POST-GAME WRAPUP:

Lotsa brand new bills and brand new committee assignments for them. I’ll discuss the ones I find interesting (and/or worrisome) in my  Pre-Game Show report below.

As noted here yesterday, the Senate considered and passed a series of non-controversial house bills. Perhaps the most notable of the lot is HB 249 (Keeley), which requires pharmacists to provide patients with their records when requested. I have to assume that there must have been an incident which inspired this legislation, although I can’t imagine a pharmacist refusing to provide such information. Since all of the house bills were passed yesterday without Senate amendments being added,  they now go the the Governor for his signature.

In cases where amendments are added in the other house, the bill must return to the house of origin as the bill must be passed identically in both chambers before going to the Governor.

Which puts us smack-dab in the middle of yet another teaching opportunity. Yay!

Let’s mosey on over to the House to see this process in action, shall we? Rep. B. Short’s HB 140 originally passed the House unanimously. The Senate added an amendment to the bill, then passed it (with Sen. Bunting going ‘Not Voting’ b/c his insurance business could represent a conflict-of-interest), and sent it back to the House. An amended bill does not have to go back through the committee process, and the bill was again passed unanimously in the House. It now goes to the Governor’s office for final action.

In other House action, HB 300(Bennett), which requires prompt state responses to FOIA requests, passed unanimously. It really is hard to overstate just how far the General Assembly has come on open government issues the past couple of years. In times past, a bill like this very easily could have ‘disappeared’ into someone’s desk drawer. I predict that it won’t happen in the Senate, where it now heads.

There were a couple of revenue bills stricken. One, HB 265 (Longhurst), would have restored Delaware’s Estate Tax, which only impacts the Filthy Rich. I fully expect a new piece of legislation to replace this one. However, if this is yet another unilateral surrender on the part of the D’s, then it once again raises the question as to who represents the ‘Democratic wing of the Democratic Party’.

PRE-GAME SHOW

The Senate has an agenda, and at least one of the bills, SB 182(Hall-Long), is virtually guaranteed to be worked today as it has been scheduled for a Day Certain (today). Bills are generally scheduled for a Day Certain when there are a number of interested parties (in this case, probably the membership of the Delaware Nurses Association) who may wish to attend and/or comment upon legislation. A bill of this sort can be scheduled for the agenda days in advance of its actual consideration to enable people to make plans to participate. And, yes, I just slipped another teaching opportunity by you.

Speaking of slipping things by you, it appears that Del-Tech’s gremlins are at it again. SB 202(Venables) purports to be a revenue omnibus bill, clearing up a few fiscal odds & ends. Imagine my (lack of) surprise when I found this gift to Del-Tech tucked in there:

Section 4.  Owens Campus Energy House.  Delaware Technical & Community College shall apply for all State and local permits and approvals required by any applicable provision of the Delaware Code, or any ordinance, rule or regulation enacted pursuant thereto in connection with the design and construction of the Owens Campus Energy House; provided, nevertheless, that any such permit or approval shall be granted within 10 working days from the date upon which the College makes application therefor. If any required permit or approval is not granted within 10 working days as set forth above, the College may commence construction and shall be immune from any legal action or liability for failing to obtain such permit or approval.

Got that? They can’t be turned down even if warranted, and they can start construction with or without permits or approvals. Lonnie George sure earns his salary. It may be the greatest project of all time for all I know, but it’s a project with a legalized end-run around the permitting process. All  together now: The Delaware Way in action. BTW, SB 202 is on today’s Senate agenda.

*Sigh*.  OK on to today’s committee meetings. In the Senate:

SB 201(Bushweller) Senate Public Safety Committee-Codifies new structure of the Delaware Health Information Network. This bill deserves some serious questioning. First, state immunity is being extended to a ‘not-for-profit, public/private corporation’.  Also, while the synopsis talks about ‘patient advocates’ being represented in the process that led to this bill, it looks a lot like an  insiders’ reunion with ‘patient advocates’ serving as convenient window dressing.  Appearances could be wrong, but that’s why this bill requires clarification, IMHO.

