General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 5, 2022

Some interesting bills on today’s agendas.  But first, here is Wednesday’s session activity report. Make of it what you will.

Only a two-bill Senate Agenda, but both are consequential.  SB 100 (Townsend) ‘establishes a Public Education Compensation Committee for the purpose of reviewing Delaware’s educator compensation structure and its ability to compete with regional school districts, Delaware’s private business sector, and other governmental agencies and to develop recommendations to establish a new compensation structure for educators in Delaware.’  If having two R’s sign on to the bill makes it bipartisan, I guess it’s bipartisan.  Somewhere, Chris Coons is feeling warm and fuzzy.

I suspect that the more controversial bill will be SS1/SB 11 (Townsend), which is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that seemingly tries to clear up issues about when bail may, and may not, be required.  I seem to recall a lot of controversy with the original bill.  Anyway, this appears to be the crux of the matter:

Upon enactment of the second leg of this constitutional amendment, § 12 of Article I of the Delaware Constitution as proposed will do all of the following: (1) Retain the express declaration of a general right to have bail set in a criminal case. (2) Provide that the crimes for which bail may be withheld are capital murder, where the evidentiary proof is positive and presumption of the accusation great, and other identified felony offenses determined by and under procedures prescribed by law where the evidentiary proof for the need of detention is clear and convincing. (3) Ensure that one condition precedent to bail being withheld in non-capital cases is a finding that no bail condition or combination of bail conditions other than detention will assure the safety of any person or the community, that the person will appear for future proceedings, or that the detention is necessary to prevent the person from obstructing or attempting to obstruct justice. This constitutional amendment, by itself, would not allow that a person charged with a non-capital crime could be held without bail. Rather, no person could be subject to a detention hearing in a non-capital case until the General Assembly revises Chapter 21 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code and the General Assembly and courts “prescribe by law” the specific felonies, circumstances, and procedures under which detention without bail may occur.

Is that clear?  Didn’t think so.  It looks like the current Constitution and applicable Code sections are just messed up, and this is the first attempt to clean them up.  How’s that for cogent analysis?  Since it’s the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment, it needs to pass in identical form in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly.  The first leg is always the easiest.

Today’s House Agenda features HB 371 (Osienski), which ‘removes all penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana, except for those who are under 21 years of age. Possession of more than 1 ounce of marijuana and public consumption remain unclassified misdemeanors.’  Half a loaf, but I think it will pass, especially since it only requires a simple majority vote.  Plus, there are 21 House sponsors.

HB 238 (Kowalko) ‘repeals the ability of a charter school to give preference in student admissions to students residing within a 5-mile radius of the school.’  Pretty much all the best progressives are on the bill, but there aren’t that many of them.  Don’t know what that bodes for the bill’s chances.

HB 262 (Griffith) ‘requires data brokers to register with the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice and answer questions regarding their use of personal information that would be published online to inform consumers’, and ‘prohibits acquiring or providing brokered personal information where it will be used for certain unlawful purposes, or where it was obtained through fraudulent means. The Act requires data brokers to protect brokered personal information.’  Good bill.

Good day.