Looks like the Honorables are gonna make a swift getaway. The General Assembly will not meet next week as Bond Bill deliberations will instead take center stage. As often is the practice on getaway days, the House and Senate will run truncated, and non-controversial, agendas today.
Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. Bottom line, a lot of good bills made it out of committee, none of which are on today’s Agendas. Most notable we have a series of bills designed to, among other reforms, address the cluster-bleep situation in the Christina School District:
A package of five education bills that will mandate stronger transparency and oversight rules on Delaware school boards are headed to a vote of the state’s House of Representatives.
And two of those bills would directly address the biggest controversies in Delaware schools recently – the Christina School District Board of Education’s violations of open meeting laws last year, and questions around whether one of its board members now lives abroad.
In a statement, House Democrats said the bills “would ensure greater accountability and oversight for school board members while giving the public more opportunities to participate in school board meetings.”
Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-Bear) said her two bills are in response to Christina Board of Education Member Naveed Baqir’s physical absence from the district.
Last year, the Newark Post reported that the Delaware Department of Justice was reviewing claims that Baqir no longer lives in the United States.
Wilson-Anton’s bills – House Bill 82 and House Bill 83 – would require that school board members live within their district’s footprint, and would require them to attend meetings in person, with exceptions only for health reasons or military deployments.
Baqir has only attended one Christina School Board meeting in person during the past 13 months. He has said he lives in Pakistan to attend medical school and care for family.
The Inspector General bill also cleared the Senate committee. Looks like there is across-the-board bipartisan support for the bill.
Ho-kay, here are today’s Agendas: House. Senate.
Perhaps of most interest is HB 36 (Morrison), which basically consolidates all of Delaware’s non-discrimination laws. Even though the bill isn’t necessarily substantive, you could still see some Rethugs vote no because ‘woke’. I also like HB 67 (Osienski), which places limits on unscrupulous towing practices.
Perhaps you’ll find other items that interest you. Feel free to share.