Looks like a ‘just the facts, ma’am’ edition today.  Largely b/c there are a lot of facts to plow through.  Don’t worry, we’ll insert some levity/snark into the proceedings.

Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.  Some good bills were passed.

SB 237 (Hansen) passed. Five Senate Rethugs voted no.  Which is what happens when you get your information from a climate-denier who is somehow still employed at the U of D.  By default, Sen. Buckson is hereby crowned the Least Crazy R Senator in Dover.

The Department of Education and the Carney Administration will now have to do their job once SS1/SB 252 (Sturgeon) passes the House. It passed unanimously in the Senate on Tuesday.  Which is not the same as to predict that the Department of Education and the Carney Administration will do their job.

Resident Suxco neanderthal Rep. Collins voted against requiring sexual assault prevention training at Delaware institutions of higher education.  Presumably not because he’s in favor of sexual assault, but because he doesn’t believe in higher education.  He was the only one.

Paul Baumbach’s HB 318, which:

…increases the exemption in bankruptcy and other debt proceedings for a debtor’s personal residence from $125,000 to $200,000. The exemption has been limited to $125,000 since 2012 while home prices have increased dramatically in the intervening years. It also increases the exemption for tools of the trade and for a vehicle to $25,000 from $15,000.

passed overwhelmingly. Guess which resident Suxco neanderthal was the only legislator to not support this bill.

The annual Corporate Law package sailed right through.  I know that the Senate has started the practice of bringing in experts to actually explain the bills to the members.  It’s a good practice.  Don’t know if the House is doing the same.

Today’s Senate Agenda doesn’t interest me.  Which, let’s face it, isn’t and shouldn’t be the standard for crafting agendas.

Ho-kay, we have bleeploads of committee meetings today.

Senate Committee meeting highlights include (for now, unless noted otherwise, I’ll only discuss Senate bills in Senate committee meetings and House bills in House committee meetings since I’ve presumably already discussed the other bills when they were considered in their house of origin):

A lot of lawyering appears to have gone into SB’s 267 and 268 (both Mantzavinos), which address unclaimed property and decedent’s estates respectively.  Confession: Long synopses like these fry my synapses.  Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology.

Massive changes to how high school interscholastic sports are regulated in Delaware are the subjects of SB 259 and SB 260, both sponsored by Sen. Poore.  Here is a background article on the proposals from a Task Force that led to these bills.  Education.

SB 229 (Sturgeon) ‘… extends the right of employees to inspect their own personnel files to former employees. Under this Act, an employer must permit a former employee to inspect the employee’s own personnel files that exist at the time of the request.’ Labor.

SB 265 (Hansen) ‘authorizes processes necessary to help meet the net zero goals of the Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023.’  Environment, Energy & Transportation.

Correct me if I’m wrong.  I read SB 264 (Paradee) to mean that a temporary charge on one’s electrical and natural gas bills will become permanent. Environment, Energy & Transportation.

I’m breaking my newly-implemented rule.  I  must talk about HB’s 281 and 282, which will be considered in the Senate Executive Committee.  These are designed to protect the healthcare benefits of state retirees and future state retirees.  Both passed the House unanimously.  Both will pass the Senate.  Will Carney sign them, or allow them to become law w/o his signature?  I mean, since the bills wouldn’t have been necessary had Delaware’s Worst Governor not decided to smooth the budget on the backs of state retirees.  Warning: If you work for the City of Wilmington, an attack on your benefits and the benefits of city retirees could be in your future.

Today’s House Committee highlights:

HS 1/HB 300 (K. Johnson), a true highlight, essentially requires assisted living facilities that claim they provide certain services to be certified to provide such services.  Assisted living facilities have been underregulated with disastrous consequences.  Great bill.  With no Yrene Waldron around to lobby against it, I’m real hopeful that this bill passes.  Health & Human Development.

I mention HB 381 (K. Williams) only because I thought pamphlets concerning the landlord-tenant code were already being circulated.  I remember we had the pamphlets in Legislative Council back when I worked in Dover.  Had they stopped updating them? Housing.

Still no legislation to stop the pension windfall for retired legislators.  I was given to understand that this issue would be discussed in party caucuses this week.  I’ll provide updates even if the update is that there is no update.

