower rate, with only your income over $125K being subject to the added tax. Carney has two chances this week. Today and Thursday. Will he embrace the modest increase on the people who have made out like bandits during Covid, or will he buy the propaganda from the Chamber and his wealthy ben(mal)efactors?
Here is last Thursday’s Session Activity Report. You will note that Our PAL Val Longhurst’s plan to fast-track some more Ft. DuPont skulduggery was taken off the fast track. It will be back. Stay alert.
The Senate will not be conducting any major business today. Senate committee meetings will take place tomorrow, and we’ll discuss the bills in committee then.
While the House will not meet in session today, there are some scheduled committee meetings, with others set for tomorrow. Here is this week’s House committee schedule. Today’s highlights:
HB 16 (Baumbach) ‘modifies Delaware’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to allow recipients to choose the most beneficial credit to be applied against their Delaware Personal Income Taxes.’ (Revenue & Taxation).
SB 31 (Brown): This second leg of a constitutional amendment ‘ to explicitly declare that protection against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin is one of Delaware’s fundamental rights’ unanimously passed the Senate last week. I look for this to be on Thursday’s House Agenda. (Administration).
SB 22 and SB 33 passed the Senate last week. SB 33, which increases the renewable energy goal for the state, got 13 yes votes. All the Rethugs plus Bruce Ennis voted no. (Natural Resources)
Last week’s Corrections Committee meeting was canceled due to technical issues (‘Zoom Doom’?). This week’s meeting has the same agenda. Hmmm, looks like I’ve got a chance to cut-‘n-paste:
HB 37 (Minor-Brown) attempts to partially respond to the Covid epidemic in Delaware prisons (misinformation spewing out of Claire Dematteis’ mouth notwithstanding). From the synopsis:
There is no real way to prevent an outbreak and the spread of a highly contagious disease inside a prison where inmates share cells, communal recreation and dining spaces, and in some instances reside in large bunk rooms. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the operations of the prisons as they struggle with staff shortages due to illness and quarantines, and curtail activities to reduce opportunities for community spread within the prison. This bill seeks to address both the COVID-19 pandemic as well as any future public health emergency that impacts prison operations and conditions by creating a “public health emergency credit” that would automatically be awarded when a public health emergency is declared. Credits would be awarded at the rate of 6 months for every month served during the public health emergency up to a maximum reduction in sentence of 1 year. This has the practical effect of moving forward release dates for inmates whose release would come within the next year regardless of the emergency. This will reduce the prison population in an orderly and fair manner, relieving pressure on staff and creating better conditions for those inmates who remain incarcerated to socially distance and control the spread of infectious disease. By applying additional credit towards sentence completion, this legislation also recognizes that the conditions of confinement during a public health emergency like the current one can be considered significantly more punishing – since visitation, communications, programming, and recreation are all significantly negatively impacted by the emergency conditions and modifications to operations.
I highlighted that line because you can bet that the remaining demagogues in Dover will misrepresent the impact of the bill in order to defeat it. This is good legislating, and I hope that this bill passes. I suspect that supporters will need to be mobilized, especially in the House, to get this enacted into law. Corrections. Here are the members of the Corrections Committee:
Melissa Minor-BrownNnamdi O. ChukwuochaEric Morrison
Gerald L. Brady
Franklin D. Cooke
Andria L. Bennett
Shannon Morris
Stephen Smyk
Jesse R. Vanderwende
Ruth Briggs King