Senate Executive Committee-The secrecy continues. Consideration of gubernatorial nominees. No names listed. Pathetic. Tony DeLuca says, “None of your bleeping business.” Maybe, just maybe, the Governor’s office would release the names of those being considered, if they even know who DeLuca has blessed.

Senate Judiciary Committee-Pete Schwartzkopf’s HB 310, legalizing and establishing table games in Delaware, has been assigned to a favorable committee and likely will be fast-tracked for a vote in the entire Senate tomorrow.

House Committee Meetings:

House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee-HB 303(Keeley)-Places restrictions and sanctions on predatory lenders.

House Gaming and Parimutuels Committee-SB 188(DeLuca)-The companion table gaming bill to HB 310. I expect both bills to head to the Governor by the end of session tom’w.

House Transportation/Land Use and Infrastructure Committee-HJR 8(Carson)-Determined to fix something (one of the few things) that ain’t broke, one of Dover’s worst legislators proposes a pilot program to have new car dealers perform auto inspections. Presumably because it works so well in Pennsylvania. A buncha Kent County/Middletown-area legislators are pushing for this. Must be some bucks being thrown around south of the Canal. Doesn’t that Willis guy have his car dealerships there?

Folks, bring your popcorn. Some interesting stuff going on in Dover today.

Be back tomorrow to clean up after the elephants and to see what they left behind…

Last week that the General Assembly meets until breaking for about a 6-week recess to enable the Joint Finance Committee to conduct budget hearings.

POST-GAME WRAP-UP

A few bills previously discussed here were passed on Thursday. In the Senate:

SB 81 w/SA5(Sokola)-Requires nutritional information to be prominently displayed in fast food restaurants. 15 yes, 5 nos. Who voted which way on this bill? I don’t know b/c the Senate does not put roll call votes online, just the vote totals. And, since the Senate also does not put the Senate Journal online, you’re basically SOL unless you were there.

This practice is a complete and total mockery of the idea of open government. This practice should change immediately.  Either that or explain to the public why they aren’t entitled to hold their Senators accountable for their votes by knowing HOW they voted. Plus, sometimes, roll calls ARE provided. Who decides which ones are and which ones aren’t?

SB 189(McDowell)-Clarifies that costs for state green energy projects be paid for out of energy savings, and not from general revenue streams. One senator voted against this, I know not who.

In the House:

All gambling revenues, all the time. Rep. Schwartzkopf’s HB 310, which authorizes the introduction and operation of table games in Delaware, finally passed with several amendments attached. But not before impassioned debate on how to ensure that legislators don’t get cushy casino jobs (it was finally done by amendment). It is a testament to the ethical standards of the General Assembly that such a discussion was even necessary.

Final vote on passage was 27 yes, 5 no, 6 not voting, and three absent. Bill goes to the Senate, where I expect it to be fast-tracked this week before recess for JFC.

PRE-GAME SHOW

Senate Agenda-The Senate is scheduled to consider a fairly pro-forma and non-controversial set of house bills today. Today’s agenda does afford me yet one more teaching opportunity. Yay! When you click on the agenda, you will notice that, in addition to the prime House sponsor, a Senator’s name will be appear in parentheses. This does not mean that said Senator is even a sponsor on the bill although, of course, they could be. What it does mean is that said Senator chaired the committee that released the bill to the floor and, as such, is the designated floor manager for the bill. The senator may, and often does, defer to a senator more directly involved with the bill, such as a key co-sponsor.

House Agenda-Today’s agenda is highlighted by HB 300(Bennett), which requires a state agency response to a FOIA request within 10 business days. I expect smooth sailing for this one.

There’s also an interesting, if unnecessary, constitutional amendment, that brings Delaware’s state constitution into compliance with Federal law that makes 18 the legal voting age.

