Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
“Now the race is on, and here comes pride down the backstretch, heartache is movin’ to the inside.” And the winner loses all? I report, you decide.
June in Dover is a race run in fits and starts–some of the fits thrown by legislators. Some of the starts false. Broken up by interminable caucuses (cauci?).
They’re breaking from the gate pretty fast today. Have I yet tortured this analogy sufficiently? We’ll see.
No, I haven’t. There has been a late post position change on the House Agenda. HB 148 (Minor Brown), the bill that hides nursing screw-ups from the public, had originally been assigned to the Consent Agenda. By ‘had been assigned’, I mean by the Speaker, Sponsor, Racing Director and Nursing Board licensee Mimi Minor-Brown. Don’t any of you speculate that the original assignment was inadvertent. Thankfully, a request by any legislator removing the bill from the Consent Agenda must be honored. And so it was scratched from the Consent Agenda.
I’m placing two bucks on HS2/HB 105(Ross Levin), which:
Pay range transparency empowers job applicants with crucial information to negotiate salaries and make informed career decisions. It also encourages businesses to proactively review compensation practices, address unjustified pay disparities, and strengthen their ability to attract and retain top talent. This Act requires that employers include salary or wage range information and a general description of benefits in all postings for job opportunities, and ensures that applicants have access to that information prior to any offer or discussion of compensation. Employers are required to maintain records relating to job descriptions and wage rates for employees for at least 3 years.
After stumbling out of the gate, Ross Levin is showing some late speed. Perhaps better at longer distances.
Challengers to HS 1/HB147 (Harris) appear to have lost their jockey. Although, perhaps Ciro Poppiti is skipping the Derby to prep for the Preakness. Make no mistake–this is a great bill, protestations to the contrary merely serving as a pretext for the (very few) opponents to make money instead of protecting the rights and property of the people who need this bill.
‘In The Wind’ is the heavy betting favorite over ‘Suxco Sad Sack’ in the SB 159 (Hansen) semi-main event. The purse is for:
…the permitting of an electric substation as an allowed conditional use in a heavy industrial zone under certain conditions set forth in the Act, including that the electrical substation is being constructed to support the operation of a proposed renewable energy generation project of 250 MW or greater. This Act is being given retroactive effect such that, if a county has previously denied an application for an electrical substation that would meet the requirements of this Act, then the application shall be deemed granted provided that the electrical substation meets the requirements of this Act.
Looks like the Suxco Council will be left holding losing tickets.
Here’s the full card for the Senate Agenda. You’ll note that SS2/SB 100 (Huxtable) is open to every variety of horseflesh.
I’ve beaten this proverbial dead horse as much as I can. Kinda like the jockey of the winning equine of the Kentucky Derby. And we still have committee meetings to discuss.
I will, for the most part, confine my listing of highlights to Senate bills still in the Senate and House bills still in the House. Since there is only one Senate committee meeting today, and since the only item is a House bill, let’s jump (but not in an equestrian steeplechase-type fashion) to today’s House committee highlights. We should first go to the House Appropriations Committee, because all the bills they will consider today have been funded in the draft State Budget, meaning they can now be released from committee. Accordingly, each bill has a fiscal note, projected for the next three Fiscal Years. I’m especially pleased that funding has been provided for an Office Of Suicide Prevention.
Other House committee highlights include:
HB 94 (Lynn) ‘restricts law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies conducting immigration enforcement activities at schools or churches without permission from the attorney general.’ Great bill, questionable committee. Public Safety & Homeland Security.
HB 196 (Romer) ‘requires officers to enter the primary reason for a traffic stop into DELJIS at the time of the stop. The Statistical Analysis Center will have access to the data for the purpose of analyzing traffic stop practices.’ Great bill, questionable committee. In fact, I predict that this bill doesn’t make it out. Public Safety & Homeland Security.
We also have two Rethug bills, both sponsored by Rep. Yearick, designed to weaken Delaware’s Family & Medical Leave Act. They’re, um, not making it out of the Labor Committee.
In other words, they’re not making it out of the starting gate.
Time to place yer bets:
Stell’s Secret is getting out: https://spotlightdelaware.org/2025/06/09/rep-parker-selby-stroke/
Didn’t Lynn try to run a bill about removal of officials? Mimi stuck it in committee or something?
Coast TV had the story first, I think. We linked to it in the last week or so.
I didn’t see a Lynn bill that addresses this, but you (meaning I) would think that, if an elected official is incapacitated for that length of time, they would do the right thing by their constituents and step down.
Instead, we got that grip ‘n grin photo with the usual suspects gathered around Selby. I’m sure the unrepresented voters in RD 20 really appreciated that.
Ah, I think it was just about non-legislator officials https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=141784
A true Profile In Courage moment from Sen. Huxtable, who gave a powerful speech announcing his support for the bill enabling the wind power project in Sussex County.
There may be repercussions from ‘home rule’ Suxco politicos, but it was the right decision.
Time and again, he has proven himself to be one of the best of the best.
BTW, it’s after 5. The House still is not in session.
The House is starting with HS1/HB 147, which cuts the red tape when it comes to transferring one’s home upon time of death. This is the bill that Ciro Poppiti had tried to stop. It is a great bill:
40 Y, you know who absent. Great start to June!
Rep. Harris recognizes the work of Eugenia Thornton on behalf of the bill.
Senate Rethugs are now simply filibustering on the wind project bill, repeating the same talking points over and over. Won’t work. Roll call should come soon.
In fact, it just passed. 15 Yes, 5 No, 1 absent.
Rep.Wilson-Anton asks about procedure. The attorney may be accurately stating the practice, but, in fact, the process has almost always been that the Speaker vacates the Chair and designates someone to serve in their place when running a bill. That is not what the Speaker chose to do.
Wilson-Anton is now asking about any personal conflict-of-interest the Speaker may have as the sponsor of this bill.
Mimi Minor-Brown again shuts down a question from Rep. Phillips because it came from a constituent.
Bill passes unanimously. Garnered applause. Seems like some people resent having their motives questioned.
Won’t stop me from questioning them.
That was truly a pointless yet disgusting display by Rae and Madinah. I am sure everyone loved having their time wasted. And Sophie was totally out of order. I cannot believe how much patience Mimi has with those toxic mean girls.
You’ve identified the wrong toxic mean girls.
But then that’s your point.
There are, daily, worse wastes of time in the Legislature. If the Reps are not on the committee where the bill was heard, then the floor is certainly inappropriate place for them to share constituent questions and concerns. Also, I think you mean retaliatory power not patience.