Tag Archives: Delaware General Assembly

Legislative Post-Game Wrapup/Pre-Game Show-Wed., April 21, 2010

Yesterday was ‘Clean Your Plate’ Day in Dover  as the General Assembly disposed of several bills that had hung around for awhile. Many are now ready for action by the Governor. There is still some broccoli  remaining, but isn’t there always?

The pure political hackiness that is Nancy Cook was on full display as well. The House passed HB 294 as amended by the Senate, sponsored by Brad Bennett. As originally written, the bill would have eliminated three useless row offices in Kent County and turned their functions over to the County Department of Finance. In its final form, the bill eliminates two useless positions, but the third (Comptroller) remains, thanks to Nancy Cook. A waste of $100,000. The News-Journal account of the bill is notable for how carefully Brian Bushweller and Brad Bennett  pull their punches in not blasting Delaware’s Most Powerful Legislator Least Deserving of Power. Why is she powerful? Because she knows that legislators dare not screw her or she’ll screw them during the budgetary process. It’s too bad that no D has stepped forward to primary her. She is almost as vulnerable as Bill Oberle was, and far more deserving of ignominious defeat.

Here is yesterday’s entire legislative activity report.

Perhaps the most notable bill introduced yesterday was  SB 234 (McBride), which establishes universal recycling in Delaware. Lotsa co-sponsors, including many of the ‘good guys’. I wonder why it was introduced so late in session, however. If there’s any opposition, might be tough getting it through both houses by June 30. Another interesting bill, SB 235 (Bushweller), aims to stop rampant abuse of prescription medications and/or the unlawful obtaining and subsequent selling of prescription drugs. Bill could raise some privacy issues, though.

Today is largely given over to committee meetings although the Senate does have an agenda as well. Sen. Henry’s SB 209 seeks to extend Delaware’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit for ten more years. What does it cost? I clicked on the ‘fiscal note’ icon to find out, but, surprisesurprise, the information is not available. Just more information deemed not worthy of being made public, I guess.

Today’s Committee Meeting highlights:

Senate Agriculture Committee-Sen. Simpson’s bill placing all blame for fights between cats and dogs (or, as they say in Sussex County, doags or dogues) on the poor pooches will be considered.

Senate Executive Committee-Just read the committee notice to get a sense of Sen. DeLuca’s ongoing arrogance. Feel better informed now?

Senate Insurance Committee-It’s rant time again! Yesterday I complained about the unwillingness of the General Assembly to require the IC’s office to function with even a minimum of professionalism. The power derived from the universal shrugging of shoulders could’ve operated a wind farm for a month. There’s nothing you can do? HERE’s something you can do! Guess what bill is being considered in the Insurance Committee today…time’s up! HB 314, the very bill that would expand the captive insurance business in Delaware, the very bill that KWS wants desparately, the very bill that would be ‘administered’ by the IC. Sen. Blevins and Rep. B. Short have plenty of power to deliver an ultimatum: You want your bill? THIS is what you must do to get it. It’s that simple. The issue has never been that there’s nothing they can do. It’s whether there’s anything they will do.

Senate Natural Resources/Environmental Committee-Another notice with no notice of what’s being considered.

House Education Committee-A very busy agenda, including Rep. Schooley’s HB 350, which takes affirmative steps to aggressively promote parental involvement in their children’s education.

House Judiciary Committee-In the wake of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling, I wonder if Rep. George will still have the committee consider HB 346, which would ‘make(s) it illegal to knowingly possess visual depictions of the intentional torture or killing of an animal’.

Here are the complete Senate and House Committee Meeting schedules for today. Join me tomorrow as the, hopefully, the General Assembly adds some meat and potatoes to the leftover broccoli.


Legislative Pre-Game Show Plus Rant: Tuesday, April 20, 2010

OK, folks, it’s rant time. The obligatory and halfhearted hearing into the Insurance Commissioner’s office can only be described as pathetic.

Based on published reports and what was reported at DL, there appeared to have been next-to-no preparation by the respective committee members. Little in the way of followup questions. And the weak post-hearing handwringing that the General Assembly really can’t do much because the IC’s office is a constitutionally-separate office.

Bullshit. There is absolutely no reason why The General Assembly can’t craft legislation to, for example, require the IC’s office to comply with contractual and procurement laws. None. How do you think the IC’s office got its powers in the first place? That’s right, by a little something called laws created by lawmakers, aka legislators. Every year, the IC’s office brings its own legislative agenda to the General Assembly. There is no reason why the General Assembly can’t or shouldn’t enact an agenda designed to ensure that the IC’s office works on behalf of the people, not just the insurance companies.

Well, actually, there is a reason. One incentive for seeking chairmanships of committees ‘regulating’ banking and insurance is to ‘insure’ that you can build hefty war chests. For example, those of you who are disappointed in Bryon Short’s performance here should be prepared to be disappointed in the future. He has the ‘aw-shucks’ amiability of Tom Carper circa 1982, a tabula rasa quality upon which those seeking progressivism could project him as a progressive,  and the same empathy for banks and insurance companies as his former employer. This is not surprising as he worked for Carper and emerged fully-formed from the Ed Freel Candidate Factory.  Just remember this: When the opportunity came to stand up for those who have been hurt by the BC/BS preauthorization denials, he threw up his hands and said there was nothing he could do. The chair of the committee. Nothing he can do. One can understand  Monsignor Greg ‘100 Incidents Do Not Constitute a Trend” Lavelle shilling for the plutocrats. But once again, ‘Democrats’ at best turned and ran away from the situation.

