General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., May 23, 2024
Paul Baumbach’s bills protecting state retirees’ health care benefits passed the Senate. Each bill had a friendly amendment added onto them. They’re at the top of today’s House Agenda, and will again pass unanimously, just like they did in the Senate. Yo, John can I have a press credential for the bill signing? W-what, there’s not gonna be a public bill signing? Maybe you can have Bethany cheerfully announce that the bill will become law w/o your signature.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. Looks like whatever controversies had previously arisen concerning bail reform legislation were resolved as both bills passed the Senate unanimously. That means that legislators effectively legislated.
Some bills of note on today’s House Agenda. HS 2/HB210(Minor-Brown) ‘require all health benefit plans delivered or issued for Medicaid to cover services related to the termination of pregnancy. Coverage provided under this section is not subject to any deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other cost-sharing requirement and must cover the full scope of services permissible under the law.’ Well, yes.
I also like HB 382 (Heffernan), which ‘requires that public school students receive a vision screening, including a test for color blindness, in kindergarten. Students must also receive vision screenings at appropriate intervals in grades 1 through 12, to be determined by the DOE.’ Not sure why a fiscal note is not required, though.
Can someone explain HB 403 (Schwartzkopf) to me? Bill popped up last week, on the Agenda today. Purports to address ‘assessment functions in all County governments’. Yet, virtually all the sponsors are from Sussex County. OTOH, two real good legislators, Sen. Huxtable and Rep. Phillips, are on the bill. Anybody know where this bill came from, what it does, and why it’s being worked so quickly?
All Senate bills on today’s Senate Agenda. Not unusual, as early consideration of these bills makes it more likely that the House will be able to complete action on them before the end of session. The highlights:
SB 265 (Hansen) ‘authorizes processes necessary to help meet the net zero goals of the Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023. The bill facilitates a transition to carbon-free energy sources by (i) preparing for offshore wind to be a significant element of Delaware’s energy future, if cost is competitive with other potential sources, and (ii) increasing options for interconnecting renewable energy resources to the transmission grid.’
Delaware is one of only 6 states without a facility assessment on hospitals, causing the state to miss out on critical Medicaid funding that most states are already able to access. This Act creates the Hospital Quality Assessment, which places a 3.58% assessment on Delaware hospitals’ net patient revenues.
SB 293 (Lockman) ‘revises both the Delaware Fair Housing Act and Residential Landlord-Tenant Code to repeal the exemption to discrimination based on source of income that allows a landlord to discriminate against tenants who participate in government-sponsored rental assistance programs because this exemption contributes to a lack of affordable housing in this State.’
SS3/SB 169 (Hoffner) ‘provides compensation and reintegration services to individuals who have served sentences of incarceration, wrongful incarceration in a psychiatric institution, parole, probation, and sex offender registration in the State for crimes that they did not commit.’
Those are some good bills right there.
After today, the General Assembly adjourns for two weeks for budget mark-up. Been a pretty smooth session so far. This might not age well, but I think June will go smoothly as well. As long as Mike Ramone doesn’t run out of Skittles.
On retirees’ health care bills: Maybe BHL can gleefully announce that the bills will become law without Carney’s signature, but she would have signed them.
No fiscal note required for in-school vision screenings because teacher can handle it by asking three questions: (1) Can you see the blackboard? (2) What color is the grass outside the school? (3) What color is the sky?
We asked BHL about that when she spoke to our RD committee. Wouldn’t answer the question.
I asked if she’d deep-six Carney’s obsession with budget-smoothing. Wouldn’t answer that one either.
BHL following Carney’s pathway to irrelevance.
If you recall the 2008 campaign, one of Carney’s major failings was that he could not untie himself from Ruth Ann’s apron strings. Markell had ideas; Carney had the shopworn status quo.
Pretty much sums up the BHL campaign.
Just got a E-mail from BHL campaign talking about DE celebrating Memorial Day weekend. Here is the lines that struck me:
“We have so much to be proud of here in Delaware! From Lewis to Fenwick Island, Rehoboth to Bethany, the First State’s beautiful shorelines have something for everyone.”
A Sussex County woman knows it is LEWES, not Lewis. And her geographic description of the beaches and beach towns seems a bit strange. :Lewis [sic] to Fenwick: would seem to already cover “Rehoboth to Bethany.” Maybe she meant to list State Parks: Cape Henlopen & Fenwick Island, and then Seashore (between Dewey and Bethany). But appears written by someone that either does not know DE beaches or towns or doesn’t proof-read the e-mail blasts.
Jeez, the sheer incompetence of that campaign is astounding.
Carson and Morrison being absent yesterday was frustrating, and from what I’ve heard related to the Abortion bill. Matthews is recorded as absent, but he voted on other bills on yesterday’s agenda so that is a chicken walk. He needs to go.
There’s no way Morrison took a walk on the abortion bill. He’s a sponsor.
Perhaps Carson was too busy spritzing on some cologne for his lobbyist cash-grab party later that day to vote.
Matthews has long since retreated into his own Private Idaho. Good luck getting a cogent response out of him.
Bill passed, though. Nothing to be frustrated about.