A couple of notable leftovers from last Thursday’s session:

HS 2/HB 13(Phillips), which ‘requires the Director of the Sustainable Energy Utility to administer a program to provide financial assistance to Delaware residents for the cost of purchase and installation of electric vehicle supply equipment’, passed the House with the bare majority of 21 votes.  Seven reps were absent, at least four of whom decided they didn’t want to wait until the end of the session.  Is doing your job really that much of a hardship?

I’m calling on all of you to try to explain the no votes on this bill:  HS1/HB 270 (K. Williams) ‘creates a civil penalty for any sale or display of ammunition that allows the ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser or transferee without the assistance of the vendor or an employee of the vendor. Ammunition in an enclosed display case, behind a counter or other customer access preventing device is not considered accessible for purposes of this section.’  Did I miss something?  Didn’t a shitload of ammo walk out of a Delaware Cebela’s?  Then why the bleep would nine, count ’em, nine reps vote against this?  The nine who want ammo to be readily accessible for theft are: Collins, Gray, Hilovsky, Jones Giltner, Morris, Postles, Shupe, Vanderwende, and Yearick.  They are not serious people.

Personal to a Certain Someone: Yes, I’m the guy who writes ‘nice’ (meaning critical) things about you on the blog.  I will continue to do so unless or until you stop being the Worst Delaware Governor In Recent History. (Oops, I think I gave it away…) You’re first-class all the way.

But, I digress.

Let’s start with a substantive Senate Agenda.  Remember what I wrote last week about how the Worst Delaware Governor In Recent History has failed to demonstrate even a scintilla of interest in improving the performance of Delaware students?  Remember how I wrote that this has emboldened/forced legislators to try to fill in as much of the gap as possible? An example is SS1/SB 252 (Sturgeon), which:

…requires that the Department of Education (Department) perform audits of educator preparation programs (program) to assess compliance with the evidence-based reading instruction requirements, known as the “science of reading”, that were enacted on June 30, 2021, by Senate Bill No. 133 (151st). If a program is not compliant with these requirements, the audit findings must specifically identify each area in which the program is not compliant, and the Department must require that the program take corrective action for each non-compliant area. If a program is compliant with all of the science of reading requirements, the Department shall award the program a specific distinction. This Act also requires that the Department use these audits to identify how teacher preparation in reading instruction can be improved and that the audit findings be included in the reports the Department already publishes about educator preparation programs.

Allow me to translate.  The Department of Education hasn’t been doing what the General Assembly has mandated them to do.  So, the General Assembly is requiring them to do their job.  Again.

SS2/SB 169 (Hoffner):

…creates the Delaware Wrongful Conviction Compensation and Service Act. The Act provides compensation and reintegration services to individuals who have served sentences of incarceration, parole, probation, and sex offender registration in the State for crimes that they did not commit. An individual claiming wrongful conviction or, if deceased, that individual’s heirs, may bring a petition for compensation in Delaware Superior Court. A petitioner who makes the required showing is entitled to damages based on the type and period of wrongful incarceration, probation, parole, or registration, and other amounts, such as reasonable attorney fees in obtaining relief, subject to requirements of proof.

SB 237 (Hansen) ‘amends the provisions in Title 9 of the Delaware Code relating to the county comprehensive plans for Sussex, Kent, and New Castle Counties, and Title 22 of the Delaware Code relating to municipal comprehensive plans for municipalities with populations greater than 2,000, to require that their comprehensive plans increase community resiliency and address the impacts of climate change.’

Too bad it’s not retroactive.

There’s also a real good bill on today’s House Agenda.  HB 318 (Baumbach) ‘ increases the exemption in bankruptcy and other debt proceedings for a debtor’s personal residence from $125,000 to $200,000. The exemption has been limited to $125,000 since 2012 while home prices have increased dramatically in the intervening years. It also increases the exemption for tools of the trade and for a vehicle to $25,000 from $15,000.’  I don’t know if anyone has successfully passed more progressive legislation this year than Baumbach.  Hope it continues with this bill.

We also have the corporate law package which does not include prospective legislation responding to a specific Court ruling.  That may, or may not, be coming in the waning days of session.  You can read all about it here in the Delaware Call.

Here are today’s House committee meetings.  Didn’t find anything that floated my boat.  YMMV.

