Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, April 8, 2025

It’s deja vu all over again as I think I wrote virtually this same intro a few weeks back:  The State is facing a budgetary crisis precipitated by Trump’s insanity.  The Governor and (particularly) Senate leaders aren’t on the same page.  The Rethugs have grasped onto partisan talking points to oppose increased taxes on Delaware’s wealthiest.  The legalized marijuana cash crop has been delayed, if not destroyed, by either bureaucratic incompetence and/or malign neglect.  While I doubt that much of this will be resolved in the next two weeks before yet another legislative recess, this remains the story-line for this session.  We may get some movement on the reefer front,  but we’re so far behind where we should have been.  Especially with NIMBYism run rampant.

Enough for the macro.  Let’s dig down to see what today might bring.  Once again, the House posted their agenda about 24 hours before today’s session.  So, the Speaker is technically in compliance with the notice requirement.  The least she can do. The Senate, as usual, posted its agenda days ago.

Today’s House Agenda features, for the umpteenth session in a row, Stephanie Bolden’s Incumbency Protection Bill.  HB 65 would move the state’s primary to April.  It always passes the House.  It has so far never approached passage in the Senate.  However, Dan Cruce is now a co-sponsor on the bill, a bill that Sarah McBride voted against twice. The only D senator on the bill.  He sucks.  The bill is designed to make it more difficult for grassroots challengers to defeat incumbents.  Let’s see how many House D’s vote against it.

I like HB 62 (Ross Levin), which significantly limits the circumstances by which a utility company may shut off service.  I would expect a unanimous vote, although not a single R has signed on as a co-sponsor.  Sometimes that’s significant, sometimes it just means that the bill was only circulated among Democrats.  Or, as in this case, among Rethugs.

There’s only one House committee meeting today, but it includes consideration of HB 110 (Osienski), which is designed to get around the latest roadblock slowing the rollout of legalized marijuana establishments.   The bill is a ‘clarification (that) is necessary to comply with the requirements of Public Law (Pub. L.) 92-544 for access to FBI criminal history record information.’ House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce.

This Senate bill is on tomorrow’s Senate & Government Affairs Committee agenda.  It’s an attempt to roll back the NIMBYism that has stalled the rollout of retail marijuana stores.  I can already hear the outraged howls of the Great Unwashed from here.  I’ll be fascinated to see how this bill fares as it moves forward.  Will John Carney deign to take a position?

Today’s Senate Agenda contains a bill clarifying that only law enforcement officers can seek emergency relief concerning ‘Protection From Abuse’ orders.  In other words, abusers need not apply.

No Senate committee meetings today.

Not to repeat myself, but I can only work with whatever raw materials I’m given.