In fairness, Short might have been influenced by the Governor’s office, which was likely discomfitted by the fact that preauthorization was about to be peddled as part of its state health care cost savings plans. Fair enough. Tell us again what it means to be a Democrat? When it comes to protecting corporate interests at the expense of consumers, there ain’t a dime’s worth of difference between the two parties.

And Karen Weldin Stewart is still utterly unfit to hold public office. However, nobody but the public will suffer by her reign of incompetence. Certainly not the legislators raking in the banking and insurance bucks.

*Sigh*

Once again, virtually the only bill of interest that could be considered today is Pete Schwartzkopf’s attempt to expand casino gambling in Delaware by at least two casinos. The bill is currently laid on the Speaker’s Table, which means it can be brought up for consideration any time at the request of the sponsor. If Hazel Plant is back in attendance and/or if some negotiations have yielded a compromise, then maybe it will be considered soon. Here is the full House agenda.

At least the House agenda offers us another teaching opportunity. You will notice a ‘Consent Agenda’ consisting of two bills listed. Bills placed on  a consent agenda are generally considered to be noncontroversial bills (in this case, two House bills returning to the House with Senate amendments). An objection by any member of the body automatically removes a bill from the consent agenda.

On to the Senate Agenda. ‘Nuff said.

See ya tomorrow.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-April 1, 2010

Like the month of March, legislators are going out like lambs (to the slaughter?).

Three weeks of vamping and wasting $$’s end today as the Holier-Than-Thous adjourn for a 2-week ‘Easter’ break. Nothing of note accomplished. The signature bill, HB 194, in limbo b/c Monsignor Lavelle switched from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ so that he could be quoted in the paper, and Rep. Plant once again absent due to illness as she has been for much of the last two legislative sessions. I wish Rep. Plant all the best and a speedy and complete recovery, but, again, I have to raise the issue of how are her constituents well-served if she continues to be unable even to cast crucial votes for the Governor’s legislative agenda? This could be a serious problem come June.

Anyway, two more weeks of tinkering with the Two Casinos bill will either yield a compromise or yet more ‘killer’ amendments. For better or for worse (I support the bill), it can’t pass w/o Hazel Plant’s vote, at least not as currently written.

The other ‘Dog That Didn’t Bark’ was, thankfully, SB 60, which would give the General Assembly judicial authority to determine bail conditions for a whole host of crimes. Presumably b/c the judges they confirm are incapable of doing their jobs.   SB 60 has been removed from the House agenda and placed back on the Ready List. No doubt the bill could still resurface, but it’s clear that at least some legislators have come to their senses.

Here’s what happened yesterday. The highlight/lowlight…yet another piece of Rethug whackiness, this time with a couple of D’s in tow (well, Venables and Bunting. And what has happened to Bunting? This is not the guy I remember.). HCR 32, sponsored by auctioneer/legislator Rep. Wilson, “Urg(es) the members of the United States Congress  to propose the parental rights amendment to the states for ratification”. What could be more mom and apple pie than standing up for parents? Well, as you might expect, that’s not exactly what this amendment would do. Here’s the real reason for this wolf-in-sheep’s clothing:

Back in the 1990s, right-wing strategists saw the PRA as a back-door voucher plan. Under their theory, states would be forced to give parents tuition vouchers for private and religious schooling since the right to direct a child’s education would be enshrined in the Constitution.

In fact, interpreted broadly, the PRA would open the door to all sorts of mischief. In the 1990s, some children’s welfare advocates opposed it, arguing the amendment would make it harder to prosecute child abuse. And it’s not hard to imagine parents citing the PRA when demanding that their child be excused from the entire Biology curriculum in a public school.

In light of principle – and in light of the great amount of freedom afforded to private schools in this country – I have to conclude that the PRA isn’t about “parental rights” at all. It’s about you being forced to pay for someone else’s decision to patronize a private religious school or to engage in home-schooling. And it’s about giving fundamentalist Christians a powerful new weapon to use to harass public schools.

Memo to Legislators: You have now been informed about this bill’s intent. It is not a ‘free’ vote. That is all.

Time to preview today’s agendas. The Senate has a couple of intriguing bills scheduled. Rep. Bennett’s HB 294 eliminates some Kent County row office positions and streamlines county government. While the bill unanimously passed the House, Sen. Nancy Cook has opposed this bill, citing row offices as a breeding ground for future political leaders. This is true only if future political leaders are mosquitos (Hmm, maybe she has a point after all). I’m glad this bill actually got out of committee. It will pass handily. I wonder if anyone else will align themselves with the self-anointed Queen Bee on this one.

As predicted here yesterday, the Delaware River and Bay Pilots will get their increases today.

As to the House Agenda, if you aren’t from Felton, and can find anything of interest here, I salute you.

Be back in a couple of weeks as legislators presumably start to get serious about budgets ‘n stuff.


Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Wed., March 31

“Idle hands are the Devil’s playground.” Prof. Harold Hill- “The Music Man”

No doubt this is a biblical reference as well, a book I’ve been meaning to read for some time now. I use it here b/c we’re starting to see well-meaning, but dangerous, legislation starting to surface, most concerning additional charges for existing crimes. While prosecutors love nothing more than being able to ‘overcharge’ in hopes of getting plea deals, creating new offenses does nothing if the offenses being ‘upgraded’ aren’t being enforced in the first place.