Tip of the Sombrero to one of  my fave spies, who has provided two great items this week alone.

Proving that I can cut-and-paste with the best of them:

1.  BHL Finally On Ballot.  Looks like it’s gonna be a three-way primary.  Is anybody anywhere in a position to know going to provide the real information on all of BHL’s campaign finance screw-ups?  Or is the  Delaware Way just too dominant to ensure that the public’s right to know is less important than burying information about a candidate for governor?  I have yet to confirm rumors that BHL will kick off her campaign by cutting ribbons in all 21 Senate districts up and down the state.

2.  Doesn’t The Delaware Rethuglican Party Have Anything Better To Do With Its Money?

The Arizona, Delaware and Georgia Republican parties are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Kari Lake’s (R) fringe voting machines lawsuit, arguing that courts set too high of a standard for election challenges to proceed. 

In their “friend of the court” brief filed Thursday, the trio of Republican parties is urging the court to hear Kari Lake and Mark Finchem’s conspiracy-laden challenge to the use of electronic voting machines in the state. Arguing that lower courts’ standards for election cases are too stringent and that it is “nearly impossible for anyone to challenge the manner in which any future election was conducted,” the state GOPs say the Supreme Court should take the case. They also encourage the Court to resolve the issue by the 2024 election.

Hey, sure beats recruiting and, uh, funding Rethug candidates here in Delaware.  Although–do ya think a few shekels from this case might just find their way into the pockets of Julianne Murray, Esq.?

3.  Changing Of The Guard In SD 18?  I dunno.  But the incumbent, mealy mush-mothed auctioneer David Wilson, has been around in Dover since 2008.  Another R has filed a committee and has filed for the ballot–one Robert Lee Reed from Greenwood.  Here’s all you need to know:  He’s an ex-cop who was sheriff of Suxco for eight years.  Looks more like a planned succession than a hostile takeover.  What do my Sussex Spies know about this?

4.  Filing(s):  D Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Joanne Masten has filed for reelection.

That’s all I’ve got this week.  What’d I miss, and whaddayathink?

The Big Story:  State Rep. Sophie Phillips is my new legislative hero.  In her first term, she’s already demonstrated her willingness to take on challenging, but essential, battles.  She has empathy and humanity, and she puts in the work.  If she remains in politics, she could well become a true difference-maker.  Not gonna be easy, though.  She’s had a tremendous amount of pushback on her Homeless Bill Of Rights.  To quote ace poster Joe Connor:

BPG surrogates were ginning up opposition among the young Wilmington business community. folks in my business put well shot Instagram ant Tik Tok videos laden with disinformation and provocative clips of tent camps in places like San Francisco. The most frustrating years of my career was my time spent working from a shelter at 8th and West and publishing a Homeless focused newspaper sold on the streets of Wilmington. The goal then and the goal now is to suppress, hide and punish those experiencing homelessness.. Soghie and the advocates have a heavy lift. I wish them well.

To quote ace poster Beach Karen:

The first committee hearing for this bill was brutal. I was very surprised that the most cutting criticisms of the bill came from Franklin Cooke, while the Rs mired the committee down with logistical questions.

FWIW, the only meat in the bill had to do with discrimination while seeking employment. Nothing in the bill mitigated the housing crisis or the homeless crisis.

The state has no controlling authority when it comes to homelessness. They throw just enough money to shelters to keep their doors open through grants. Delaware needs one department within one agency that serves as the central hub for homelessness.  (Have you considered running for office, BK?)

Keep fighting the good fight, Sophie.  The Franklin Cookes of this world ain’t gonna be there forever.

Rep. Phillips leads off today’s House Agenda by going after the Rethugs’ ‘bete noir du jour’.  HS 2/HB 13:

…requires the Director of the Sustainable Energy Utility to administer a program to provide financial assistance to Delaware residents for the cost of purchase and installation of electric vehicle supply equipment. For a low-income applicant (meaning up to 300% of the federal poverty level for household income), financial assistance covering up to 90% of the purchase and installation costs may be covered. For all other applicants the program may offer assistance to cover up to 50% of the costs.

I predict passage by straight party-line vote.  Both the House and Senate agendas today have several meaty and, in some cases, controversial bills on them.   Might be worth a livestream.