Hey, kids, another teaching opportunity! Amendments to the Delaware Constitution must be passed by two consecutive sessions of the Delaware General Assembly. They can’t be enacted by passing them in two consecutive years of the same session. I believe, constitutional attorneys are welcome to prove me wrong, that constitutional amendments are not subject to the Governor’s signature.

That’s it for today. Please check back tomorrow for very busy committee days and some likely votes as well.

Post-Game Wrap-Up

I interrupt this report to start out today with a raging screed. To the surprise of absolutely nobody.

Yesterday, the Delaware State Senate unanimously approved the nomination of Diane Clarke Streett to become a judge on Superior Court. I know this because the Governor’s office sent out a congratulatory release about this. However, not a word of this is in the official Session Activity Report that is posted on the General Assembly’s website. And, to make matters worse, the Senate still does not post its Daily Journal (the official session record) online. The House has posted its Journal online forever. There simply is  no excuse for this. It is time for the Senate to stop deliberately withholding basic information from the public.  It serves no purpose other than to make the Senate look like it’s hiding something.

It is possible that the Senate approved other nominations yesterday, but I don’t know as there no official record of them. If a confirmation takes place and nobody hears of it, did it really happen?

OK, that major cavil aside, here’s what I know happened yesterday, aka the official, although incomplete, record.

The Senate passed a key piece of legislation designed to hasten the implementation of table gaming in Delaware. SB 188 (Sen. DeLuca) establishes criminal offenses and penalties relating to cheating at table games and/or avoiding taxes on winnings. It is a companion piece to HB 310 (Rep. Schwartzkopf), which authorizes the introduction and operation of table games in Delaware. HB 310 was released from House committee yesterday, and is expected to be worked today. It is clearly the intent of the General Assembly leadership and the Governor to have this legislation enacted into law before the General Assembly breaks for Joint Finance Committee hearings at the end of January.

Also, both House and Senate committees released a myriad of bills yesterday. I will defer discussion on them until and unless they surface on an agenda.

Pre-Game Show

Governor Jack Markell delivers his State of the State Address today at 2 p.m. It is not likely to cause anyone to well up with unbridled optimism. A reworking of the state’s Blue Collar Jobs Act will provide upfront financial incentive for businesses creating new jobs. The News-Journal’s Jeff Montgomery reports the story here. While admirable, the $10 million available for this initiative really is just a drop in the bucket and illustrates how circumscribed the state is in jump-starting economic development.

No doubt the address and reaction to it will highlight today’s activities.

SENATE AGENDA

Of primary interest to me are SB 189 (Sen. McDowell) and SB 81 (Sen. Sokola), both previously discussed in detail here. McDowell’s bill will likely move through with little or no opposition. Sokola’s nutrition labeling bill appears likely to encounter some opposition.

HOUSE AGENDA

The first two items on the agenda are notable. Rep. Schwartzkopf’s table gaming bill, HB 310, is expected to be worked today, and should pass with a comfortable margin, although there will almost certainly be a few ‘no’s.

HB 300, sponsored by Rep. Bennett, requires a timely (within 10 days) response by state agencies to FOIA requests. The bill was released from committee yesterday. It likely will meet with unanimous approval.

BTW, this is not only good policy, but smart politics. Kids, if you’re looking to protect your freshman legislators, you make sure that they get bills like this to sponsor. Bennett can now run as a good/open government advocate. No downside whatsoever.

For me, I’m on the downside until Tuesday, when the next legislative wrap-up/preview comes your way.

Post-Game Wrap-Up

A complete record of yesterday’s activity is here.

The House of Representatives, with the notable exception of Rep. Earl Jaques, had no problem putting a registered lobbyist on a medical advisory board, and approved HB 3, discussed here in detail yesterday. Any member of the House is welcome to come here and explain why this is a good thing. I won’t hold my breath. This kind of casual path-of-least-resistance legislating is but a small illustration of the Delaware Way in action. Easy to rationalize, especially when one is drawn to the allure of the Delaware Way and the campaign checks it generates.