Kids, when legislators have no money to spend, you get bills like Valerie Longhurst’s HB 348, “which imposes enhanced penalties in more than 60 criminal offenses if the victim is a vulnerable or infirm adult.” I reallyreallyreally want to give the Beaudhisattva the benefit of the doubt, but there are plenty of laws specifically protecting elderly and vulnerable residents, but many of them simply are not being enforced.  Enforce the bleeping laws  and there would be no need for overcharging using gimmicks like this.

This bill is typical of legislators trying to appear ‘tough on crime’. Stuff like this always gets through the General Assembly b/c who wants to appear to be a wuss on crime? It’s totally unnecessary. At best, it will prove to be superfluous. At worst, it will simply be more offenses that will not be enforced. Bet your bottom dollar that it’ll pass.

But that’s nowhere near the worst bill introduced yesterday. That dubious distinction once again goes to Greenville’s Greed Gratifier Rep. Deborah Hudson (Capano). Using typical Rethug hyperbole, HB 353 is entitled ‘the Delaware Health Care Freedom Act’. Meaning Delaware insurers would be free to ignore federal healthcare reform unless, wait for it, the General Assembly acts to the contrary. At which point, of course, IC KWS would be the chief enforcement agent. Here’s how the To The Manor Married Capano puts it: This bill “clarifies that only the State of Delaware has the legal authority to regulate private healthcare insurance, systems, plans, and services within its borders”. BTW, I think that Rethugs are walking en masse off a cliff on healthcare, so there’s a bright side to everything.

*Sigh*. OK, let’s check out yesterday’s ‘action’. On second thought, let’s not. Not a single bill of note passed yesterday. Plenty o’ bills introduced. I repeat: Everything that is being done during this three-week session easily could have been done in one week. The General Assembly wasted plenty of money by holding three weeks of session here.

Plenty of huntin’, fishin, and trappin’ on today’s Senate agenda.

Committee meetings are front and center in both Houses today.

Per usual, the Senate has the normal number of meetings with no posted agendas. Seriously, is it not time for someone to hold the Senate to the FOIA standards that it enacted? If not, then the entire exercise was a bleeping joke. There is no excuse for not giving notice as to what will be considered and/or discussed in committee meetings. The culprits this time are the Senate Community/County Affairs Committee; Senate Highways/Transportation Committee; Senate Labor/Industrial Relations Committee; and the Senate Revenue/Taxation Committee.

Here are the few bills of (my) interest:

SB 212 (Ennis)-Senate Finance Committee-Enables New Castle County to impose a surcharge on building permits for Fire Service. Essentially helps underwrite costs for providing such services.

SB 222 (DeLuca)-Senate Judiciary Committee (why, I have no idea)-Establishes pilotage rates through 2013. Kids, it’s nostalgia time. Every non-election year, the Delaware River and Bay Pilots hosted a spectacular cruise on a ferry out in the bay for virtually everybody affiliated with the Delaware General Assembly. Fresh shrimp, steamship round, free booze, and musical entertainment was served up in endless portions to all of us. I admit it, I loved it. I also admit that I shook my head when, the week following the cruise, legislation increasing the pilotage rates sailed through both houses of the General Assembly. Probably makes me a bit of a hypocrite. The cruises are no longer, but the memories linger on.

SB 193 (Bushweller)-Senate Public Safety Committee-Allows school buses to be equipped with LED lighting.

The House exclusively holds committee meetings today.

The House Education Committee will be very busy today. In addition to hearing from Del-Tech President Lonnie George, the committee will also consider Rep. Schooley’s HB 350, which requires schools to seek greater parental involvement in their children’s education. This bill is an outgrowth of Delaware’s receipt of Federal Excellence in Education funding.

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on issues regarding  juvenile sex offenders.

The House Manufactured Housing Committee will consider three bills concerning manufactured housing (what else?). No word yet on whether Rep. Longhurst will throw anybody out of the hearing room this time…

House Revenue & Taxation considers Speaker Gilligan’s HB 349, which “will require nonresident persons, corporations or pass-through entities that sell real estate owned in this State to declare and pay their estimate of the tax due on the gain recognized from the sale before the deed will be recorded.” Resident individuals and corporations are already required to do this. Seems like a reasonable way to raise a few bucks.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow, it’s No-Limit Texas Hold-Em at the Casino Corral, aka HB 194. Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Tues., March 30

Better late than never.

No, no, not the post-game show from last Thursday’s session, but House Resolution 38, introduced and passed Thursday (March 25), “PROCLAIMING FEBRUARY 21-27, 2010 AS FOOD CHECK-OUT WEEK IN DELAWARE.”

Memo to Rep. Pam Thornburg: If you’re gonna do a resolution like this, it might be more effective to do it before the event, not a month afterwards. Doesn’t matter. She’s gone after November regardless. Just didn’t think she’d already retired.

Thursday was the day for Strangulation ‘N Strawberries. The only two notable pieces of legislation to pass the Senate were SB 197, which makes strangulation a stand-alone crime; and Rep. Hocker’s ode to Strawberry Fields Forever.

The House passed several bills that had been on the agenda for some time: Rep. B. Short’s door-to-door sales regulations; Rep. Keeley’s consumer protection improvements package; and Rep. Barbieri’s bill strengthening no-contact requirements for domestic abuse orders.

Here’s the entire session report from Thursday.

Time to feed the frenzy for today. OK, frenzy is too strong a word. Unless regulating golf carts in Bowers Beach gets your pulse a-racin’. Here’s today’s Senate agenda.