Paul Baumbach continues his multi-year efforts to enable people to end their lives in a humane and dignified manner with HB 140.  The bill ‘permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual’s life in a humane and dignified manner if both the individual’s attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and a consulting physician or consulting APRN agree on the individual’s diagnosis and prognosis and believe the individual has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily.’  I hope it passes, but I have no inside information on its prospects.

HS1/HB 253(K. Williams) ‘requires health insurance companies, including State employee/retiree health plans and Medicaid, to cover annual mammograms for the purpose of early detection for a woman 40 years of age or older, with or without referral from the woman’s health care provider. It also prohibits mammography facilities from requiring that women, 40 years of age or older, provide the facility with the name of a healthcare provider in order to receive an annual screening mammogram.’  Gotta be unanimous, right?

Because gun shops didn’t institute such safeguards on their own, HS 1/HB 270(K. Williams) ‘creates a civil penalty for any sale or display of ammunition that allows the ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser or transferee without the assistance of the vendor or an employee of the vendor.’  We’re looking at you, Cabela’s.

You would think that, after all this, today’s Senate Agenda would be anti-climactic.  You would be…incorrect.  SB 216 (Mantzavinos) ‘increases the civil penalties for violations of the statutes in Title 16, Chapter 11 related to Long Term Care Facilities and the regulations adopted pursuant to it. For violations that the Department determines pose a serious threat to the health and safety of a resident, the minimum penalty in Section 1109 of Title 16 is increased from $1,000 per violation to $2,000, and the maximum penalty is increased from $10,000 to $20,000 per violation. Each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation.’  A great bill.  It leaves nursing facilities with a choice–they can either provide adequate care and provide adequate staffing, or pay huge fines.  Where will they choose to spend the money?  Some R co-sponsors as well.  Here’s hoping…

Two of Sen. Huxtable’s affordable housing bills are also on the agenda.  SB 246 ‘codifies a “Housing Repair and Modification Fund,” which will be administered by DSHA and serve low- and very-low income homeowners in need of home repair assistance.’  SB 25 ‘…exempts contracts for the construction of affordable housing units from the 2% realty transfer tax imposed under 30 Del. C. § 5402(f).’  Great work from an expert in the field of affordable housing.

Oh, where’s the Post-Game Wrap-Up, you ask?  Here ya go.  Legislation protecting service workers passed the Senate.  All D’s voted yes, all R’s voted no.  Just so you know who’s on the side of service workers.  Three Rethugs also voted against this seemingly-innocuous bill that’s part of Sen. Huxtable’s affordable housing package.

We close with yet another example as to why Michael Ramone is not a serious legislator:  HCR 112.

OK, I lied.  And/or was misinformed.

Turns out that House committees don’t have to consider bills within 12 legislative days of being assigned to committee.  I don’t know whether this is a change in House rules or whether it has ever been thus.  Allow me to quote from the House rules (HR 5):

(b) All bills and resolutions shall be acted upon by the appropriate committee within twelve (12) legislative days after being assigned to that committee and the House Prime Sponsor requests that the bill or resolution is acted upon. All bills and resolutions not acted upon by the appropriate committee within twelve (12) legislative days after being assigned to that committee and a request has been made by the House Prime Sponsor for the bill or resolution to be acted upon can be petitioned out of committee pursuant to Rule 25.

So.  Let’s take a hypothetical example that is not hypothetical.  The House Administration Committee currently has 33, count ’em, 33 pieces of legislation sitting in committee.  Only two or three of which were brought up in committee and tabled. 14 of which were introduced last year.  So, for example, if Bryan Shupe doesn’t request that HB 341 be considered in committee, Val and her PALs  will keep it buried.  What does HB 341 do, you might ask?:

This Act prohibits the following: (1) An appropriation for a grant-in-aid to a nongovernmental entity that employs a member of the Joint Finance Committee, as the Joint Finance Committee is charged with preparing the annual grants-in-aid act. (2) An appropriation for funding under the annual capital improvement act to a nongovernmental entity that employs a member of the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement, as the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement is charged with preparing the annual capital improvement act.

