General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., January 25, 2023
It WAS a pretty interesting day yesterday. I listened to the entire Senate debate on the Community Workforce Agreement section of SB 35 (Walsh), and it’s still as clear as mud to me. Will it benefit minority workers and contractors, or will it provide further protection to the predominantly white construction trades? Not a word was uttered about the Delaware Way goodies I flagged yesterday. Business as usual. The bill passed the Senate on a party line vote.
I was surprised that the Realty Transfer Tax cut made it out of the House Revenue & Finance Committee yesterday, but I probably shouldn’t have been. After all, it has to be considered by the Joint Finance Committee regardless. Plus, would you want to make an enemy of Pete’s Chosen Enforcer, Bill Bush?
The same committee released the Marijuana Control Act yesterday.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.
There are a few ‘must-pass’ bills that need to reach the Governor’s desk by end of business on Thursday. That will primarily be the General Assembly’s focus these next two days.
Other than a Senate Resolution on Ethics Violations, all legislative activity today will be in the form of committee meetings.
Today’s House Committee highlights:
HB 1 (Osienski): ‘(R)emoves all penalties for use or possession of a personal use quantity of marijuana and marijuana accessories. It further specifies that the adult sharing of a personal use quantity or less of marijuana is legal activity for those 21 years of age or older and that those 21 or older may possess, use, display, purchase, or transport accessories and personal use quantities of marijuana without penalty’. Health & Human Development.
HB 65 (Heffernan): ‘(P)rovides State employees who suffer a miscarriage, stillbirth or other loss, a maximum of 5 days of paid bereavement leave’. Health & Human Development.
HB 53 (Griffith): ‘(R)emoves the requirement that a head or assistant head of any Division of the State Department of Justice or the Chief Prosecutor of a particular county be a resident of the State of Delaware’. I have no problem with this. Better to have someone of high caliber in these positions even if they don’t live in Delaware. Judiciary.
HB 33 (K. Williams): ‘(I)ncreases funding for preschool children with disabilities who are not counted in either “intensive” or “complex” special education units by revising the current ratio of 12.8 students per unit to 8.4 students per unit for children 3 years of age and older enrolled in a preschool program.’ Education. I suspect that release of this bill will go a long way towards enabling the Joint Finance Committee to consider this expenditure during budget mark-up.
Today’s Senate Committee highlights:
HB 49 (Osienski), a ‘must-pass’ bill, that:
”provides post-pandemic related relief to both claimants receiving unemployment benefits and employers who are assessed unemployment taxes. This bill will increase the maximum weekly benefit amount payable to claimants seeking unemployment compensation benefits from the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Unemployment Insurance from $400.00 a week to $450.00 a week’,
has already passed the House. The Senate will likely do the same tomorrow. Labor Committee.
I think this is Kyra Hoffner’s first bill, and it’s a good one. SB 24 ‘requires all schools with a student diagnosed with a seizure disorder to train at least 2 employees in the administration of rescue medication or treatment prescribed to treat a student with a seizure disorder’. Education.
HS 1/HB 34 (K. Williams) ‘requires school boards, including charter schools, to permit public comment on each agenda item presented for a vote at a school board meeting. The public comment period must take place before the school board vote on an agenda item.’ Education.
Some days lend themselves to snark. Some, like yesterday, don’t.
I like Kim Williams’ bill on public comment. Too many boards only allow comments at the end of meetings, after all of the votes have taken place. This should be a requirement for all public bodies. Very few meetings would be bogged down by public comment if this passes.
Agree. Good bill.
Since it already passed the House, and is in the Senate Education Committee today, I suspect it will be on tomorrow’s Senate Agenda.
See the realtor money in action on Bill Bush’s transfer tax legislation. The bill is ridiculously unnecessary right now because, again, the people moving to Delaware from out of state who are fleeing high taxes don’t give one, big, fat, juicy f*ck about an extra 1%. Literally the only people being hurt by Delaware’s transfer tax are our local, home grown, Delaware young people who are being priced out by the influx of out of stater’s with better pensions and higher pay rates than Delaware has ever seen.
The legislature needs to do the right thing and keep the 1% hike, while eliminating the entire state portion of the transfer tax for first time home buyers.
And Jesus Christ, someone tell Bill Bush he works for his f*cking district, not for the realtors PAC.
Sorry, the realtors’ PACs, plural.
“And Jesus Christ, someone tell Bill Bush he works for his f*cking district, not for the realtors PAC.”
That’s not the way he sees it–which is why he must be primaried in 2024.
“I listened to the entire Senate debate on the Community Workforce Agreement section of SB 35 (Walsh), and it’s still as clear as mud to me. Will it benefit minority workers and contractors, or will it provide further protection to the predominantly white construction trades?”
Not sure what is unclear. Walsh is trying to protect the – as you said – predominantly white Buildings Trades Council (he is on their payroll, after all, so that’s his job) and this has nothing to do with protecting the rights of minority contractors.
Diversity is being used as a cynical ploy, to try and impose Project Labor Agreements that couldn’t get the votes to pass if they were part of a stand alone bill.
There is no logical argument that the Project Labor agreement/ collecting bargaining language will in any way benefit minority contractors.
If it were to benefit them, can anyone point to a single minority contractor that is asking for it? On the record, saying they want it?
Word is it’s some kind of deal between Walsh and the Governor.
Except–I know that some of the sponsors and supporters of the bill are NOT prone to kissing the asses of the construction trade bosses. Quite the contrary.
But you don’t like Walsh. That is clear to me.
Horace: I’m not up on this issue. Can you explain what the CWAs are supposed to do vs. how they are being misused? I think more people would be on your side if they understood the issue.
I was just wondering why there is no public comment on legis committee agenda.
The Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Meeting today has no agenda item for public comment. CLNCC is supporting the Lead-Free DE petition that requests an evalutation from this committee on State programs that address childhood lead poisoning. I wrote to the committee asking them to do this today. Will Lead-Free DE be recognized for comment?
There should always be a slot for public comment on a committee agenda.
https://legis.delaware.gov/MeetingNotice/32930
I was part of the reason that every NCC Council agenda has a public comment slot because I took the issue of being denied comment by Councilman Bob Weiner to the AG – Carl Danberg at the time. Danberg replied that the county recording device didn’t work that day and absent evidence, I should forget about it.
After all that, I sought an ally on council and Dave Tackett put the ordinance together and it was voted through.