Today’s House agenda once again features Sen. DeLuca’s SB 60. Last week, the News-Journal finally awakened to just how ill-advised this bill is, something that DL has written about for two months. Whether it makes a difference or not, we may find out today. Or the bill may continue to languish, which I’d be fine with. Has the Beaudhisattva attained enlightenment yet?

The big news, covered in depth by DL yesterday, is that Pete Schwartzkopf will try to run his Two New Casinos bill this week. I doubt that he’ll bring it up unless he knows he has the votes in the House. I suspect that this is one of those works-in-progress where you really don’t want to ‘see the sausage made’. Meaning, one would hope that the press corps is trying to see how the sausage is made. Which likely ain’t happening.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Thurs., March 25, 2010

Let’s start with yesterday’s Session (In)Activity Report. The General Assembly could have, and I think, should have, saved the State some money by, at most, holding one week of session from mid-March to the Easter break. The lack of activity does not justify 9 days of session. I understand why the action is relatively sparse–there’s no money. OK, then don’t hold as many session days. Save the per diem costs and even the mileage costs, and don’t hold session.

Here’s what little happened yesterday:

The Senate passed one bill of at least marginal substance. SB 157 (Peterson). And even this bill merely brings Delaware into conformity with Federal statute–“Consistent with federal law, this bill protects up to $125,000 of a debtor’s equity in their principal residential home in a bankruptcy proceeding.”

Some bills were released from committee, but the record is once again unreliable. Rep. B. Short’s bill regulating door-to-door solicitations was released from committee last week, but that didn’t stop Legislative Council from reporting that it was just released yesterday.

BTW, Legislative Council, the alleged ‘research’ arm of the General Assembly, is generally the repository for plum patronage spots for those with ‘special’ relationships with legislators. The sloppiness of the session reports simply reflects the disinterest with which many of them approach their jobs. If you are looking for legislative cost savings, Legislative Council is one place where you could save some serious $$’s.

I’ve padded the post-game show as much as I could. Let’s see what’s on the docket for today, shall we?

I don’t think I could make up a more pathetic agenda than today’s Senate Agenda.

And that’s with one substantive bill on it: SB 197 (Blevins), which creates the crime of strangulation as a stand-alone felony. Strangulation is often used in domestic violence incidents, and this bill seeks to address that. For those who are wondering, I checked and, no, John ‘Law-Abiding Citizen Since 2007’ Atkins is not a cosponsor. In that case, put me down as a ‘yes’ vote.

Of course, likely to receive the most attention is Rep. Hocker’s HB 203, which designates strawberries as Delaware’s Official Fruit. You know strawberries, ‘The Fruit of the Devil’, so named b/c they are so devilishly hard to pick. I am still waiting for Hocker’s bill to designate ‘migrant laborers’ as Delaware’s (or at least, Sussex County’s) Official Workforce. Perhaps he’ll sell them strawberries at cost in his stores since, you know, they picked them. Might want to do the same thing with chicken as well.

The House Agenda is far more interesting, albeit worrisome. No worries about HB 137 ( Rep. D. Short), which requires the IC to conduct random audits of insurance companies writing small business health policies.

However, Sen. DeLuca’s SB 60 is on the agenda, and it’s a bad bill pure and simple. A bad bill supported by the AG’s office. Memo to Beau Biden: This is precisely the kind of bleep that Jane Brady routinely pushed, i. e. minimum mandatory sentencing for non-violent drug offenders, and it led to disastrous fiscal and public policy consequences. If this Constitutional amendment passes two consecutive General Assemblies, every headlined crime in the paper, if papers are still around, will lead to emotion-driven legislation, the kind of bills that the weak-kneed in Dover dare not oppose. Been there, done that, don’t do that.

Unless Biden wants to go down the same path as Brady (and he might), he would do well to reconsider his support for this abomination.

I’ve previously discussed the other bills of interest on the agenda. As always, check ’em out as YMMV.

Sorry for the truncated report. On my way to work.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Wed., March 24, 2010

Looks like they must’ve installed some new, even more compelling, solitaire games on the Legislative Council computers. How else can you explain that yesterday’s session report cites activity going back to at least June of 2009 as new action effective yesterday? Perhaps the porn filter was on the fritz?

With that caveat, here is yesterday’s session report. Based on this report, Deborah Hudson (Capano)’s HB 3 passed the Senate for the third consecutive day. Granted, the bill is still horrible, but it passed last Thursday. Hello-o-o-o, anybody actually working down there? Not to mention bills previously released from committee being released from the same committees again. Were I a conspiracy theorist, I would, um, theorize, that Legislative Council is being directed to do this on purpose so that people won’t read what’s going on.

Lotsa new bills introduced, including one that will forever label a dog who goes after a cat as a dangerous animal. Now, I’m sure that many of you own both cats and dogs. We do. Seriously, how often does a cat provoke a dog? How many times a day? Sen. Simpson would blame the victim, i.e. the poor unsuspecting dog who was just minding his/her own business when ‘Precious’ raked its eyes. Oh, the canine calamity! Seriously, I know it’s a slow year, but do we really need a silly bill like this? For blogging purposes, the answer is ‘yes’. Keep bringin’ teh stupid, guys & gals!

As predicted yesterday, Rep. J.J. Johnson’s HB 284 passed the Senate unanimously. Since a Senate amendment was added, it will go back to House for final passage, likely on Thursday.

