General Assembly Pre-Game Show/Post-Game Wrap-Up: Wednesday, April 28, 2021
I’m still processing this Rebecca Walker story. Here’s the context for our current General Assembly: There really is a Cop Cabal. They do things, and refuse to do things, once the cops make their position known to them. Then-Rep. Walker did kill the ban on the death penalty bill in the House Judiciary Committee. Pete Schwartzkopf appointed her to head that committee for the specific purpose of killing that bill because the cops wanted it, um, killed. She was rewarded by getting that job with all the cops over at the Department of Homeland Security. A job she secured in a blatantly-corrupt manner in violation of state law. She then (allegedly) acted in a corrupt manner in her new post, starting from Day One. The cops do run the General Assembly. More precisely, the House. They no longer hold much sway over the Senate, thanks to all of us and all of you who volunteered and voted for change. Until the members of that House Caucus overcome their Stockholm Syndrome, and fight back against the bullying by their leaders, the cops will continue to rule the roost.
(Focus, Steve, focus.)
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. A very productive day. The Senate passed every bill on that admirable Agenda I highlighted yesterday. The only bill that ran into any controversy was SB 12 (Poore), and that was likely due to an amendment that somewhat limited the bill’s scope. Four Rethugs voted no, if you couldn’t guess.
Following a three-and-a-half-hour-hearing, the House Judiciary Committee released SS1/SB 6(Sokola), which ‘would prohibit magazines capable of holding more than 17 rounds’. Matt Bittle has a delightful blow-by-blow. BTW, a shout-out to Matt for providing some context:
Despite the fact opponents strongly outnumbered backers Tuesday, a poll released last month by the Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence showed majority support for greater gun control in Delaware. Democrats hold strong majorities in both chambers, and Gov. John Carney is behind the permit-to-purchase and magazine ban bills, meaning individuals seeking to stop the measures from becoming law are facing a tough battle.
As in, the number of people who show up for a hearing in no way provides any empirical evidence as to how the public views a bill. It’s the same RWNJ’s dying on the same hill every time.
The Senate will hold committee hearings today, no Agenda. Here is a sneak peak at tomorrow’s proposed Senate Agenda. Highlights from today’s Senate Committee meetings:
*HB 28(Schwartzkopf) ‘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.’ The cops don’t want to bother with this stuff any more. So, the cops won’t have to bother with this stuff any more. Transportation. Cop Cabal bill. May be harmless, but you know where it came from.
*SB 99 (Pinkney) makes it easier for minority educators to secure ‘High Needs Educator Student Loans’. Education.
*How you feel about homeschooling may impact how you feel about SB 106(Wilson), which ‘makes students who attend home schools eligible for the same services for children with disabilities as students who attend private schools in a manner that allows federal funds to pay for the services’. Education.
*The Senate Judiciary Committee considers the annual package from the Corporate Section of the Delaware Bar Association. You know, to keep Delaware in a ‘preeminent’ position. Nobody ever knows what these bills do, except possibly for a couple of the lawyer-legislators. They always slide right through. Judiciary.
*SB 102 (Mantzavinos) makes clear that bail agents must be licensed. There apparently have been some unscrupulous bail agents (is that redundant?) who have misrepresented themselves. Banking, Business & Insurance.
*SB 107 (Pinkney) ‘requires that individual, group, State employee, and public assistance insurance plans provide coverage for a medically necessary insulin pump at no cost to a covered individual.’ Banking, Business & Insurance. Of the 16 sponsors/co-sponsors of this bill, seven are new legislators and represent the progressive advances of 2020.
provides protections for consumers in connection with contracts with automatic renewal provisions. Multiple states have enacted laws regulating the automatic renewals of contracts, often described as “evergreen” clauses. These state laws are aimed at protecting consumers from unknowingly entering into these types of agreements by requiring that evergreen clauses be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner and that sellers of such contracts provide a written notice to consumers about an upcoming renewal. This bill also requires sellers of such contracts to provide consumers with a means to cancel the contract that is at least as easy to use as the means available to sign up for the contract.
Also in Banking, Business & Insurance.
SB 120 (Townsend) ‘continues recent efforts to strengthen the primary care system in this State’. Read the entire synopsis. It also appears that this bill is designed to make changes even if another bill working its way through the legislature should not be enacted. There’s a back-story here, meaning, I’d better do some research. Executive.
Today’s House Committee highlights. Um, there aren’t any. Seriously, there aren’t. Here’s a sneak peak at tomorrow’s House Agenda. You see what they’re doing. They have essentially changed the concept of the Consent Agenda, which had previously been used for inconsequential bills. There are now serious bills on that Agenda, but, hey, if they pass as part of a Consent Agenda, I don’t see the harm.
OK, time for me to cogitate some more on this Rebecca Walker story, which is a case study in the casual corruption of/by the Delaware Way…oh, I have one more question before I go. She has been accused of falsifying all these records. Why isn’t each record falsification a single offense? If Jane Brady was still AG, and if the defendant was some Black guy who got pulled over and miraculously not killed by the cops, it would have been. Each joint? 15 years. I guess ‘stacking of charges’ does not apply to politically-connected white (alleged) criminals. Are the cops gonna raid her home and steal all her stuff under the civil forfeiture provisions? Hmmm, will Bethany Hall-Long recuse herself if she somehow still heads the Board Of Pardons and Walker’s case comes before her?
