General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., May 21, 2025
Let’s start with a real feel-good bill signing:
Watch the video. Thrilled to see retired Rep. Paul Baumbach front and center at the signing. Gov. Meyer appeared genuinely moved at being able to sign the bill.
Back to the daily grind. Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. The big news? The Senate Finance Committee voted the Inspector General bill out of committee. Since the Senate Finance Committee is comprised of the Senate members of the Joint Finance Committee, this signals to me that JFC will fund the establishment of the Inspector General office. The bill is now ready to be placed on a Senate agenda.
Not on today’s Senate Agenda, though. Nothing much on it intrigues me. What about you?
The House doesn’t consider substantive legislation in session on Wednesdays. Meaning (refills coffee cup), it’s committee time. Highlights from today’s House committee meetings:
‘… gives courts the discretion to waive fines and fees, in whole or in part, in appropriate circumstances. It also creates a presumption that fines and fees will not be imposed when a defendant shows evidence of certain conditions, including receiving a public assistance benefit (like Medicaid, SNAP, or veterans’ benefits) or being represented by the Office of Defense Services.’ Judiciary.
HB 153 (Gorman) ‘… prohibits arrest or detention by any person who does not have explicit statutory authority to carry out an arrest or detention. The intent of this provision is to eliminate any doubt that a “citizen’s arrest” is not permitted in Delaware.’ Judiciary.
HB 302 (Ortega) ‘…requires that all State government websites are accessible in any language spoken by at least .5% of the overall population of Delaware. A link to the translated website must be prominently placed on each English version of the website.’ Elections & Government Affairs.
HB 180 (Harris) is the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment that ‘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.’ Administration.
HB 190 (Minor-Brown) ‘creates a new Grant-in-Aid Subcommittee (“Subcommittee”) of the Joint Finance Committee and codifies requirements and procedures for organizations seeking a grant-in-aid from the General Assembly.’ Well, this ensures that the legislators making Grants-In-Aid recommendations are members of the Joint Finance Committee. Not sure why we need this. Administration.
HB 148 (Minor-Brown). This bill sucks. It creates a mechanism whereby the Board Of Nursing could keep nursing professionals from disciplinary action until after a licensee ‘receives 3 or more letters of concern’ from the Board. This flies in the face of the Board’s obligation to protect the public from incompetent practitioners. I think it will make it out of committee b/c of the Speaker’s ability (and desire) to extract retribution, but I hope that cooler heads prevail. If not in the House, then in the Senate. (Personal to Marie and Spiros: Why are you on this bill as sponsors?) Sunset Committee.
HS 1/HB 13 (Lynn): ‘Creates 3 additional tax brackets for taxable income above $60,000 instead of 2. In addition, HS 1 for HB 13 is named the “The John Kowalko, Jr., Fairness in Taxation Act”. Revenue and Finance. We need this bill. I will once again note that, because the bill generates additional revenue rather than decreasing it, there is no Fiscal Note with this bill. A ludicrous long-standing policy that should be changed. (Uh, this meeting actually takes place tomorrow. Consider it tomorrow’s news today.)
Today’s Senate Committee highlights:
SB 128 (Pinkney): ‘…requires the Department of Health and Social Services to submit a Medicaid State Plan Amendment to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to be allowed to provide comprehensive dental benefits to Medicaid-eligible adults.’ Health & Social Services.
SB 131 (Pinkney): ‘ expands the definition of the “practice of dental hygiene” under Title 24 (Professions and Occupations) to include the administration of local anesthesia under the direct supervision of a licensed dentist and directs the State Board of Dentistry and Dental Hygiene (“Board”) to establish the necessary requirements and standards. Currently, Delaware is the only state in the nation that does not allow dental hygienists to administer local anesthesia.’ Health & Social Services. Great bill.
SS1/SB 115 (Lockman): ‘…provides a pathway for former defendants in eviction actions to have the eviction filings against them expunged.’ Housing & Land Use.
SB 116 (Lockman): ‘…allows tenants who are being evicted for failure to pay rent to remain in their homes if they pay all amounts owed prior to being evicted.’ Housing & Land Use.
SB 150 (Huxtable): ‘…creates the Affordable Rental Housing Program (ARHP) within the Housing Development Fund. The ARHP is modeled on the federal Section 515 program and provides loans to increase the supply of affordable housing for families with very low-, low-, and moderate-incomes, individuals who are elderly, and individuals with disabilities.’ Housing & Land Use.
SB 139 (Pinkney): ‘…provides protections and rights to victims of sexual assault by doing all of the following:…’ A lengthy litany of ‘the following’ follows. Well worth reading should you be interested in this issue. Executive.
SS1/SB 100 (Huxtable): ‘…is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution establishing that the right to marry is a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender.’ Won’t become law until/if the D’s have super-majorities in both Houses. Should pass the Senate, though. Executive.
SB 136 (Sokola) gets rid of the shameful loophole by which past members of the General Assembly have padded their pensions, and current members are also in position to get exorbitant pensions. If only it could be made retroactive…Executive.
SB 154 (Sokola) ‘clarifies’ service time for members of the General Assembly based on when elected and for time served. This means, among other things, that, although Rep. Parker Selby hasn’t set foot in Leg Hall since her election, she will nonetheless be eligible for time served since November even though she hasn’t served. I know that’s not what this bill is about, but this charade of her supposedly representing a district she isn’t representing should embarrass everyone involved. We know those involved. Embarrassment isn’t in their DNA. Executive.
Hope that gives you enough to chew on today. Which reminds me–RIP George Wendt:
Sam: “How’s it going Mr. Peterson?”
Norm: “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy, and I’m wearing Milkbone underwear.”
Inspector General bill is on Thursday’s Senate Agenda.
I fully expect it to pass the Senate.
“The Senate Finance Committee voted the Inspector General bill out of committee. Since the Senate Finance Committee is comprised of the Senate members of the Joint Finance Committee, this signals to me that JFC will fund the establishment of the Inspector General office. The bill is now ready to be placed on a Senate agenda.”
Awesome news yet I am hearing that the word in Dover is no bills with a large fiscal note are making it out of the assembly this year. Also suspect is Meyer not including the OIG costs in his budget inspite of campaign promise to EO it into existance.
OIG should be a priority seeing the clear need from media and first hand accounts of certain unethical if not illegal activities of this government of our one party powering the state.
The cost is not that prohibitive. Word I heard from a reliable legislative source is that it’s likely to pass both houses.
As you likely know, it doesn’t matter what the Governor proposes in his budget. The bill that the JFC writes becomes the budget once it passes and is signed into law.
The bill would not have been released from committee if funding wasn’t going to be included in the budget.