Sen. Bethany Hall-Long’s bill defining ‘title nurse’ and permitted practices passed the House unanimously, and now goes to the Governor’s office.

One interesting bill on today’s Senate agenda (out of two):

SB 157 (Peterson)-“Consistent with federal law, this bill protects up to $125,000 of a debtor’s equity in their principal residential home in a bankruptcy proceeding.”

Both the House and Senate have numerous precious few committee hearings scheduled for today.

HOUSE COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE-As always, click on the individual committees to get today’s agendas. Here are some of the highlights, according to moi:

House Administration Committee-HB 357 (Atkins)–This is John “Law-Abiding Citizen Since 2007” Atkins’ bill seeking to turn Delaware into an armed camp. No doubt, he’ll have an amendment or two limiting the carnage to housing authorities and other preferred spots, but this is the NRA’s attempt to use courts currently clogged with right-wing ideologues to forever change gun restrictions in Delaware. BTW, since Atkins often refers to protecting the rights of ‘law-abiding’ citizens, which is standard NRA boilerplate, would he be eligible to carry a gun under this bill? Perhaps he or *coughcough* anon with a period will drop by to explain. In the meantime, this bill should be buried in committee by leadership.

House Judiciary Committee-HB 336 (Barbieri)-Rep. Barbieri who, I believe, is a social worker, is sponsoring this bill that would give Family Court enhanced ability to extend ‘no contact’ orders in order to forestall and/or prevent domestic violence and abuse. Looks like a real good bill to me.

SENATE COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE-What a joke. One committee meeting w/no posted agenda; an Executive Committee hearing to consider ‘appointments’, once again with no names listed; and two joint House/Senate Committee hearings. Here’s what we know: Delaware State University President Dr. Harry Williams will address the Joint Education Committee. That’s it.

Oh, we also know that Sen. DeLuca continues to mock FOIA by not even posting the list of nominees being considered by the Senate Executive Committee. If any committee member or staffer would care to shed some light on the names, feel free to post here or to contact DL via the Tipline. And look on the bright side–it’ll drive DeLuca crazy!

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show-Tues., March 23, 2010

Before I preview today’s session, I simply HAVE to feature  House Concurrent Resolution #28, introduced by the most bat-shit crazy of the House & Senate Rethuglican Caucus. Note the moderate tone this resolution strikes:

URGING THE 111TH CONGRESS TO ABANDON THE IRRATIONAL PURSUIT OF A FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE FEDERAL HEALTHCARE ENTITLEMENT PLAN AND ENACT LESS COSTLY ALTERNATIVES TO REDUCE THE COST OF HEALTHCARE AND INCREASE ITS AVAILABILITY FOR ALL AMERICANS.

This resolution makes the case that the current healthcare entitlement program being considered by Congress is not supported by the majority of Americans; is not fiscally wise or sustainable; and will increase the burden on taxpayers while reducing healthcare options.
It further maintains that the federal government does not have the authority to impose a federal healthcare program and urges the U.S. Congress to pursue less costly and more viable alternatives to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase its availability.
Lastly, should the 111th Congress decide to abandon rational thinking and thwart the will of the American people by enacting a federal healthcare entitlement, it urges Delaware’s Congressional delegation to advocate for a provision that would require states to choose to “opt-in” to the program.

For the record, the Delaware Rethug White Noise Machine consists of sponsors Rep. Hudson (Capano), the prime offender sponsor; Rep. D. Short & Rep. Briggs King & Rep. Ramone & Sen. Booth & Sen. Bonini; and Reps. Cathcart, Carey, Hocker, (Monsignor) Lavelle, Lee, Manolakos, Outten, Wilson; Sen. Simpson. Guess we should give them brown-nose points for trying to play in the Big-Kids’ Sandbox.

I neglected to provide you with a post-game wrap-up last Friday. Here’s the session report. The Senate went ahead and unanimously passed HB 3, Rep. Hudson (Capano)’s sop to the nursing home industry. In both houses, only Rep. Earl Jaques voted ‘no’ on this bill. IMHO, his was the correct vote, and I salute him for it.

Let’s scope out today’s possibilities. Hopefully, they will strike a more, what’s the word I’m looking for, sane tone than HCR 28.

On the Senate agenda, one, count it, one bill. Looks like the Senate believes in the Ronald Reagan quote, “I’ve been told that hard work never killed anybody, but I figure why take the chance?”

The bill, HB 284, sponsored by Rep. J. J. Johnson, one of Dover’s better ‘under-the-radar’ representatives, “…addresses and eliminates an unintended chilling effect on the reporting of sexual assaults and other sexual offenses which may occur at the State’s detention facilities. The current statute criminalizes conduct for both the victim and perpetrator, likely causing such crimes to be underreported out of fear of criminal prosecution. This Act changes the statute to impose criminal liability solely on employees, visitors, contractors and volunteers at detention facilities. Prisoner-on-prisoner sexual assaults remain prosecutable pursuant to already existing criminal statutes.”

HB 284 passed the House unanimously and will likely do the same in the Senate.

The House agenda consists of leftovers from last Thursday’s agenda. Most of these bills have previously been discussed here. Once again, I’ll be real interested to see if legislators use common sense and consign SB 60 to the scrap heap of bad ideas, or whether it goes along with this bad idea that will inevitably cause trouble down the line. One point of interest: Rep. Melanie Marshall is the tentative floor manager for the bill since she’s the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. I would not be surprised if she defers to one of the bill’s sponsors to run the bill. As an attorney, she may well not be that enamored of SB 60 and its possible impact on separation of powers. Just something to keep an eye on.