Enough. Back tomorrow.
Is it too soon to be questioning the anointment of BHL as the next governor?
No. I don’t even think she’s the favorite. Everybody is looking at that race.
My fave would be Kathleen Jennings. But I know that Matt Meyer is looking at it, and a bunch of others.
Plus, don’t look now, but Carper is up in 2024. Could be some musical chairs going on.
If you’re a political junkie (guilty), 2024 is gonna be for you.
No indication Jennings is interested, is there?
No NCCo Exec has ever moved up. I don’t think Meyer is popular enough to be the first.
Park City Kathy is the one I’d keep an eye on. I’m always about who to vote against rather than who to vote for.
Yes there is. People who I’ve talked to think she would be the frontrunner.
There are people who can’t stand Meyer. However, he’s got something that no other current politician considering running for Governor has–a shitload of money to disburse. Plus, if a County Exec can move up to US Senator, one can certainly have a shot at Governor.
Not really. Two of one, one of the other, and governor is a far more powerful position.
They tried to get Markell to run for the Senate instead of primarying Carney. He said he had no interest in joining a debate society.
” if a County Exec can move up to US Senator”
You presumably mean Chris Coons, but also Joe Biden was an ordinary NCC council member before he was elected to Senate.
And both were running as sacrificial lambs who weren’t expected to win (in Coons’ case he was expected to lose to Castle, whom he didn’t have to face).
Just a wild card for the mix. Keep an eye on the bankruptcy and implosion of Connections. There will be winners and some big losers. I am personally concerned that a winner could be a fake ass supermarket mogul and that would be a bad bad thing!!!
MM also has Erik Schramm. That’s got to put a plus in his column.
Matt wouldn’t have reached out to Erik if he didn’t have aspirations for higher office. No doubt about that.
Erik is the best, but he can’t make people like Meyer. Ask around to elected officials at various levels…many have had issues with Meyer and his (lack of) interpersonal skills. Plus many people don’t care or know much about County govt. See: sparsely attended CE listening sessions.
I have a different perspective. Yes, Meyer has some rough edges. I suspect Erik realizes that one of his tasks will be to sand down those rough edges.
One reason why elected officials are PO’d at Meyer is the fact that they think he’s horded money that just fell into his lap. They’re right. However, the people to whom he is doling out the money couldn’t care less about that.
I’m not understating the issues he has. But I think you may be overstating them. Especially with three more years before the electoral landscape takes shape.
So Markell “I don’t want to join a debating society” had interpersonal skills? Sounds like the Cop Cabal is still pissed about their raise and is spreading unrelated s**t about Meyer.
Meyer strikes me as not having a particular agenda or alliances, and just deals with each issue as it comes with a “good government” approach. Refreshing. Especially compared with the former administration. Or compared with whatever wired candidate the cops will put up against him.
Matt has some issues beyond the cops. Some of those who are least pleased with him are people you might think of as his prospective allies.
It’s not cut-and-dried.
Yes, actually, Markell’s interpersonal skills are quite strong compared to those of John Carney, Ruth Ann Minner, Tom Carper and Mike Castle, now that you ask.
That’s a fact. I think Carper takes the prize for most aloof.
I disagree. Carper is accessible and friendly enough. Coons is the very definition of aloof especially if you’ve publicly or vocally challenged him. My wife has personally and politely confronted him on opinion/policy issues in the past and has sent him emails which have been fairly critical of some of his positions. He deliberately crosses the room or otherwise avoids any contact with me or her when we are at public events. He can be quite obvious in his expressions of disdain and disregard for vocal critics. Carper (for better or worse) maintains a more cordial attitude with the people that approach him and willingly and politely “tolerates” them.
Representative John Kowalko
Well, Coons wasn’t a governor, which is what we were discussing.
I can tell you that Carper and his staff spent their time with him as Governor acting as if they were constantly sniffing something bad. I think by far the most aloof of them all.
Unlike any of the others I named, Markell had a salesman’s ability to persuade. Of the rest I named, Carper is probably the best glad-hander, but even when he’s trying to make a good impression he says odd, off-putting things. You wouldn’t want to have a beer with him.
The Delaware champion is, of course, Biden. I saw a clip the other day of some Republican in Congress saying he wouldn’t let Biden into his kitchen. Damn right he wouldn’t, because one-on-one Biden would win him over before he left.