Sen. Sokola’s bill requiring fast food restaurants to prominently display nutritional information was tabled in the Senate. This generally means one, or more, of the following: (1) it’s running into more roadblocks than expected during floor debate; (2) amendments will be needed to address issues raised on the floor; and/or (3) the legislators want to go home. The bill likely will be back. It can be removed from the table at the sponsor’s request, assuming there are no objections.

As an informational point for those new to the process, you will note that two bills were ‘stricken’ yesterday at the sponsors’ request. This does not mean that the issue addressed in the bill is dead, but rather that there were likely some technical defects in the bill that were not fixable  by amendment. I would expect substitute bills to be introduced.

Pre-Game Show

Governor Markell will preview his upcoming State of the State address this afternoon. The Governor’s Office promises that the address will focus on “a new economic development policy to attract and expand jobs for Delaware”. The ‘rollout’, or preview, takes place at 1:30 this afternoon. The actual address takes place tomorrow at 2 p.m. No doubt, this will be the most discussed development of the day.

For the House, it’s once again Committees R Us Day. Here is the complete list of scheduled House committee meetings. You can click on each committee listing to find the committee agenda.

Here are some of today’s items that I find interesting:

HB 310 (Schwartzkopf)-Provides for legalization of table games in Delaware. House Gaming & Parimutuels Committee.

HB 303 (Keeley)-Seeks to curtail predatory lending practices, including ‘payday loans’. House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee.

HB 300 (Bennett)-Requires state  agencies to respond to FOIA requests within 10 business days. House Administration Committee.

Usual Disclaimer: Check out any and all committee meetings you find of interest because YMMV.

As is the typical House practice on Wednesdays, there will be no working of legislation on the floor today.

The Senate has both an agenda and a committee meeting schedule.

A couple more notes for newbies. Just because a body may have an agenda, that is neither a guarantee nor a promise that said agenda will be worked on a given day. Rather, it means that, the next time a body takes up legislation, it will mostly be in the order as listed on the agenda. Although there are exceptions. Aren’t there always?

Second, when you see a meeting notice for a ‘joint’ meeting, that means that both the respective House and Senate committees are meeting together. This is usually the case when someone, usually a cabinet secretary, is making a presentation.

OK, on to the Senate committee items that I find interesting:

SB 189 (McDowell)-While I’ll need Tommywonk to make sure that I haven’t screwed up yet again, I think this bill clarifies that any state obligations to pay contractors for savings realized from making buildings more energy-efficient comes directly from the savings and not from other state sources. One of the coolest features of these state sustainable/green energy initiatives is that the savings are so good that contractors are delighted to be remunerated out of cost savings. The more energy-efficient the job, the more everyone benefits. Am I right, Mr. Wonk? Senate Energy & Transit Committee.

Senate Executive Committee-Nominations from the Governor. Tsk, tsk, bad form, Sen. DeLuca. As did Uncle Thurm, the new President Pro-Tem fails to give public notice as to which nominees will be considered. There is no justification for keeping the public in the dark like this. I would hope that this would change, and that members of the Senate would demand that it change.

See ya tomorrow for State of the State Day.

The entire record of the previous legislative session (Thursday, January 14) can be found here.

Key legislation that was passed, most of it previously discussed here, included:

HB 202 (Rep. B. Short)-Designed to protect policyholders when a health or life insurance company is liquidated. Pretty sure that this bill was a Matt Denn proposal from his time as IC. Passed by both houses, will go to Governor.

HB 30 (Jaques)-Increases assessments on developers to reflect current school construction costs. Was sponsored primarily by the Middletown-area legislators to try to get a grip on exploding development. Passed House and goes to Senate. Vigorously opposed by homebuilders’ lobby. 13 Rethugs voted no. Here’s the roll call.

HB 294 (Bennett)-Passed the House w/o a dissenting vote, but will bear watching in the Senate. The bill basically eliminates some elective row office jobs in Kent County and transfers the functions to the Kent County Department of Finance. Good government bill, eliminates some political hackery in county government. So why, El Somnambulo, does this bill bear watching in the Senate?

