General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Wednesday, June 16, 2021

A great day–a GREAT day, in the State Senate yesterday.  Dave Sokola and the merry band of progressives there–RULE.

So many great bills passed yesterday that it’s hard to know what to omit.  (OK, I could have done w/o the break on premium cigars, but other than that…)

Two excellent gun control bills (HB 125  and HB 124) and a strong consumer protection bill (HB 91) all passed and now go to the Governor.  6 Senate Rethugs opposed prohibiting those with Protection From Abuse orders against them from owning weapons.  Sens. Bonini, Hocker, Lawson, Pettyjohn, Richardson and Wilson sided with the abusers. Bruce Ennis went Not Voting, which is the same as siding with the abusers.  Some things I do not understand.  ‘Second Amendment uber alles‘ to these jokers, I guess.

In news that isn’t news,  Sen. Richardson made a fool of himself.  Got up on the Senate floor to oppose a Resolution proclaiming June Pride Month. Doesn’t say why he opposes it, but says he will tell people in private.  Sen. McBride responds: “I don’t need a conversation with a senator to understand why they voted against a pride month resolution. The “no” vote says it all.”

In other words, Sen. Richardson, sit down and shut up.

Here’s yesterday’s Session Activity Report in all its glory.  (Memo To Legislative Council:  The website is painfully slow in loading.)  Well, here’s something interesting: HB 26 (Heffernan) was enacted w/o the Governor’s signature.  He didn’t veto it, he just didn’t sign it in the required amount of time.  That’s something you don’t see often, unless it’s a Constitutional Amendment, which doesn’t require a Governor’s signature.  Looks like a good bill to me.  It ‘requires the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (“DSCYF”) to have exclusive jurisdiction over all aspects of a child’s care, custody and control when a child is convicted of a Superior Court offense.’  Maybe he was just afraid of getting the stinkeye from Warden Claire.

Uh-oh.  Finally an amendment to SB 15 from a D. It delays the minimum wage increase for small businesses.  It’s from Rep. Moore.  Hello, is this mic on?  Once you start carving out exceptions, you wind up carving up the bill.  See Rep. Longhurst and virtually any gun bill she’s tried to run.  Just say no. Pass the bleeping bill as is!

A huge day for police reform legislation in committees today.  The Senate Judiciary Committee considers SB 149 (Lockman).  It’s a major piece of legislation:

This Act would ensure that prosecutors and criminal defense counsel will have access to all law-enforcement misconduct records, created before, on, or after the effective date of this Act, making our criminal justice system fairer and improving trust within our community. And, public access, through Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act (Chapter 100 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code) will increase transparency and allow for more meaningful oversight. This Act removes LEOBOR’s confidentiality clause and adds affirmative language to LEOBOR that law-enforcement disciplinary records are public records.

I’d like to see more sponsors on the bill. However, I’ll settle for votes on the floor.

The House Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee considers SB 147 (Pinkney) and SB 148 (Pinkney).  The committee assignment is key.  SB 148, in particular, properly belongs in the House Judiciary Committee, where it would likely sail through. The bill ‘expands the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust’s responsibility to review deadly use of force incidents by law enforcement by adding review of cases involving serious physical injury. It also requires that if the Division issues a public report on the use of force, the report must include the race of the law enforcement officer who used force, the race of the individual on whom force was used, and whether race was a relevant or motivating factor‘.  It passed the Senate on a straight party line vote of 14-7.  Even former cop Bruce Ennis voted yes.  SB 147 ‘codifies a reasonableness requirement for the use of force, both non-lethal and lethal’. The Act ‘makes it clear that the determination of one’s state of mind is an objective standard —that is, what a reasonable person would have believed, rather than what the defendant believed. Additionally, this Act makes clear that deadly force includes the use of a chokehold.

Speaker Pete has placed these bills in a committee with two ex-cops on it and little margin for error.  There are 6 D’s and 4 R’s (including the disgraceful, if not yet disgraced, Steve Smyk) on the committee.  The chair is ex-cop and chief white-washer of police misconduct Franklin Cooke. You also have Pete’s boy Bill Bush on the committee.  If either vote no on releasing these bills, they stay buried.  Meaning, deliberations on these bills is a true litmus test as to whether the Cop Cabal that runs the joint is willing to allow even a scintilla of police accountability to take place. Attention must be paid.

Today’s other committee highlights, starting with the Senate:

*A package of bills designed to give the Elections Commissioner tools to address failure to file campaign reports and to make other changes will be considered in the Senate Elections & Government Affairs Committee.  I question whether SB 177 (Paradee) creates an unnecessary financial impediment to filing for office, as it ‘(i)ncreases the contribution or expenditure threshold for requiring a candidate for a public office, including a municipal office, to form a candidate committee, or file a statement of organization, with the State Election Commissioner from $2,000 to $5,000’.  At the least, I’d like to know the rationale for this change.

*SB 182 (Poore) ‘extends the Historic Preservation Tax Credit Act for approvals granted through June 2030 and puts the provision regarding the effective date in the Code’.  It may be nothing, but I’m intrigued that this bill is in the Senate Executive Committee.  Sen. Poore is no longer on that committee, those on the committee effectively demoted her, and this bill could have been placed in several other committees.  Like I said, probably nothing, but we’ll see.

*SB 167 (Lockman) ‘creates a Landlord Mitigation Fund’ to ‘seek to increase the supply of homes available to rent for low-income individuals and families by providing incentives to landlords who participate’.  Housing.

*SB 183 (Pinkney) ‘provides good-time credits to all persons who served time in a Level 4 or Level 5 facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to restore the lost opportunities to earn programming credits due to pandemic restrictions’.  Sen. Pinkney stands out as a voice for the powerless in Dover.  A wonderful person and a superior legislator. And it’s only her first year. Corrections & Public Safety.

Today’s brief Senate Agenda features SB 166 (Hansen), a major piece of legislation that establishes the framework and rules for the disbursement of settlement monies from opioid distributors, manufacturers and pharmacies. It appears to me, as a layperson, to be carefully thought-out and eminently fair. A lot of work must have gone into the crafting of this proposal.

Today’s House Committee highlights:

*HB 234 (Minor-Brown) ‘requires the Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance to take the necessary steps to expand Medicaid coverage to pregnant women from the current coverage of 60-days from the end of pregnancy under federal Medicaid regulations to 12 months from the end of pregnancy’.  Health & Human Development.

*HB 212 (Brady) ‘provides a phased in approach to further the reduction of single-use plastic bags. This Act increases the minimum thickness for a plastic bag to qualify as a reusable bag from 2.25 mils to 10 mils effective January 1, 2022 and makes the restrictions applicable to stores regardless of size effective July 1, 2022.’ Natural Resources.

*HB 223 (Osienski) helps decrease the possibility of towing companies just stealing personal property from towed vehicles.  One of those good ‘small’ bills that makes a difference. Transportation/Land Use& Infrastructure.

*There are two Rethug bills set for consideration in the House Revenue & Finance Committee.  Neither are serious bills, neither are worthy of your consideration, nor will they prove worthy of the committee’s consideration.  However, if you want to see what passes for Rethug legislation, who am I to stop you?  Campaign screeds masquerading as legislation.

*HB 123 (Griffith) ‘supports children who spent part or all of their teen years in the State’s foster care system to access higher education by providing a tuition waiver program to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and (where offered) room and board at a public Delaware college or university’. Education. That seems like a damn good bill to close us out for today.

Tomorrow: Will history be made, or will Democrats screw up the $15 minimum wage? See you then.