A good day yesterday. All of the good bills passed. None of them ran into trouble. Only weird vote yesterday was on a bill moving Delaware’s fleet of vehicles to an all-EV standard by 2040. All the R’s voted no, all the D’s voted yes–except for Sean Matthews, who voted no. He is spending his last days in office as Delaware’s Kyrsten Sinema.
BTW, kids, I think you’re now old enough to be told this: A bunch of insiders have always known that Delaware’s economy has been built on gimmicks. The biggest being our incorporation racket and the attendant Court Of Chancery. Our beloved Court Of Chancery’s status is now being endangered by other states who are passing laws to make them even more corporate-friendly than Delaware. Meaning stuff that even Delaware finds illegal will be enshrined in law in places like Nevada. Meaning, at least according to that bunch of insiders, we need to make our laws even more, um, lawless to keep this Cash Cow churning out, um, liquid gold (OK, it’s a tortured analogy, please do better)? I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but nobody else will. Kids, kids?
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.
Today’s Senate Agenda features the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment that enshrines the right for felons who have served their time to vote. It also removes impediments to their right to vote. SS1/SB 180 (Gay) ‘limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first; (p)rohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind.’ Kinda surprised not to see any R sponsors on this, especially since the late Rep. Rich Davis, a Republican, was one of the leading proponents for the restoration of voting rights during his time in the General Assembly. Yes, he was one of my favorite representatives, and he deserves to be remembered for that, and a lot more. I do think that R’s will support this bill, though.
As you’d expect, it’s a huge committee day today. Unless otherwise noted, I will only highlight Senate bills in Senate committees and House bills in House committees. You know, under the assumption that those that have already passed their chamber of origin have already been discussed here. Today’s Senate Committee highlight(s):
OK Charter proponents and critics, what do you think about SB 311 (Sokola)? The bill:
…provides the ability for charter schools to hire the administrators that they deem beneficial to the success of the school’s education program and the needs of students and staff. To that end, the bill defines “Instructional Administrator” and “Non-instructional Administrator” at a charter school. The bill clarifies that all Instructional Administrators at charter schools must be licensed and certified as administrators while Non-instructional Administrators do not. The bill also exempts the charter school administrator who reports directly to the Charter Board of Directors from the licensure and certification requirement and allows a charter school to request permission from the charter authorizer to hire an additional unlicensed and uncertified administrator.
Good, bad, or meh? Education.
Today’s House Committee highlights:
HB 445 (Wilson-Anton). OK, I’m gonna provide the entire synopsis to show why this bill is essential:
Reverse keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This Act would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse keyword requests. It also creates a private right of action for an individual whose personal information was obtained in violation of this Act and requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful or reverse-keyword search.
Only two sponsors, but the Senate sponsor is Sen. Gay, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Meaning, if the bill passes in the House, it can become law. Contact your legislators, especially your state reps!
Sen. Gay isn’t the only candidate for Lt. Governor who sponsors great bills. HB 391 (Dorsey Walker) eliminates some of those fees that Delaware routinely imposes on those who run afoul of the law:
Delaware relies on fees imposed as surcharges by the criminal legal system to generate revenue for government services. These criminal fees can be an unstable revenue generator, especially when there are recessions, pandemics, or other major economic events. This Act repeals three fees that currently fund videophone systems used by state and local agencies, personnel, equipment, and training expenses related to judicial branch security, and victim notification initiatives.
A legit civil liberties caucus. Who’dathunkit?
HB 426 (Neal) ‘ensures that pregnant women in DOC custody, at Level IV or V, are able to meet with a doula or midwife to create a birth plan surrounding the birth of their child.’
All three bills are in Judiciary.
A quartet of bills addressing state retirees’ benefits are featured in today’s House Administration Committee meeting. All, sponsored by Rep. Baumbach, are recommended by the Retiree Healthcare Benefits Advisory Subcommittee of the State Employee Benefits Committee.
So are two shitty bills dealing with primary elections. Rep. Bolden is back again with her bill to move the primary date to April. It may pass the House again, but won’t pass in the Senate. Rep. Mike Smith’s bill ‘allows Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party to vote in a political party’s primary election’. Got it. Democrats are limited to voting in Democratic primaries, Republicans may only vote in R primaries. But those who have opted against registering as a member of either party may pick and choose which primary they may vote in.
HB 442 (K. Johnson) ‘creates the Affordable Housing Production Task Force’. Thankfully, the recommendations would be made to the next Governor. So perhaps something might come of this. Housing.
HB 427 (Morrison) ‘protects consumers by regulating home improvement contracts. Among other things, this Act provides the buyer with a right to cancel home improvement contracts within 3 days (5 days for those over the age of 62 or with a disability); limits contract deposits and material deposits; and time periods in which construction must begin. It also prohibits confessions of judgments and hasty debt transfers. Where the court finds a party to a home improvement contract wilfully violates a provision of this new subchapter, the court must award to the prevailing party costs, expenses, and reasonable attorneys’ fees.’ House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce.
You have your daily menu. Choose wisely.