Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Will Lucy pull the football away from Charlie Brown yet one more time?  I’ve had some legislators tell me that they believe they have a veto-proof majority in the House should John Carney once again tap into his inner Junior ROTC and veto the two pot bills, both of which are almost certainly gonna pass in the Senate today.   The Senate does have such a majority, thanks in no small part to Kyra Hoffner’s election.  The House is more iffy, meaning I’ll believe it when I see it.

BTW, assuming that the Senate passes the House bills w/o amendments, that doesn’t mean that the 10 business-day-clock for the Governor to take action starts immediately.  Rather, it’s 10 days from the time that the Governor’s office receives the bill.  Since the bills originated in the House, House leaders would determine when the Chief Clerk should deliver the bills to the Governor.  So, there could be some delay, but it shouldn’t be for too long.  The main reason for this procedure is because so many bills are passed in the last few days of session that there would be no way for the Governor’s legal staff to review them all if they materialized all at once.  However, that doesn’t mean that there will be no chicanery here.  Just something for Charlie Brown to keep an eye on.

Only three bills on today’s Senate Agenda, but they’re all monumental.  In addition to HB 1 and HB 2, the two marijuana bills sponsored by Rep. Osienski, we have SB 1 (Townsend), which ‘creates a right to representation for tenants in evictions and other landlord-tenant actions’.  The bill passed the Senate last year, but Speaker Pete and his accomplices buried the bill.  After it cleared the Housing Committee once Bud Freel became a member, Speaker Pete reassigned it to the Appropriations Committee, where Lumpy Carson and Stephanie Bolden killed it even though money had been funded for the bill in the Budget.  Bolden, who got a windfall from Buccini/Pollin and the other developers in her reelection campaign, is no longer on the Housing Committee, but Speaker Pete could use the same gimmick to kill the bill again this year.  It will likely get out of the House Housing Committee, which has a more progressive membership this time around.  I’m getting ahead of myself, but the bill has votes to spare in the Senate. Which is why they’re working it early in session.

A really bad bill highlights an otherwise bland House Agenda.  The bill, which will almost certainly pass, is The Margaret Rose Henry Ceremonial License Plate bill.  It’s not as if the fate of the Republic is at stake here.  It’s merely a sop to the vanity of state legislators, past and present.  Especially Margaret Rose Henry, who reallyreallyreally wants this, of all things, to be her legacy. In which case, I suppose it suits her.  As I read the bill, disgraced legislators like Gerald Brady and John Atkins would be eligible for the plates, as would one-term losers. Each plate should come with the inscription: “I Used Ta BE Somebody”.  Pathetic, but inevitable.

A couple of notable bills in House committees today:

HB 67 (Shupe):  The real estate lobbyists have been shedding crocodile tears over the onerous Real Estate Transfer Tax.  This bill ‘creates an exemption from the realty transfer tax if 1 or more of the individuals otherwise subject to this tax paid the realty transfer tax for a different transaction within the previous 12 months and files personal income taxes using the addresses of both properties subject to the realty transfer tax to meet the requirements to be that individual’s place of abode under § 1103 of Title 30.’  While I’ll leave it to you to translate this, I will simply point out that there could be room for reasoned discourse were the lobbyists sincere about their goals.  A very wise legislator pointed out that you could perhaps provide relief for those selling a home in Delaware while buying another home in Delaware.  As opposed to, say, selling a home in Delaware while buying a home in Florida.  The sponsors on this bill, all R’s, are not seeking a legit conversation, just an election year talking point.  Revenue & Finance.

HB 89 (Baumbach):  This looks like a done deal, meaning the Governor is on board.  The bill ‘increases the standard deduction for personal income tax purposes of resident individuals and spouses of this State for tax years beginning after December 31, 2023. Section 3 of this Act increases the monetary filing thresholds resulting from the increases the standard deduction under Section 1. Sections 2 and 4 of this Act increase the refundable earned income tax credit to 7.5% of the corresponding federal earned income tax credit for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and clarify that a previously enacted refundable earned income tax credit of 4.5% of the corresponding federal earned income tax credit took effect for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021.’  As of now, the Fiscal Note remains incomplete, but I suspect that the Joint Finance Committee has already signed off on it. Revenue & Finance.

HB 78 (Morrison):  This bill seeks to reduce the thefts of catalytic converters. Quoting the synopsis, “This Act is for the purpose of regulating the purchase and sale of catalytic converters and for the purpose of assisting law enforcement in response to the high level of catalytic converter theft that has occurred in Delaware.”  Public Safety & Homeland Security.

If circumstances permit it, I plan to watch the Senate Session via the Livestream.  It could, should, be a good day.