General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 18, 2024

The Big Story:  State Rep. Sophie Phillips is my new legislative hero.  In her first term, she’s already demonstrated her willingness to take on challenging, but essential, battles.  She has empathy and humanity, and she puts in the work.  If she remains in politics, she could well become a true difference-maker.  Not gonna be easy, though.  She’s had a tremendous amount of pushback on her Homeless Bill Of Rights.  To quote ace poster Joe Connor:

BPG surrogates were ginning up opposition among the young Wilmington business community. folks in my business put well shot Instagram ant Tik Tok videos laden with disinformation and provocative clips of tent camps in places like San Francisco. The most frustrating years of my career was my time spent working from a shelter at 8th and West and publishing a Homeless focused newspaper sold on the streets of Wilmington. The goal then and the goal now is to suppress, hide and punish those experiencing homelessness.. Soghie and the advocates have a heavy lift. I wish them well.

To quote ace poster Beach Karen:

The first committee hearing for this bill was brutal. I was very surprised that the most cutting criticisms of the bill came from Franklin Cooke, while the Rs mired the committee down with logistical questions.

FWIW, the only meat in the bill had to do with discrimination while seeking employment. Nothing in the bill mitigated the housing crisis or the homeless crisis.

The state has no controlling authority when it comes to homelessness. They throw just enough money to shelters to keep their doors open through grants. Delaware needs one department within one agency that serves as the central hub for homelessness.  (Have you considered running for office, BK?)

Keep fighting the good fight, Sophie.  The Franklin Cookes of this world ain’t gonna be there forever.

Rep. Phillips leads off today’s House Agenda by going after the Rethugs’ ‘bete noir du jour’.  HS 2/HB 13:

…requires the Director of the Sustainable Energy Utility to administer a program to provide financial assistance to Delaware residents for the cost of purchase and installation of electric vehicle supply equipment. For a low-income applicant (meaning up to 300% of the federal poverty level for household income), financial assistance covering up to 90% of the purchase and installation costs may be covered. For all other applicants the program may offer assistance to cover up to 50% of the costs.

I predict passage by straight party-line vote.  Both the House and Senate agendas today have several meaty and, in some cases, controversial bills on them.   Might be worth a livestream.

Paul Baumbach continues his multi-year efforts to enable people to end their lives in a humane and dignified manner with HB 140.  The bill ‘permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual’s life in a humane and dignified manner if both the individual’s attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and a consulting physician or consulting APRN agree on the individual’s diagnosis and prognosis and believe the individual has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily.’  I hope it passes, but I have no inside information on its prospects.

HS1/HB 253(K. Williams) ‘requires health insurance companies, including State employee/retiree health plans and Medicaid, to cover annual mammograms for the purpose of early detection for a woman 40 years of age or older, with or without referral from the woman’s health care provider. It also prohibits mammography facilities from requiring that women, 40 years of age or older, provide the facility with the name of a healthcare provider in order to receive an annual screening mammogram.’  Gotta be unanimous, right?

Because gun shops didn’t institute such safeguards on their own, HS 1/HB 270(K. Williams) ‘creates a civil penalty for any sale or display of ammunition that allows the ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser or transferee without the assistance of the vendor or an employee of the vendor.’  We’re looking at you, Cabela’s.

You would think that, after all this, today’s Senate Agenda would be anti-climactic.  You would be…incorrect.  SB 216 (Mantzavinos) ‘increases the civil penalties for violations of the statutes in Title 16, Chapter 11 related to Long Term Care Facilities and the regulations adopted pursuant to it. For violations that the Department determines pose a serious threat to the health and safety of a resident, the minimum penalty in Section 1109 of Title 16 is increased from $1,000 per violation to $2,000, and the maximum penalty is increased from $10,000 to $20,000 per violation. Each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation.’  A great bill.  It leaves nursing facilities with a choice–they can either provide adequate care and provide adequate staffing, or pay huge fines.  Where will they choose to spend the money?  Some R co-sponsors as well.  Here’s hoping…

Two of Sen. Huxtable’s affordable housing bills are also on the agenda.  SB 246 ‘codifies a “Housing Repair and Modification Fund,” which will be administered by DSHA and serve low- and very-low income homeowners in need of home repair assistance.’  SB 25 ‘…exempts contracts for the construction of affordable housing units from the 2% realty transfer tax imposed under 30 Del. C. § 5402(f).’  Great work from an expert in the field of affordable housing.

Oh, where’s the Post-Game Wrap-Up, you ask?  Here ya go.  Legislation protecting service workers passed the Senate.  All D’s voted yes, all R’s voted no.  Just so you know who’s on the side of service workers.  Three Rethugs also voted against this seemingly-innocuous bill that’s part of Sen. Huxtable’s affordable housing package.

We close with yet another example as to why Michael Ramone is not a serious legislator:  HCR 112.