DLOpen Thread Monday July 3 2023

We’re all still squarely in holiday mode but here are some things that happened:

It is easy to allow the awfulness of Longhurst to overshadow the significant change that has happened in the Delaware House.  Let’s not do that.  Sometimes changes comes in like a sudden and irresistible avalanche and sometimes is it inch by inch, and vote by vote. 

DOVER, Del. – On the final day of the legislative session, history was made when House lawmakers elected an all-female leadership, marking the first time a woman has served as Delaware’s Speaker of the House.

To lead the second half of the 152nd General Assembly, members selected former House Majority Leader Rep. Valerie Longhurst as Speaker of the House. Rep. Longhurst succeeds Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, who stepped down Friday after leading the House as Speaker for more than a decade.

This marks the first time in the state’s history that a woman has been elected speaker, the first time a person of color has been elected as majority leader, and the first time an open member of the LGBTQ+ community has been elected to leadership in either chamber.

__________________________

Delaware is getting $107 million for free or low-cost internet:  The people who get enraged when people get things from the government expected to be enraged

A federal grant has kicked off efforts to better connect all Delawareans with high-speed internet, including communities struggling for access.

The grant, a $107 million investment through the Biden-Harris administration, will be used by the state to address two main issues: affordability and lack of connectivity. Access to this program sets up residents with free or low-cost internet.

Though some Delawareans must qualify for free home internet, here’s what we know about the funding.

The funding, announced on June 26, comes through the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program — an initiative to tackle the digital divide and provide discounted internet service to areas that need attention.

Under the Affordable Connectivity Program, qualifying households can get a $30 monthly discount on home internet services or upgrades to faster internet speeds. Some other families may be eligible for free internet services, according to a news release.

_______________________________________

I, for one, will not rest until Claire Snyder-Hall is interviewed by Ari Melber

Seaford Shell Company Shenanigans Scoring Sustained  CNN Scrutiny

For local elections in the United States, voting eligibility rules differ from place to place. But usually the baseline requirement is that voters be humans who are alive and voting on their own behalf.

Some municipalities in Delaware, however, have broadened the definition of a voter to include “artificial entities” such as businesses, LLCs, partnerships and trusts.

Delaware is famously one of the world’s most welcoming places for companies of all kinds and sizes to incorporate for legal and tax purposes. (More on that in a minute.) But welcoming businesses directly into the ballot box by some localities takes that welcoming a step further – and in the eyes of many a step too far.

Opponents to the idea include Common Cause Delaware, a citizens lobby that among other things advocates for voter rights and opposes the influence of big money in state government. Letting businesses vote in municipal elections dilutes the voice of the citizenry and “puts the idea that corporations are people on steroids,” said its executive director, Claire Snyder-Hall.

---