General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thursday, June 11, 2026

A (mostly) ‘just the facts, ma’am’ edition.

Here’s yesterday’s Session Activity Report.  Oooh, here’s a tidbit I missed yesterday.  The Senate had previously unanimously passed SB 22 (Townsend), ‘the Fair Standards in Mental Health Care Act, (which) builds on previous work to advance mental health parity and aims to ensure patients with private insurance can access timely, evidence-based mental health and substance use disorder care in Delaware.’  It’s an extensive bill, and pretty much a big deal.  The bill went to the House, which passed it, and sent it back to the Senate, where it once again passed unanimously.  For reason that perhaps only they can explain, two House Rethugs, Reps. Hilovsky and Shupe, voted against mental health care.  You’d have to ask them why.

One more thing–Sen. Darius Brown sure seems to be missing a lot of session days.  Just throwing that out there.

Today’s Senate Agenda is (I think) likely the final clearinghouse day for Senate bills to be passed and sent over to the House for consideration.  I, uh, spy at least one bill worthy of ridicule:

SJR 19(Seigfried) ‘directs the Department of Health & Social Services to explore and consider additional solutions for tackling the State’s high cost of health care and to submit a report to the General Assembly by January 1, 2027, that explores the feasibility of additional strategies to lower health care costs.’  Ray, can I call you Ray?  You spent your professional career as a bean-counter who helped ChristianaCare squeeze every last penny out of the healthcare dollar to the detriment of patients.  You voted to deep-six the Hospital Care Cost Containment Board.  You voted to enable ChristianaCare to essentially have veto power over any identified overcharges.  And now you want another agency to figure out why healthcare costs are so high?  Howzabout looking in a mirror?

Ah, I feel better now, doctor.  Just don’t show me the bill.

There are some bills I like, most of which I’ve previously discussed.  They include SS2/SB 23(Huxtable),  SB 13 (Pinkney), SB 313(Mantzavinos), and SB 320(Pinkney).  The above noted exception aside, this is a real solid agenda.

Here’s perhaps the most contentious bill on the agenda.  Perhaps one of the most contentious bills of the session.  SB 322 (Sokola) ‘repeals the ability of school districts to increase tax rates by up to 10% when recalculating the district’s rate of taxation after a general reassessment…This Act also allows school districts to increase a tax approved in a referendum election under Chapter 19 of Title 14 by up to 2% annually without a referendum if the district’s operational reserve balance is not more than 10% of the district’s annual revenue and it is not the same fiscal year that the rate of taxation is recalculated after a general reassessment.’  I think I’d support the bill, but will a few Nervous Nellie D’s help defeat it?

Looks like the House is doing the exact same thing today.  All House bills, and lots of ’em.  Not as many substantive bills.  I like HB 344 (Morrison),  HB 403 (Snyder-Hall), and HB 419 (Griffith).

I like ending things right there.