General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., March 15, 2023

If this post isn’t the worth the price of a non-subscription, I don’t know what is.  So much stuff that I’m gonna have to up the Snark Factor to keep it interesting.  Betcha I can do it.

I’ve been told that there’s no such thing as a stupid question (not true, BTW), but I must be asking a stupid question about SB 33 (Gay).  To wit, do we need to hire more family caseworkers in order to reduce the caseloads on the the current staff?  If so, has the money been appropriated to do so?  I listened to last week’s committee hearing, I’ve contacted Senators and staff  by both e-mail and phone with those questions. I listened to yesterday’s floor discussion, and I still don’t know the answers.  Frustrating, not gonna lie.  The bill’s a great bill–if we can implement it.  Does anyone care to provide an answer?  If not, time to start asking people in the House.

Here’s yesterday’s Session Activity Report.  The true highlight/lowlight came during consideration of SCR 12 (Pinkney), which ‘declares that gun violence is a public health crisis, that ending the gun violence devastating Delaware is a policy priority, and supporting policy and legislative solutions that will make schools safe, confront armed hate and extremism, prevent suicide, and center and support survivors of gun violence.’  This, as you might expect, riled up the downstate mouthbreathers.  Sen. Lawson, reading from some NRA talking points, argued that violent deaths from means other than guns far outpaced gun deaths. Sen. McBride, after noting how Rethugs always like to turn any minor error into a major kerfluffle, pointed out that Lawson was reallyreally wrong in his assertion.  Lawson had, in fact, only cited killings by rifle, which is a miniscule percentage of gun deaths in America.  In fact, deaths by gun far exceeded violent deaths by other means.  A great mic drop moment.  (BTW, this Eric Buckson character has legit potential to be even more annoying than his predecessor, Colin Bonini.  He has a faux-Mr. Smith Goes To Washington charm that is anything but charming.)

Big doings in Senate committees today.  Barney Fife (if ya gotta ask, you’re not in my demographic) would say: “Big big. I mean really big.”  Senate Committee highlights:

HB 1 and HB 2:  The marijuana package.  Senate’s not wasting time.  Hopefully, John Carney is boning up on his research. Health & Social Services.

SB 34 (Lockman):  Repeals arcane and archaic Delaware Code references that permitted discrimination in housing and public accommodations. The policies had already been changed in the aftermath of the Federal Civil Rights Act, but the Code sections remained. Judiciary.

SB 1 (Townsend):  ‘Creates a right to representation for tenants in evictions and other landlord-tenant actions.’  It’s back. Passed the Senate last year, but the House buried it under an avalanche of contributions from Buccini/Pollin and the other landlord malefactors.  Gee, ya think Stephanie Bolden will skip the vote on this one if/when it makes it to the House floor?  It will pass the Senate.  Housing & Land Use.

SB 44 (Brown): ‘(E)stablishes the Office of New Americans to help improve the lives and economic prosperity of new Americans who come to Delaware and of all Delawareans generally’.  We’re talking almost exclusively immigrants.  For some reason, this new office would be under the purview of Jeff Bullock and his Department of State.  Meaning, we might never know what’s going on in this new agency.  I like the idea of services aimed at helping immigrants, but I’d need to see how much thought has gone into the bill and how it would be implemented.  Elections & Government Affairs.

Today’s House Committee highlights:

HB 80 (Minor-Brown) ‘requires that doula services be covered by Medicaid in Delaware by January 1, 2024.’  The Division Of Medicaid and Medical Assistance has completed a report on how they would implement this, so it should be smooth sailing.  Health & Human Development.

HB 40 (Briggs King). The Rep. has some bug up her butt about grants-in-aid.  This bill is stoopid (How stoopid? Read it and count the ways), and would create double work for the Controller General’s office, which does a fine job on the grants requests.  All R sponsors, in Our PAL Val’s Administration Committee, so it’s not going anywhere.

And now, the moment that (none of) all of you have been waiting for…Ladeez and Gentlemen–MY kind of bill.  HB 85 (Bolden) ‘creates a special license plate for retired state legislators. This Act shall be known as “The Senator Margaret Rose Henry Act”.   No doubt in the spirit of naming the prison after Sen. Jim Vaughn, which made sense since Vaughn had made sure that enough prisoners were incarcerated in his personal House Of Detention.  Also in the spirit of naming that Lewes Facility the ‘Sen. Dave McBride Wide Stance Rest Stop’.  Because, um, he lived there.  In Lewes, presumably not at the rest stop.

Alternative titles for HB 85: The ‘Do You Know Who I Am Bill’, the ‘I Used Ta Be Somebody Bill’ and The ‘Your Radar Must Be Off, Officer Bill’.  Open for more suggestions.  Word is, Senator Henry really wants this bill.  Why? Is she a bad driver?  Reading the bill, I think that both John Atkins and Gerald Brady would qualify.  Everybody OK with that?  The only stated purpose for this bill is one retired legislator’s vanity.  It could be viewed though, in fact I would view it that way, as a means for retired legislators to perhaps play the ‘do you know who I am’ card. A terrible bill.  Which no doubt will be signed into law this session. Administration.

HB 77 (Baumbach): This is the bill that should be named after former Sen. Dave McBride.  It’s the second leg of a constitutional amendment that ‘would require legislators to remain domiciled in the districts they represent for the entirety of their term of office.’ Administration.

Here is today’s Senate Agenda.  The key bill is SB 39 (Sokola),  the second leg of a Constitutional Amendment which:

would prohibit the regular session of the General Assembly from extending beyond 5:00 p.m. on the last day of June, unless the session is recalled by the Governor or the presiding officers of both Houses. This changes the time beyond which a regular session of the General Assembly may not extend from midnight on June 30 to 5:00 p.m., which changes the time at which the presiding officers of both Houses must act to recall the General Assembly into special session. This means the General Assembly no longer has to remain in session until midnight to recall itself into special session.

I’d be shocked if this doesn’t pass unanimously.  About damn time.

About damn time I wrap this up for the day.