Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Due to Juneteenth tomorrow, there are only two scheduled session days this week.

However, both agendas are jam-packed, as are the committee schedules.

No time to waste.  Pour yourselves another cuppa, and settle in for awhile.

Whoa. Just look at that House Agenda.  Where to begin?

At the beginning–if only for a Teaching Moment and a little snark.  It is the general practice in both chambers for bills that return with amendments that were added in the other chamber to be considered first, which explains the first two items on the House Agenda.  Yo, Trey, you notice that second bill, HB 155 (Griffith)?  Your husband-and-wife lobbying team of Campaign Bundling fame represented the arms manufacturers who opposed the bill.  Oh, well, at least they got Bundling Party Attendee Lumpy Carson to vote no first time around.  Which is more likely a result of his gerbil brain than lobbying efforts.  All these people who were gonna run for that seat, and were scared off by–Ol’ Lump?  They should all be ashamed.

Ho-kay.  Wow, this agenda runs the gamut from real good to real bad to highly questionable.  The real good?:

HB 70 (Dorsey Walker) eliminates the death penalty in Delaware.

HB 291 (Morrison) attempts to bring at least some accountability to campaign finance requirements:

…requires that a candidate’s political committee’s contribution and expense report, provided to the Department of Elections, include the primary employer and job title of each person contributing to the committee. This Act also requires the Department of Elections to provide a telephone number and online form for reporting alleged campaign financing violations. The informant must provide their name and contact information to the Department. The information provided to the Department is not to be considered a public record under FOIA.

There are also some real good bills on the two Consent Agendas.  One Consent Agenda contains House bills, the other contains Senate bills.  Check ’em out.

The real bad?:

HB 265 (M. Smith) ‘requires a commercial entity that knowingly or intentionally provides pornography and other materials defined as harmful to minors to verify the age of individuals accessing the material. Civil liability and a civil penalty are imposed on commercial entities that fail to comply with verification requirements.’  The internets, however, are exempt.  Raising two questions. (1) Just exactly is this bill designed to address? (2) Who can define ‘intentionally or knowingly’?  Looks like a bill designed for a political brochure to me.  I mean, what does it do?  Do minors still buy dirty magazines at the newsstand?

HB 400 (Bolden).  It’s ba-a-a-ck.  The Incumbent Protection Bill.  Moves the state and local primaries to the fourth Tuesday in April.  If past is prologue, it will pass the House, then will rightfully be buried in the Senate.

The highly questionable?:

HB 408 (Osienski) ‘creates a temporary conversion license for existing medical marijuana compassion centers to operate for recreational marijuana purposes, and sets forth requirements to obtain a conversion license and to operate under such a license.’  Looks like they get to jump to the front of the line. Which is wrong when one considers the difference between a ‘compassion center’ (nice turn of phrase there) and a recreational marijuana business.  Oh, lest there be any doubt that Delaware is going about this all wrong, just check out the amendment to HB 408.  Looks like Delaware is going head-first into the Clusterfuck business.

There are some good previously-discussed House bills on today’s Senate Agenda, so I’ll limit myself to the Senate bills on the agenda.

SB 247 (Huxtable) ‘creates a clearer and workable system for ensuring that manufactured home communities with health and safety violations and conditions that threaten the health and safety of people in the community cannot continue to raise rents on residents without fixing the conditions and providing a safe community for its residents.’  I cannot overstate the value of having someone with Sen. Huxtable’s expertise leading the fight for affordable housing and for protections for residents of affordable housing.

SB 309 (Gay) essentially eliminates barriers that made it difficult for people to craft their Advanced Health Care Directives.  It is not surprising that the Prime House sponsor on the bill is Rep. Baumbach.

I do have questions about SB 270 (Paradee) as it appears to circumscribe certain budgetary options.  Could be wrong, though.  You decide:

This Act builds on the State’s existing appropriation limit methodology by formalizing and maintaining the flexibility inherent in the Budget Stabilization Fund process currently enabled by Executive Order No. 21, approved on June 30, 2018, and the last 6 operating budget acts, including § 65 of the fiscal year 2024 Operating Budget Act. Acknowledging this process in statute includes defining rules for deposits to and withdrawals from the Budget Stabilization Fund and adding an objective and stable measure of sustainable budget growth through an advisory index comprised of certain State economic indicators. This Act requires that only the Governor’s recommended Budget Appropriation Bill consider this methodology and detail proposed plans, if any, deemed necessary or desirable in relation to state revenues or reserve funding.

Oh nos!  A bleepload of committee meetings today.  I don’t need more coffee, but I’m refilling my cup anyway.

Senate Committee highlights.  I will consider Senate bills since we’ve presumably already discussed House bills that have moved to the Senate:

SB 328 (Buckson) ‘directs DIAA to separate all public and private school team championship sanctioned event.’   I’m confused.  Schools are already divvied up by student population size, right?  Why do we need to do this? Education.

SB 317 (Richardson) is another perverse anti-abortion bill that is going nowhere.  It ‘requires a health-care practitioner to offer a patient ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services before terminating a pregnancy.’ Legislative Oversight & Sunset.

Today’s House Committee highlights.  Same rules apply:

HB 439 (Phillips) adds “housing status” as a protected characteristic against discrimination in housing and property transactions.  When you look at the work of Rep. Phillips, I think you see a future leader in the House.  Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee.

Speaking of Rep. Phillips, HB 440 ‘adds “housing status” as a protected characteristic against discrimination in employment and professional activities.  Labor.

Well, wrapped that up quicker than expected.  Gonna toss that last half-cup as I’m fully-caffeinated.