Glad’ja asked. Because Her Royal High Potentate Nancy Cook has decreed this bill as anathema to building a career for up-and-coming political talent, and she still throws her not insubstantial avoirdupois around in the Senate. It will be interesting to see what committee is assigned this bill. As to her argument about political talent, I have two words for her: Mike and Kozakowski. I rest my case.

The Session Report for January 14 also lists some newly-introduced bills. I will not generally discuss them here as I usually leave that for my committee meeting previews and wrapups.

Today’s Preview:

Not many bills on the agenda, but a few interesting ones, including a seemingly-innocuous bill that, in fact, is a window into the Delaware Way:

SENATE AGENDA

Only bill on the agenda is nevertheless an intriguing one:

SB 81 (Sokola)-Would require chain restaurants to provide labels with complete and accurate nutritional information. There would also be an educational outreach by the Division of Public Health on obesity.

While I admire the intent of this bill, (a) the cynic in me believes that people who go to fast food places already know that the food is laden with all kinds of bad things, and they don’t care; and (b) if you’re gonna do this, why limit it to fast food places? I love Italian food, but I’ve always got a cardiologist on speed-dial when I go to an Italian restaurant. Should make for an interesting floor debate.

HOUSE AGENDA

Now, kids, sidle up closer to your computer screen as I e-whisper you some nasty facts about the Delaware Way. But, first, I’ve got an audience participation assignment for you. Read this bill, which is on today’s House Agenda:

HB 3 (Hudson)-Would add a representative from the Delaware Health Care Facilities Association to the Hospital Infection Advisory Board.

First, here is the section of the Code delineating the current members of this Board:

(c)(1) The Secretary of the Department shall appoint an Advisory Committee, which shall include 1 infection control professional who has responsibility for infection control programs from each hospital or health care system in Delaware, 4 infection disease physicians with expertise in infection control, and 1 representative from the State Division of Public Health and the Public Health Hospital Infections Specialist responsible for collating and reporting data. The Secretary shall also appoint 7 other members of the Committee including representatives from direct care nursing staff, academic researchers, consumer organizations, health insurers, health maintenance organizations, organized labor and purchasers of health insurance, such as employers. The Advisory Committee shall have the authority to engage personnel with appropriate training and/or certification in infection prevention and control for the purposes of collecting data.

To that list of 7, this bill would add a lobbyist. The Delaware Health Care Facilities Association primarily lobbies for the nursing home industry. Its Executive Director, Yrene Waldron, led the fight on behalf of the nursing home industry to thwart nursing home reform in Delaware. With Vince Meconi as Secretary of DHSS, she largely succeeded. Nursing homes are notorious for doing a poor job with infections. When they get bad enough, the patients are sent to the Emergency Room where the blame game between hospitals and nursing homes as to who was responsible, ensues. And, DHCFA’s director has led the fight to keep accurate nursing home infection information from the public.

While it may indeed make sense to have a front-line nursing home provider on this board, the public is in no way served by having a hired lobbyist on this board, especially one who has proven hostile to even the most minimal of reform efforts.

We hear talk all the time about ‘special interest’ legislation. Generally, by Rethugs who call anything helping the poor or working families as benefiting the special interests. However, HB 3 is true special interest legislation.  If they are serious about changing the Delaware Way, the House of Representatives will shoot this worthless, and possibly damaging, piece of legislation down today.

Back tomorrow, with bold opinions and boldface in tow.

According to the Legislative Record, nothing happened yesterday.

Of course, in the case of the House of Representatives, we know that committee meetings took place.

So, El Somnambulo, you may ask, why does the record not reflect this? Glad you asked as it gives me yet another teaching opportunity. Yay!

Once the House breaks for committee meetings, it often does not come back into session at the end of the day. Hence, committee reports are not read into the record then. Hence, officially, nothing happened. However, the ‘legislative day’ is different from the ‘real’ day. When the House comes back into session today, they will still be on yesterday’s business. Thence, the committee reports will be read into the record before the legislative ‘change of day’. Which is why, hence or thence, my two pence say this makes sense.