Nicole Poore is a member of the Joint Capital Improvement Committee.  Meaning, her bogus Jobs For Delaware Graduates wouldn’t get any funds for capital improvements as long as she was on the committee. Not to mention the phony baloney Underwater City At Fort DuPont.  If anything, the bill doesn’t go far enough.  Because the bill wouldn’t stop Our PAL Val from sending beaucoups bucks to Hockessin on behalf of her phony baloney Delaware Police Athletic League job (6 figure salary, if you must know).  As an aside, if you were to rank areas based on need for something like a Police Athletic League, where would you rank Hockessin?  Not near the top, I daresay.  But that’s where Tom Gordon lived, so the rest is history.

Unless Rep. Shupe asks that the bill be considered, it will remain dead in committee.  It shouldn’t.

But I digress.

Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.  No surprises or outrages.

There are a couple of interesting bills on today’s Senate Agenda.

SB 233 (Walsh):

…establishes employment protections for certain service employees during changes of ownership by requiring all of the following: 1. Notice to affected service employees at covered locations at least 15 days before a service contract is terminated, services are contracted out, or the property where they are employed is sold or transferred. This notice must state the event triggering the notice, information about the new awardee, purchaser, or transferee, and the service employee’s rights under this Act. 2. The successor employer must retain all affected service employees at a covered location for a 90-day transition period.

SB 244 (Huxtable)  ‘allows a county that imposes a lodging tax to spend money from that tax on workforce and affordable housing programs’.

Oh, there’s also a bill to name something or other after Tom Carper.  Time for a Very Rare DL Contest.  They named a prison after Jim Vaughn (appropriate).  They named a Suxco Rest Stop after Dave McBride (very appropriate).  What edifice/entity should they attach Tom Carper’s name to?

Ho-kay.  Most of today’s action takes place in committee meetings.  (Goes and gets another cold brewed coffee…)

Starting with Senate Committee highlights:

SB 256 (Gay) ‘clarifies the Attorney General’s existing authority to enforce the State’s consumer protection laws, specifically the Attorney General’s ability to pursue non-penalty civil remedies, such as damages and restitution, without having to show that a person’s violation of a law or regulation enforced by the Department of Justice’s Division of Consumer Protection was wilful’.  Judiciary.

More foolishness from Dave Lawson.  SB 228 ‘changes the definition of “copycat weapon” so that small caliber rimfire pistols which are primarily or solely used in competitive target shooting are not made unlawful. to purchase, own, possess, or transfer.’ Judiciary.

The new Inspector General bill–SS1/SB 21.  It’s a good bill.  I support it.  Yes, there are political appointees on the selection committee, but there are also good government groups.  Please just explain to me why the President of the Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police is on there.  Seriously, why?  Executive.

Today’s House Committee highlights (as usual, the House is not running an agenda today):

HB 204 (K. Johnson) ‘grants authority to the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to adopt regulations related to the operation of temporary staffing agencies that staff temporary nurses and other staff positions in long-term care facilities in the State and assigns oversight within DHSS to the Division of Health Care Quality.’  Real good bill.  However, it’s not clear to me whether the bill addresses a classic scam cooked up by some in the industry–turns out that some of the providers also run temp agencies that supply personnel to the facilities that they run.  Meaning, they can skim a percentage off the top for the ‘placement’ of someone who they refer their own facilities.  I hope that the committee asks about that.  Otherwise, great work Rep. Johnson and Sen. Mantzavinos. Health & Human Development.

The fact that these bills are being considered in the House Appropriations Committee tells me that the Joint Finance Committee has already approved, or will approve, the expenditures these bills require.

HB 290 (Morrison) ‘removes a barrier to higher education by allowing a student who has been convicted of a violent felony to qualify for or maintain eligibility for a SEED scholarship if other eligibility criteria are met.’  Education.

Back tomorrow–hopefully with some good stuff on the agendas. And/or some movement to stop the retired legislators’ windfall.

Two Big Stories To Kick Off This Post-Easter Session:

1.  Will the General Assembly Stop Windfalls For Retired Legislators, And Potentially Themselves, Down The Line?

2.  The General Assembly Has Completely Tuned Out John Carney.

Yes, the two are inter-related.  Bryan Townsend said it on the record:

Delaware Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend said lawmakers weren’t aware of the pension payout problems until local reporters reached out seeking clarity on the issue, and are still trying to gather information.

