Since this is the last week before a two-week break for the Easter holidays, look for bills that the two houses want to get to the Governor quickly to receive top priority.
Both the House and Senate will run agendas today, and the Senate will also hold a couple of committee meetings.
Highlights on today’s Senate Agenda:
SB 5 (Gay) ‘creates an automatic voter registration system at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and grants the State Election Commissioner the authority to implement automatic voter registration at other state agencies that already offer voter registration services under existing law. This Act stipulates that an unregistered adult citizen who provides proof of U.S. citizenship during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically registered to vote by the Department of Elections, if otherwise eligible for registration’. In other words, it’s a pro-democracy bill. Wonder if any Senate Rethugs will vote for, you know, democracy. I’m betting ‘no’.
SB 40 (Brown) ‘allows the Court to suspend an amount of the fine for uninsured driving if the defendant provides evidence that they have now secured insurance, demonstrating compliance with the law’. A nice incremental improvement.
SB 72 (S. McBride) ‘adds the term “religion” to the list of prohibited bases for discrimination and defines “religion” to include all aspects of religious observance and practice, not just belief’.
Today’s House Agenda once again features a longer ‘Consent Agenda’ than it does an ordinary agenda. In the past, the Consent Agenda had been used for insubstantial items, charter changes, technical language adjustments, and the like. No longer. Maybe Speaker Pete and Our PAL Val are just bored with the process.
I grant you, there’s little of interest today. Here’s the best that I could glean:
HB 89 (K. Williams) ‘will allow a critical need reimbursement to be distributed directly to an institute of higher education or Secretary of Education approved Alternative Routes to Teacher Licensure and Certification program for an eligible teacher who is taking noncredit-earning seminars or workshops or credit-bearing coursework in order to attain a Standard Certification in a state-approved critical need area’.
HB 111 (Lynn) ‘prohibits discrimination because an individual takes PrEP (AIDS prevention) medication in the issuance or renewal of disability, long-term care, and life insurance’.
There is one bill of note on today’s Senate Committee Agenda. It’s a House bill that deserves to head to the Governor’s office this week:
HB 95 (K. Williams) ‘requires that individual, group, State employee, and public assistance insurance plans provide coverage for epinephrine autoinjectors for individuals who are 18 years of age or under and must include at least 1 formulation of epinephrine autoinjectors on the lowest tier of the drug formulary developed and maintained by the carrier if the insurance plan has tiers.’
Hey, I’m sorry. Some days are less interesting than others. Today is such a day. Tomorrow will be different.