First, let me just say that what Colin Bonini and Dave Lawson did yesterday is perhaps the most disgusting display of bigotry I’ve ever seen in Dover.  Which, believe me, is saying something.  Two utterly despicable alleged human beings.

(Deep cleansing breaths.)

A truly-independent redistricting process is one significant step closer to enactment today. The roll call on  SB 27 (Townsend) was 12 Y, 7 N, I NV and 1 Absent.  Two R’s voted with the majority, Delcollo and Pettyjohn. For the life of me, I don’t understand why the rest of the R’s voted no or, in the case of Cloutier, went not voting.  I almost think that they’d rather have the issue to exploit for political purposes than to have the independent redistricting they’ve been pushing. IMHO, this is the first legit proposal for independent redistricting that has ever come before the General Assembly.  Previous bills merely enabled the leadership to appoint members to a commission in direct proportion to who controlled the House and Senate.  They created the optics of independence while ensuring that the lines would be drawn precisely the way they wanted them.  This is different.  Which is why I’ll be interested to see where Speaker Pete assigns this bill.  I’m betting House Administration Committee where Val Longhurst awaits.

HB 109 (Kowalko), which creates two new higher tax brackets, was released from the House Revenue & Finance Committee.  This is more important than perhaps you might think.  More and more legislators are coming to the conclusion that the Governor is totally uninterested in the policy-making process.  They recognize that this vacuum might well be the defining feature of the Carney Administration. They’re pretty much amazed by it.  Absent genuine leadership from Jellyfish John, they understand that any alternative to Carney’s lazy-ass budget must come from them.  For example, I doubt that even R’s want to cut direct aid to education by $37 mill.  For D’s in particular, there is no political downside in charging a higher rate to those in the upper brackets.  This bill, or something similar to it, might well pass and at least find its way into budget negotiations in June.  Frankly, there is no justification in calling for ‘shared sacrifice’ when the only people who benefited from the so-called economic recovery sacrifice nothing.

Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report.

A couple of fairly minor bills are on today’s Senate Agenda.

Today’s House Agenda features HB 91 (Mulrooney), which would ‘enhance the ability of the prescription monitoring program to make informed determinations as to prescribers who may be making extraordinary prescriptions of opiates or other controlled substances, and to refer such cases to law enforcement or professional licensing organizations for further review’.  In other words, help to scope out the pill mills and shut them down.

The Live Nation Enablement bill is also on the agenda.  Just remember it the next time you’re sipping an $8 Miller Lite at the Queen.

Following today’s sessions, it’s a two-week recess.  For me as well.

OK, kids, lube up those finger joints and start making some calls.

Here’s the deal. HB 109 (Kowalko), which lowers the current tax rate by .05% for each bracket.and creates a new tax bracket at $125,000 with a rate of 7.05% and an additional bracket at $250,000 with a rate of 7.80%, will be considered in today’s House Revenue & Taxation Committee.  With 9 D’s and 4 R’s on the committee, you would think the bill would get out of committee. Not so fast, my friends.  Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf has stacked this committee with three Chamber-leaning D’s. If they all vote with the Rethugs, the bill doesn’t get released. So, if either Bryon Short, Andria Bennett, or Quinn Johnson is your State Rep., call them and urge them to vote like a Democrat.  And let them know that you’ll be watching.  This is important.  DO IT!

Speaking of important, SB 27 (Townsend), the independent redistricting bill, is on today’s Senate Agenda. This is the first legitimate reapportionment legislation I’ve seen, which is why I doubt that it will ever become law. Hope it does, though…

Legislation moving Delaware’s statewide primary from September to April passed the House yesterday by a 34-6 vote. I think it’s ill-advised for the reasons I cited yesterday.

Two key pieces of legislation to combat Delaware’s opioid epidemic unanimously passed yesterday.  SB 41 (Hansen)  and  HB 100 (Keeley) will now trade chambers on their way to full passage.

Here is yesterday’s Session Activity Report. The Repeal the Death Penalty Repeal bill, aka the ‘Extreme Crimes Protection Act’ (why would you want to protect extreme crimes?) has been introduced.  The D’s on this bill?: Sen. Ennis, Reps. Carson, Mitchell, and Paradee.

There are loads of substantive bills in committees this week.  We’ll start with today’s House committee meetings.  Here are the key bills I’ve identified:

*This one looks like a request from at least one county government. HB 83 (Matthews)  ‘enables a county government to enact an ordinance that concerns the maintenance of sidewalks in residential subdivisions.’  Seeing as how all the sponsors are from New Castle County, this looks like a Matt Meyer initiative.  Transportation/Land Use/& Infrastructure Committee.

*HB 103 (Matthews) increases penalties for home improvement fraud. Looks like everybody wants this bill in their campaign brochures.  Judiciary Committee.

*HB 96 (Mulrooney)  ‘makes compensation a mandatory subject of bargaining for any group of employees who have joined together for purposes of collective bargaining and certified a labor organization to serve as their exclusive collective bargaining representative.’ Labor Committee.

