Pretty productive day in Dover. Stuff I noticed:
SB 232 (Gay), which ‘expands the contraceptive coverage laws to include over-the-counter non-emergency contraceptive pills’, passed in the Senate unanimously. Surprised, for once, at the lack of knee-jerk Rethug opposition.
Sarah McBride’s bill, which may yield $100 mill in additional healthcare for Medicaid recipients, was introduced. Would it be snarky of me to point out that McBride succeeded where two governors either failed (Markell) or couldn’t be bothered to try (Carney)?
Man, the prospect of the Senate losing both Kyle Evans Gay and Sarah McBride kinda depresses me. Although–I think Kyle will be Governor someday (if you don’t know her, try to make her acquaintance), and Sarah will at least be a US Senator. But, I digress.
Those anti-marijuana legislators just won’t give up. Rep. Osienski ran a bill yesterday largely dealing with ironing out the details of implementing the pot legalization bills. 10 Rethug House members voted against it. Have I already used the phrase ‘knee-jerk’ in this post? Using it again.
Other than that, no surprises. Everything passed that we discussed yesterday.
Hence, no ‘Big Story’ today. Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report for you completists out there.
Today’s Senate Agenda features SS1/SB 212, which ‘codifies the Bureau of Health Equity (BHE) in the Division of Public Health, which includes the Office of Minority Health and the Office of Women’s Health. The purpose of the BHE is to ensure that everyone in Delaware will achieve their full health potential by eliminating health disparities, particularly among all racial and ethnic minority groups.’ I read that to mean that BHE exists, but hasn’t yet been brought under the umbrella of the Division of Public Health.
There is no House Agenda today since Wednesday is exclusively reserved for committee meetings in terms of substantive business. Today’s House Committee highlights:
OK, wait, I’m officially confused (insert joke here). HB 70 (Lynn) ‘eliminates the death penalty in Delaware’. It’s on the House Judiciary Committee’s agenda for today. However, Lynn has also introduced HB 301, which appears to do the same thing, only via Constitutional Amendment. My question: Is it either, or, or both? Can a distinguished barrister answer the question? Or, at least a legislator or their aide?
Two bad Rethug money bills in Revenue & Finance today:
HS1/HB 149 (Collins) ‘requires personal income tax brackets to be annually adjusted for cost-of-living increases.’ Collins is trying to sell this bill as helping out those plucky Horatio Algeresque types who, by dint of hard work, are moving up in the world. However, there is no means-testing in the bill, so those making the most money who subsequently make even more money will be the principal beneficiaries of the bill. Just as Collins intends it.
HB 343 (Yearick) seeks to roll back the state’s realty transfer tax to 2017 levels. No explanation as to why. Except we know it’s to starve government.
Oh, HB 301? It’s on today’s House Administration schedule, which doesn’t make me less confused. Except to point out that it’s up to Our PAL Val and her henchpersons to decide whether the entire House of Representatives can vote on this bill. If the bill doesn’t make it out of committee, we’ll know why.
Please excuse me while I get some more coffee…aaah! Now where was I? Oh, yes.
Today’s Senate Committee highlights:
SB 239 (Walsh) ‘removes the 5-year term limit imposed upon hearing officers appointed by the Secretary of Labor. It also removes the political party affiliation rule when considering new candidates for the hearing officer position.’ Good. When one party has become a tool of insurrectionists, it shouldn’t be guaranteed public positions to carry out an insurrection. (Perhaps I’m overstating it. Then again, perhaps not. Which reminds me, can we get rid of that requirement that Rethugs automatically get a significant number of judicial appointments? It only guarantees that we either get members of the Insurrectionist Party on the bench, or we get Democrats registered as Rethugs.) Labor.
SB 238 (Gay) ‘adds “victim of kidnapping” to the definition section of the Address Confidentiality Act, allowing for kidnapping victims to become eligible for the protections offered by the Address Confidentiality Program.’ Judiciary.
Hey, man, I can only work with the raw materials available to me. One of which is caffeine. See you tomorrow.