So far, the biggest news of this truncated 3-week mini-session is that we have yet to see Rep. Schwartzkopf’s legislation to expand the number of casino locations in Delaware surface on an agenda. No doubt there are serious negotiations going on. I doubt that this bill will make it to the floor until and unless the Majority Leader has the votes to pass it. Tickticktick…

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Thurs. March 18, 2010

The big news is that John ‘Let’s Arm Everyone’ Atkins had to backtrack on his bill that could’ve, well, armed everyone. Here’s the money quote from Delaware’s Most Embarrassing Legislator:

“We’re either going to come in with a substitute bill or an amendment,” Atkins said. “It was never Sen. Booth’s or my intent to allow guns in day cares and on DART buses and all that,” Atkins said in asking the House Administration Committee to table the legislation.

Which, of course, is exactly what the bill would have done.

Assuming that he’s telling the truth, always at best a 50-50 proposition with Atkins, he is admitting that he had no idea what was in the bill that he had the NRA write on his behalf. Time for the General Assembly to grow a spine and fight back against the bully-boy tactics of Atkins, Booth and the NRA.

Here’s the entire record of yesterday’s session.

The other ‘rilly big news’ is that legislation to ban hand-held cell phone usage while driving has never been closer to fruition. HS 1/HB 229, which has 21 House sponsors, cleared committee yesterday. Based on the committee report, the bill will require some  technical tweaking to clarify DMV’s role, but otherwise will likely be considered by the full House soon.

Other notable bills clearing committees include HS1/HB 247, which would expand the ability of the AG’s office to strengthen consumer protection enforcement; HB 317, which regulates door-to-door salespersons; and HB 137, which requires the Insurance Commissioner to conduct random audits of small business insurance providers.

Today’s Pre-Game Show starts with the Senate agenda, featuring the good, and the bad & the ugly on its two-bill agenda. I’ve commented extensively on both previously. Suffice it to say that it indeed is emblematic of the ‘Delaware Way’ that a special interest bill solely benefiting a relentlessly-loudmouth lobbyist (Yrene Waldron, Executive Director of the Delaware Health Care Facilities Association) will fast-track its way to the Governor’s desk. If ever a bill deserved to be vetoed, this would be a likely candidate.

The House has a much lengthier agenda although it is highly doubtful that the House will work anything close to the entire agenda today.

I like HB 137, and like the fact that the carriers would bear the cost of the audits. The only caveat is the dingbat running the IC’s office. I hope that Rep. Dan Short and the other legislators sponsoring this bill make sure that the IC actually carries out this mandate.

I think Sen. DeLuca’s SB 60 is totally ill-advised and represents yet another legislative incursion into the domain of the judiciary. Were this merely statutory legislation, I believe that this bill would be unconstitutional, which is precisely why this is actually structured as the first leg of a constitutional amendment. (Time for a ‘Teaching Opportunity’! Proposed amendments to the Delaware Constitution must pass in two consecutive sessions of the Delaware General Assembly. Sometimes it’s easier to pass the first leg b/c the legislators know full well that they’ll get another bite of the apple down the road. Still, the House has a chance to stand on principle and consign this latest power grab to the circular file, where it belongs.)

As always, check out the agendas and links. I’m sure that you’ll find items that intrigue you that didn’t really interest me. If so, come on back and comment on ’em.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Report-St. Patty’s Day 2010

Fearless Prediction #1: Garish green will be worn in Leg Hall today by people who should not wear garish green in this lifetime or any other.

Fearless Prediction #2: For the second consecutive day of this 3-week session, the Senate will have no agenda. Not necessarily a BAD thing, mind you, but couldn’t they at least save the taxpayers some $$’s by not bothering to convene for purely ceremonial purposes at least ONE of those days?

Before I go any further with my Somnostradamusian visions, let’s recap yesterday, shall we?

Here’s the record of yesterday’s ‘action’:

The Senate did nothing save releasing 1 bill from committee and assigning some bills to committee. A couple of bills were introduced, and we’ll get to them later.

The House passed two bills sponsored by Brad Bennett. One broadens the definition of first responders, and applies penalties to those who would attack these first responders. The other increases the penalties for those “…who stand(s) in a position of trust, authority or supervision over a child who is at least 16 years old but not yet 18 years old and intentionally engages in sexual intercourse or sexual penetration with such child or an invitee or designee of such person.

Rep. Bryon Short’s bill, providing for the registration and oversight of two types of captive insurance companies, also passed.

None of the bills faced any opposition.

Today is Committee Day in both the House and Senate, and there are some real interesting bills on the docket.

You can find a complete list of Senate committee meetings here.  The complete House committee meetings are here.

There’s some seriously-interesting legislation being considered today.

First, in the Senate:

Rep. Debbie Hudson (Capano)’s misbegotten HB 3 is in the Senate Health & Social Services Committee. This bill places a lobbyist for the nursing home industry onto the Hospital Inspection Advisory Board. This is special interest legislation at its worst, and it’s the kind of stuff that generally coasts through the General Assembly unchallenged. Maybe this time will be different.

Rep. Dan Short’s HB 85 will be considered in the Senate Insurance Committee. This bill seeks to provide more predictability and certainty to small businesses regarding health insurance premiums. This bill passed unanimously in the House.