*HB 80 (Paradee), if I’m correct, is a bill that the insurance companies don’t want.  The bill ‘establishes permissible rating factors for insurance companies to use in the rating of automobile insurance and requires the offering of a good driver discount plan for qualified drivers’.  The statement in bold apparently means that seniors are entitled to a ‘good driver discount, something that the insurance companies oppose.  We will see if Bryon Short pushes for the bill to be released.  He is, after all, a lackey for the insurance industry.  Business Lapdog Committee.

*HB 111 (Keeley)  appears to be the Live Nation Enablement Bill.  Everybody knows that the Darth Vader of the live music industry will be taking over operations at the Queen. Next to Governor Carney’s ineptitude, it’s the worst-kept secret in Delaware.  This bill:

changes the number of live music events required for an entity to be a qualified “concert hall” for purposes of alcohol licensing. Previously a concert hall was required to hold at least 250 live music events per year and be open at least 5 days per week. Pursuant to this change, the 5-day requirement is eliminated and the venue must hold 250 live music events per two-year period.

Every member of the Wilmington legislative delegation is on the bill.  Campaign checks to follow. If they haven’t arrived already.  Business Lapdog Committee.

*Two of the bills allegedly designed to turn the Dover Mall into a destination shopping mecca are in the House Administration Committee.   They are HB 115 and HB 116, both by Rep. Lumpy Carson.

*HS 1 for HB 85 (K. Williams)  ‘eliminates the use of an enrollment preference for students living within a 5-mile radius of a charter school.  For any charter school using the 5-mile preference at the time of enactment, the school is required to eliminate the preference through notification to the authorizer prior to the 2018-2019 school year. The bill allows a new preference for students located in the portion of the regular school district that is geographically contiguous with the location of the charter school.’  The bill has support of both Sen. Sokola and Rep. Jaques along with some of the strongest advocates for public education, which bodes well for passage. Education Committee.

*HB 91 (Mulrooney) is part of the package of bills to combat substance addiction. The bill ‘would enhance the ability of the prescription monitoring program to make informed determinations as to prescribers who may be making extraordinary prescriptions of opiates or other controlled substances, and to refer such cases to law enforcement or professional licensing organizations for further review.’  Health & Human Development.

Highlights from the Senate Committee schedule for today:

*SB 20 (Lavelle)  is the second leg of a constitutional amendment that would limit the use of Transportation Trust Fund moneys to transportation projects and debt payment.  The irony here, of course, is that Mike Castle and his corrupt Transportation Secretary (and future felon) Kermit Justice hit upon the idea of raiding the fund for operating expenses soon after the bill was signed into law.  Almost three decades later, the Rethugs, led by the perennially-outraged Greg Lavelle, turned it into a political issue.  I’m fine with the bill, but, kids, remember your history.  It was Castle and Justice who made a mockery out of the bill’s original intent. Transportation Committee.

*SB 30 (Townsend) ‘requires political committees to report a contributor’s occupation and employment information’.  This is already a requirement for Federal campaigns, and it would enable Delawareans to determine which special interests are buying their legislators. Elections & Government Affairs.

*SB 28 (Townsend)  ‘requires that all candidates for President and Vice President of the United States file copies of their federal tax returns with the Delaware Department of Elections as a prerequisite for appearing on the ballot in the general election in Delaware.’  I doubt that this one would pass constitutional muster. Elections & Government Affairs.

*SB 24 (Henry) eliminates the requirement that a psychiatrist must sign off on a prescription for medical marijuana.  Wonder who put that stupid proviso in the statute in the first place.  Health, Children & Social Services.

* Three more bills designed to attack the opiate epidemic will be considered in the Health, Children & Social Services Committee, all sponsored by Sen. Townsend.  SB 44, SB 45, and SB 48.  As the husband of a pharmacist, I particularly like SB 48, which holds harmless a ‘ a pharmacist who dispenses narloxone under an established set of circumstances…unless it is established that the pharmacist caused the injuries or death wilfully, wantonly, or by gross negligence’.

*I also like SB 54 (Townsend), which makes it easier for someone who has a juvenile criminal record to expunge the record if they can demonstrate that they have been successfully rehabilitated. Judiciary.

*Tip of the sombrero to President Pro-Tempore Dave McBride.  There is only one nominee being considered by the Executive Committee, but the name is listed on the committee agenda.  India Colon, for the State Board of Elections.

Kids, another teaching moment. Crowded committee agendas invariably lead to crowded House and Senate Agendas.  Meaning, lots to discuss in the  upcoming days.

Scratch that.  The General Assembly adjourns for a two-week Easter recess this Thursday.  Instead of an Easter Egg Hunt, a search for Jellyfish John’s manhood might be in order.  Most disengaged governor ever.