“My understanding is that the (pensions) office has been looking at this for 12 months now and to me, it defies statistical probability that there would not have been some kind of outreach to the Legislature to let us know of some kind of discrepancy whether 27 years ago or 27 days ago,” Townsend said. “We should have been informed that something was amiss.”

This comes on the heels of a State Auditor summary stating that the books of the Department Of Labor Office Of Unemployment Insurance are ‘unauditable’.  Responses to the report from administration officials were dismissive.  As in ‘above the law’ dismissive.

There’s more.  This one makes it difficult to determine whether the inaction of the Governor’s office was due to incompetence or malice.  On March 1, 2023, Sen. McBride, along with all Democrats in the House and Senate leadership, introduced SB 58.  During COVID, the Department of Health & Social services had ‘not charged copays for Delaware Families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level and ha(d) reimbursed purchase of care providers for 15 absent days per child per month. These practices have been successful in stabilizing families and providing early learning programs for Delaware’s needy families and children.’  SB 58 would have continued that practice. The Carney Administration lobbied heavily against the bill, arguing that the State couldn’t afford it.  Well, guess what?  Sen. McBride and the Democrats on the Joint Finance Committee funded this initiative.  It passed along with the Budget Bill.  $20 million which, BTW, was more than the $13 mill annually that Carney deemed too costly.  Sen. Gay introduced and passed SR 13,  which ‘directs the Department of Health and Social Services to prepare reports on the Purchase of Care Program and directs the Department of Education to prepare reports on child care capacity.’

Happy ending, right?  Not so fast, my friend.  All that remained was for the bureaucrats in DHSS to change their procedures to ensure that families were stabilized and that early learning programs for needy children were restarted.  However, Carney’s minions refused to carry out their legal obligations, leaving the program in limbo.  Didn’t do anything for the remainder of 2023, didn’t do anything until about a month ago when, faced with having the General Assembly publicly castigating him, Wilmington’s would-be future mayor decided he had no choice but to do what was by law required of him.  He then quietly had the changes implemented.

I’ve come to think that our (meaning my) impression of Carney has been wrong.  Oh, sure, he has no vision of his own, he isn’t a real Democrat.  We’ve known all that for some time.  But I thought he was at least a capable steward of state government.  I have but one question:  Based on what?  We’ve had all these screw-ups lately which of course doesn’t factor in the latest Port giveaway.  Can someone please defend Carney’s competence using facts?  Thank you.

But I digress.  Let’s get back to Bryan Townsend’s quote.  Will the General Assembly stop this unearned pension windfall for former and current legislators?  I checked the latest legislative pre-file, and there’s nothing yet.  But I expect it to be a topic of conversation in all of the caucuses today.

Ho-kay.  Time to check out today’s (all things are relative) action.  Nothing of interest on today’s Senate Agenda.  Today’s House Agenda features HB 127 (Baumbach), which ‘provides each county with the ability to impose, by duly enacted ordinance, a fire protection fee (fee). A county that enacts this fee must do all of the following: 1. Deposit all money collected from this fee in an account that is segregated from the county’s general funds. 2. Establish criteria under which this money is distributed to fire companies providing fire protection in the county.’  I’m frankly surprised this hasn’t happened before.  ‘Bout time, I’d say.

All Senate Committee meetings are on Wednesday this week.

Today’s House Committee highlights:

HB 364 (Romer) ‘requires that individual, blanket, and group health insurance carriers cover drug treatment for the associated conditions of metastatic cancer in the same way treatment for metastatic cancer is covered. Specifically, it requires insurance companies to cover any FDA approved drug prescribed to treat the side effects of metastatic cancer treatment and prohibits insurance companies from mandating that patients first fail to respond to a different drug or prove a history of failure of such drug‘.  Economic Development/Banking, Insurance And Commerce.

HS1/HB 17 (Morrison) ‘requires all employers in the State to provide employees with a minimum of 1 hour of earned sick time and safety leave for every 30 hours worked. For employers of fewer than 10 employees, the time may be unpaid, job-protected time instead of paid time.’  Great bill. Labor.

Back tomorrow with a story about a legislative committee that has consistently violated its chamber’s rules.  The reveal–may not surprise you.