Lotsa action in the Senate Judiciary Committee today:

SB 158 (Peterson)-Creates a civil remedy for those victimized by child pornography, i. e. those whose visual images were captured on film or photograph. Those held liable include “those who are responsible for producing, or knowingly possessing, pornographic visual images of the victim.”

SB 197 (Blevins)-Creates a ‘felony strangulation statute’. Strangulation is viewed by proponents as one of the leading manifestations of domestic violence. This has led to a nationwide impetus to have a ‘stand-alone’ statute for strangulation. 18 states have adopted similar legislation.

HB 197 (Brady)-Gerald Brady is obsessed with red light cameras. Were it up to him, every intersection would have one, presumably to protect the public from people like him in his drinking days. This is his attempt to have them added “within ¼ mile of any work zone and/or school.” It barely passed the House, with 22 yes votes and 12 nos. Should be another close one in the Senate…if it gets out of committee.

The House also has some heavyweight stuff on tap (subtle St. Pat’s reference) today:

HB 317 (B. Short)-Requires door-to-door solicitors to ‘display a door to door salesperson identification card which shall include the person’s name, employer, employer telephone number, employer address and State of Delaware business license number’. Also restricts in-person solitications to the hours of 9 am to 7 pm. Presumably, politicians are exempt, per usual.

Joint Education Committee Meeting: Now, this gets a little weird. Someone will be addressing the joint committee. According to the House, it will be Dr. Harker from the University of Delaware. According to the Senate, it will be Dr. Williams of Delaware State University. Maybe it’ll be both. You can bet that whoever speaks will be begging for more $$’s.

Look for rhetorical guns to be a’blazin’ when the House Administration Committee considers Rep. John Atkins’ HB 357, which is the NRA’s demand for ultimate surrender on any and all gun laws in Delaware. It is no surprise that Delaware’s most embarrassing legislator has brought forth Delaware’s worst bill of this session. Kill it dead. Now.

The House Judiciary Committee will consider Rep. Keeley’s newly-reconfigured attempt to put more teeth into Delaware’s consumer protection statutes. I’m pretty sure that this is an initiative that has been led by AG Beau Biden.

Two bills limiting the use of cell phones while driving are due for consideration in the House Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee today. It appears that Rep. Scott’s HS 1/HB 229 is most likely to get the committee’s blessing as it is the most recent of the bills and has Rep. Miro as a prime co-sponsor. Rep. Miro has fought in vain for years to ban hand-held cell phone usage while driving. Now, let’s just get the bleeping thing passed.

As a special St. Patty Day’s treat, I leave you with the perfect antidote to the garish green:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTSkpOJokHw[/youtube]

Jackie Wilson- ‘Danny Boy’

Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tuesday, March 16, 2010

They’re ba-a-a-a-ck. For three weeks…before they break for Easter. The ‘honorables’ (shout out to Ralph Moyed) return to Dover with expansion of casino gambling apparently at the top of the ‘to-do, or not to-do’ list.

I support expansion beyond the current race-track sites, not b/c I was a strong advocate for casino gambling in the first place, but because the ‘fig leaf’ of using casino gambling to save the horse racing industry always was, and remains a joke. Either you have casino gambling or you don’t. We do, so it only makes sense to open it up to more than a highly-dubious and unworthy monopoly. I ‘get’ the arguments against casino gambling, and I am not unsympathetic, but those arguments were already rejected when the racetracks got gambling. The only debate now is whether casino gambling should be arbitrarily restricted to the racetracks. I see no reason why that should continue to be the case.

But I digress. And that’s because there’s little of interest on today’s agenda.

Once again, the Senate appears to have been completely taken by surprise by the reconvening of session, and its agenda is no agenda.

By contrast, the House has some fairly interesting bills on its agenda. Two of which would fall under the purview of the Insurance Commissioner’s office, aka the purview of the hopelessly inept, if not corrupt, Karen Weldin Stewart:

HB 314 (Rep B. Short) would enable certain types of captive insurance companies to be incorporated in Delaware. While the intent of increasing economic development through fully implementing Delaware’s captive insurance laws is admirable, something about linking ‘Karen Weldin Stewart’ with ‘captive insurance companies’ sets my Spidey Sense to tingling. I hope that this legislation is literally ‘fool-proof’, because we’re dealing with a fool as IC and some unsavory characters actually running the show.

HB 137 (Rep. D. Short) requires the IC to arrange for random audits for small business insurance carriers. Excellent legislation, but be aware that some agencies have histories of ‘ignoring’ mandates like this. It will be up to the General Assembly to make sure that the IC, especially THIS IC, carries out this mandate.

Also on the agenda is Sen. DeLuca’s ill-advised constitutional amendment, SB 60, which would enable the General Assembly to impinge upon the judiciary in determining what offenses bail should not be permitted for. Unfazed by their  disastrous excursions into minimum mandatory sentencing, the Socratic Solons, led by Tom Sharp’s spiritual successor DeLuca, want to prove they’re ‘tough on crime’ by using ‘bail conditions’ for campaign fodder. The House should put this piece of crapola out of its misery with dispatch.

Which puts an end to this dispatch with dispatch. Tune in tomorrow for my wrap-up and preview.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up: Session of Jan. 28, 2010

As expected, it was a busy day in Dover. The entire Session Activity record here.

In the Senate, as reported yesterday, HB 310, which legalizes table games in Delaware was passed and subsequently signed into law by Governor Markell. It was really the only notable bill passed in the Senate yesterday.