If you want to restrict the discussion to Governors then let me assure you that the first Governor I served under was Minner who was very insular and extremely thin-skinned when criticized to the point of aloofness. Than there was Markell with whom I had many challenging disagreements but who maintained a distinct air of respect given and taken. That attitude certainly changed behind closed doors in my many private, semi-private dialogues with him but he always emerged in the pubic view as respectful and cordial. Now the current Governor is another case entirely. He has assumed many of the characteristics of some of his predecessors but when I challenged his plans to implement reform for Wilmington and minority public schools at the CSD board meeting and in other personal and private meetings, he became obviously agitated and somewhat vengeful towards me. One prime example of my personal experiences with him occurred when my wife and Nancy Willing approached him at a public event and reiterated my offer to join the efforts to implement “Offshore Wind” development pointing out my (at the time) recent visit to the UK (at the British Governments expense) and their wind farm sites and production facilities he bristled angrily and vocally at the suggestion. I’ll paraphrase here “John challenged my education policies publicly and in the press and wont reward that attitude by including him in the “Offshore Wind” study group. Now that’s “ALOOF” for you and certainly not the only evidence of a fragile ego. Ask a few of my colleagues about his reaction to losing the “Budget Smoothing” (Grover Norquist) amendment battle etc.
Representative John Kowalko
Whatever.
‘Extremely thin-skinned’? ‘Fragile ego?’ That’s you.
It’s always about you, which is why you haven’t accomplished shit down there.
There are newly-elected progressive legislators who have already accomplished more than you have in your entire career.
Oh! poor baby needs a nap or his “binky”. Jealous much?
Rep. John Kowalko
Wow. You sure ‘represent’ yourself well…that’s why you’ve been such a ‘successful’ legislator.
Not.
Aha, Is your “binky” green to match your eyes?
Rep. Kowalko
I had assumed (maybe incorrectly) that puck was saying Markell had no interpersonal skills, and I also assumed (also perhaps incorrectly) that he was talking about the way he deals with people, not how he handles criticism or disagreement. I take a “good people person” to be someone who’s easy to get along with and persuasive.
I confess that I knew Markell better than any of the others. He’s the only one I had to my house for dinner, but in my defense, he’s the only one of them I would invite. I did have coffee in my kitchen with Mike Castle one time when he was door-to-door campaigning with John Still (‘memba him?), but that was because Castle and my wife knew each other from way back. Only in Delaware can you answer the door in your bathrobe and find the governor standing there — and he recognizes you.
Isn’t time for you to retire…
John, respectfully, what am I jealous of? I ran for office once. I was a shitty candidate. I don’t miss Leg Hall at all. I’m happy doing my bit on the local committee. I was happy to campaign for both Marie Pinkney and Kyle Evans Gay. I’m happy that we’ve got so many more progressives in Dover. I’ve never been more optimistic about the direction of the Delaware General Assembly. I-I’m just gonna stop there. Your words speak for themselves.
You weren’t a poor candidate and I believe I actively helped in your campaign (against Wayne Smith??). There is nothing more difficult then to run against a High-Profile sitting Majority Leader and you acquitted yourself well. However, your continued efforts to question my commitment to working people and all Delawareans and your ignorance of my accomplishments (including moving dialogues and commitments in a liberal/progressive direction) does not cast you in a favorable light and I believe my words speak for themselves.
John Kowalko
So do I. I’ve never questioned your commitment, I’ve questioned how your approach has been counterproductive to your stated goals. Slagging people does not ‘move dialogue’ in a liberal/progressive direction. It just makes you an outcast.
John- whenever anyone criticizes you the first thing you do is resort to Trumpian retorts. Why?
I’m not responding to criticisms. I’m responding to unadulterated and unsubstantiated personal attacks on me and my record as a legislator.
“It’s always about you, which is why you haven’t accomplished shit down there.
There are newly-elected progressive legislators who have already accomplished more than you have in your entire career”.
That’s not criticism or even about criticizing my honest and frank response (based on personal experience) to the “Carper is the most aloof…” original post. I have nothing to prove to anyone but my constituents and my conscience. If anyone feels the need to strut around in a suit made from cow dung then they should expect to be told that they smell like B**l-S**t
Rep. John Kowalko
Your time is up. Enjoy the underserved retirement package!
Underserved? You mean they didn’t get it to the table?
Here’s a question. If it was “always about” John why would he surrender, say, committee positions that his seniority and service suggest he have, to continue to be genuine to himself and speak naked truth to the small time gentry in power?
He’s sacrificed a lot not to be a fucking sellout. Most legislators embarrass themselves to not rock the boat and still accomplish nothing.
The only real “accomplishments” in Dover are reactionaries making sure the corporate cop states quo is maintained.
Kowalko is a hero for this reason.
He didn’t surrender them. He lost them.
He’s not a sellout. Just not effective.
Could he be more strategic? I think that’s obvious. But the fact is he’s doing what he does. What would he need to do not to “lose” them? And what would that have accomplished? Right.
Who is “effective”? What are these strategic geniuses effective in doing? Right. This is the aspect no one understands or ignores.
Well, they’re passing a shitload of progressive legislation.
There’s that.
One person ensuring the lamp stays lit for a decade is one of the reasons “they” are even in Dover.
If the critique is no progressive shit was passed till now we could call out a handful of people who ate shit for 10 years too.
I can think of a half dozen off the top of my head.
Reading this over I feel like people aren’t ready for this conversation.
Sorry.
I was right. People aren’t ready for this conversation
You are definitely right here my bro.
John is right. People are extremely jealous. Very obvious.
Clearly they would have been very effective legislators if marginally electable or not anonymous.. lol.