The vast suckitude of Gov. Carney’s budget proposal becomes more obvious every day. Slash direct education spending to the schools? Shared sacrifice? There is nothing ‘Democratic’ about this budget.  It also sucks in terms of strategy, if Carney was even to think in such terms.  Propose a bunch of weak shit, offer up the Coastal Zone to environmental degradation, and then what? Face pressure from Rethugs to raise even less revenue?  He already gave away the store.  What’s left to give?

If you’re gonna give away the store, how about raising top rates as the stick while holding out the ‘tweaking’ of the Coastal Zone Act as a carrot? You want the one, you have to agree to the other. I guarantee that this thought didn’t even cross Carney’s mind.

The reason why the Chamber loves Carney’s proposal is b/c it virtually mirrors their own (and the Business Roundtable’s, which, in essence, is them) recommendations, released in a ‘report’, (aka propaganda) they put together for just this opportunity back in 2015. Chamber award-recipient Carney gave it to them almost verbatim. 

Which leaves it up to the Democratic legislative caucuses to either back the Chamber or to back the majority of their constituents.  There are some bills that would address this.  HB 109 (Kowalko)  creates two new brackets, one for those making over $125K annually, and another starting at $250K.  Now, why Kowalko felt the need to introduce four virtually identical bills (106, 107, 108, 109) doing virtually the exact same thing is a question I don’t even want to think about.  I swear, sometimes I wish that anybody but Kowalko (there are nine other sponsors on the bill) would take the lead sponsorship. (Deep cleansing breaths.)  That is, if we want to get something passed to use in negotiating a budget deal.  HB 101 (Kowalko) increases State tax levied and imposed on both domestic and foreign limited liability companies.  HB 102 (Kowalko)  increases the maximum annual corporation franchise tax in the amount of $60,000, from $180,000 to $240,000.

In an even less-than-perfect world, these proposals would provide the framework for a legitimate  budget negotiation.  While we wouldn’t get everything we want, we would likely end up with more revenue, a fairer tax system, and fewer cuts to vital services.  I think that should be our goal for this session.

Today’s Senate Agenda  features Sen. Hansen’s first legislative proposal. SB 41 (Hansen) ‘requires (insurance) carriers to provide coverage for medically necessary inpatient treatment of alcohol and drug dependencies and prohibits carriers from imposing precertification, prior authorization, pre-admission screening, or referral requirements for the diagnosis and treatment, including in-patient treatment, of drug and alcohol dependencies’.  The bill requires a Fiscal Note which, so far, is incomplete.

I think that everybody likes HB 31 (Matthews),  which ‘authorizes the use of “prize-linked” savings accounts in the State of Delaware. These accounts have been used in a number of countries and several U.S. states to promote savings, especially among persons with low-income and first-time savers.’  Bill passed the House unanimously, look for a similar result in the Senate.

SB 42 (Bushweller) ‘permits individuals to add their resident minor child and foster child to their existing motor vehicle insurance policies as additional drivers.’  I didn’t know that this wasn’t already the law.  Bipartisan sponsorship, likely to pass.

Today’s House Agenda is highlighted by HB 100 (Keeley), which appears to be a companion bill to SB 41.  HB 100:

…seeks to ensure that persons with private and public insurance coverage have the ability to insist that they receive the substance abuse coverage to which they are entitled by law and by their insurance plans. It does so by (1) allowing the Department of Justice to provide legal assistance where appropriate to persons seeking benefits from the state’s Medicaid program, traditional health plans, or from employer-funded health benefit plans (which are exempt from state regulation), (2) requiring the state’s Medicaid program and private insurance carriers to provide notice to persons who are denied substance abuse treatment of the possibility of legal assistance in challenging those claim denials, and (3) permitting the Department of Justice to use funds in its Consumer Protection Fund to offset the cost of providing medical and legal expertise to DOJ and the Department of Insurance for the purpose of assisting persons with controlled substance addictions who are seeking treatment.

This bill came from the AG’s office, so it appears to be workable.

Today’s  other major bill would change the date of Delaware’s statewide primary elections from September to April.  I know that even some good government types think this is a ‘no-brainer’, but I have concerns.  Specifically, I think this provides more incumbency protection, not less.

Any challenger to an incumbent would be forced to do the bulk of their campaigning during the time when it gets dark before 6 pm.  Any decision by an elected official to retire after the April primary would ensure that the Party would select the nominee, not the voters.

The only reason for the April date is so that the statewide primary coincides with the presidential primary; however, the General Assembly has moved the date for the presidential primary around several times in trying to be more relevant to the nominating process.  A simple statutory change can move the presidential, meaning we’d still have to have separate elections.  The reason why legislators want it in April is b/c it would be over before the heavy lifting that takes place before May or June. Meaning, any controversial votes will likely not find their way into the primaries. See how many votes this bill would get if the primary took place, say, the first week of June.

For these reasons, I think this is incumbency protection legislation masquerading as good government legislation. There is, after all, a reason why both Schwartzkopf and Longhurst are on the bill as co-sponsors.

What do you think?

Back tomorrow with an extensive committee meeting preview.