The House was a whole ‘nother story. It enacted SS1/SB 202, which provides the funding for the US 301 project and, in a completely unrelated matter in the same bill, enables Del-Tech to bypass normal permitting procedures for a construction project. Both Speaker Gilligan and Rep. Mitchell, who have notable jobs at Del-Tech, voted yes despite the apparent conflict-of interest, implying that ethics are a sometime thing in Dover. No doubt they can cite some ruling from the House Ethics Committee which gives them fig-leaf justification for their votes. However, for the record, it should be noted that the Delaware General Assembly gave Del-Tech a gift that it would not deign nor dare to give to others. And, speaking of fast-tracking, since the Speaker of the House sets the House agenda, it was the Speaker of the House who facilitated this vote without the bill going through committee. It would have been easy to remove the offending section via amendment and to have it considered in a separate bill, but that would’ve exposed the ‘Delaware Way’ backscratching that went on here. There may well be a legitimate reason for helping out Del-Tech in this manner. Accordingly, I renew my offer to have someone in the know come over here and explain that reason to us. So far, crickets.

The House also enacted SB 188, which establishes criminal penalties relating to table games. The bill goes to the Governor for his signature.

Plenty of new bills were introduced. Among the more interesting are:

HB 316 (Kowalko)-Designates the red fox as Delaware’s official wildlife animal. Can the official state sentence be far behind? My nominee: “The  quick red fox jumped over the Delaware State Seal.”

HB 317 (B. Short)-Places restrictions and requirements on door-to-door salespersons. If this bill doesn’t include the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Mormons, then it ain’t worth bleep. The only other solicitors I get are those magazine subscription kids. And at least they aren’t skilled at keeping you from ending the conversation.

SB 194 (Marshall)-This legislation carries out Gov. Markell’s job creation proposals, and provides incentives for companies that create jobs to expand and diversify Delaware’s economy. The funding source for this initiative would come from state Abandoned Properties revenues.

And, of course, most notable are SB 196, the FY ’11 Budget proposal; and HB 311, the FY ’11 Bond and Capital Improvements proposal. For the next six weeks, this’ll be where the action is.

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., Jan. 28, 2010

Last Pre-Game Show for 6 weeks, as the General Assembly recesses for budget hearings.

That means that today will be busy, with certain bills being fast-tracked for final passage before the recess.

Yesterday’s activity sets the stage for today, meaning it’s time for the…

POST-GAME WRAP-UP

The General Assembly’s latest sop to Del-Tech, SB 202 (or more precisely, SS1 for SB 202) passed the Senate. Basically an omnibus catch-all bill for several fiscal matters, the bill also exempts Del-Tech from complying with permitting procedures required of everybody else. If someone has an explanation as to why this is in the public interest, please come forward. And, if someone has an explanation as to why this is being stuffed into an unrelated bill, please come forward. The very fact that this favor for Del-Tech is being stuck into an unrelated bill says all you need to know about why they didn’t want it seeing the light of day on its own. This appears to have descended on Dover when it comes to saying anything about it:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1eUIK9CihA[/youtube]

I expect this bill to be worked in the House today before the break, probably under a motion to suspend rules, so an explanation would be appreciated. Even a question about it on the floor would be nice.

It is also possible that nominations were considered by the Senate yesterday, but there is no record of it in the Session Report, which is in keeping with there being no notice of the nominees on the Executive Committee agenda. The attitude of a lot of these officials is that, the more that they are ridiculed for obvious failure to provide the public with the most basic of information, the more obstinate they get about providing it. Uncle Thurm may be gone, but Tony DeLuca seems committed to the ‘Don’t Tell, Don’t Tell’ policies of his predecessor.

PRE-GAME SHOW

The Governor will present his proposed FY ’11 Budget today, and that will be the focal point of everything. I don’t know to what extent he will offer specific revenue enhancers to offset projected deficit figures, but I want to see progressivity restored to the income tax code, and the wealthy finally forced to pay their fair share after they’ve enjoyed 20-plus years of inequitable tax breaks.  Real meat is being cut out of essential programs, and it is simply unfair not to expect the To the Manor Born set to pay. Not if you’re a Democrat.

The Senate Agenda, as expected, features HB 310(Schwartzkopf), which legalizes and establishes a framework for table games at Delaware casinos.  So far, no senate amendments have been placed with the bill. I mention this because, sometimes, especially right before a recess, you get this Alphonse/Gaston thing going, where one body puts an amendment on the bill, which then requires that it go back to the other house for approval. Unless there’s something absolutely essential, I doubt that the bill will be amended, and it will be to prevent anything interfering with a bill going to the Governor’s desk this evening. Nothing else on the agenda strikes my fancy but, check it out, YMMV.

The House Agenda features…yep, no surprise, the Del-Tech sop in the guise of SS1/SB 202. The initials “MTSR” that you see on the agenda stand for “Motion to Suspend Rules”, which will enable the bill to come to the floor without going through committee. I, for one, will look to see whether an amendment is introduced striking the offending Section 4, and whether those House members in Del-Tech’s thrall/employ will abstain from voting due to conflict-of-interest. The bill requires a 3/4 vote, so, if enough like-minded ‘good-government’ legislators raise objections, the offending section may have to come out. I’m not holding my breath.

Sen. DeLuca’s companion bill to HB 310, SB 188, is also on the agenda and should fly right through.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my Post-Game show. Should be lotsa news coming out of today’s doings…