There’s another less harmless reason why the ‘legislative’ day extends into the next day, and it happens fairly frequently. Roll call is taken for each legislative day. Any time during that legislative day, you can be marked as ‘present’. If you’re a legislator who doesn’t attend a given day’s session, you can still be marked ‘present’ the next day if they haven’t ‘changed’ the legislative day yet. Legislators get a per-mile travel allowance, and it’s based on (a) the round trip distance to and from their house to Legislative Hall, times (b) the number of days that you are in attendance. So, you can still get mileage for a day that you missed by simply being marked present the next day before the legislative day has changed. Many legislators will say “Marked Present-No Mileage”, and, in fact, legislators sometimes get to Dover for committee meetings after the House has adjourned, and that’s legit. However, a few still don’t bother to show up on committee days but get the mileage allowance anyway. Plus they get a better ‘attendance’ record than they deserve.

OK. For those of you still awake, time to go to today’s preview. Of most interest to me is what’s not on the House agenda today. Since no bills were worked in the House on Tuesday, one would have expected the same agenda, plus maybe a few additions, to be before the House. However, two bills that I criticized in my Tuesday preview have been removed from the agenda. Both SB 60 and HB 252, castigated extensively right here, no longer appear on the House agenda. Not sure why, but I know that my influence, if any, is more of the reverse barometer type with the legislators, so there’s no cause & effect between what I wrote and their removal. Still, it’s encouraging.

Rep. J. J. Johnson’s HB 284, described right here yesterday, is on the agenda, and would seem like a ‘no-brainer’.

Also,  a bill sponsored mostly by the Middletown area below-the-canal delegation, HB 30, which would increase the ‘voluntary school assessment fee’ (isn’t that an oxymoron?) on developers to help pay for school construction costs, is on today’s agenda.

In other news…the Senate lives! There is actually one, count it, one, bill on today’s agenda. Rep. B. Short’s HB 202 is designed to protect policyholders in the event of any liquidation of a life and/or health insurance company. A  good bill, IMHO. Good thing we also have such an effective Insurance Commissioner to enforce th…ruh roh.

First, a brief primer for newcomers. On Wednesdays when the General Assembly is in session, virtually the entire legislative day is devoted to committee meetings. For the House, other than ceremonial business, it is entirely devoted to committees. The Senate may conduct some business, but committee meetings usually are the main, if not sole, focus.

Since we are in the second year of the two-year legislative cycle, which begins and ends on Election Day, all of the legislation that was ‘in play’ at the conclusion of session last June remains in play.

And, of course, new bills can be introduced, some of which have already been discussed here at DL.

With the ground rules firmly laid out, let’s proceed to our Pre-Game Show.

There are some pretty darn interesting bills on House Committee agendas this week. In addition, some committees will be briefed by key state decision-makers. All committee meetings are open to the public. Here is the complete schedule of House Committee meetings this week. Once you connect to the link, you can just click on the location/time for the committee(s) that you’re interested in, and the agenda for the meeting will appear. Here’s what piqued my interest:

House Corrections Committee-HB 284 (Rep. J. Johnson)–Would eliminate the ‘chilling effect’ on reporting rapes in prison by “…impos(ing) 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.” Previously, and incomprehensibly, the victim of the assault was also deemed culpable.

House Education Committee-Dr. Lillian Lowery, Secretary of the Department of Education, updates the committee on Race to the Top and other educational initiatives.

House Health & Human Development Committee-DHSS Secretary Rita Landgraf will address the committee.

House Judiciary Committee-Now, here’s where we’ve got some interesting pieces of legislation, including:

House Bill 247 (Rep. Keeley)–Seeks to streamline and strengthen consumer protection statute. This basically rewrites existing Delaware Code provisions in entirety. Will bear watching to make sure that the finished product matches the purported intent.

House Bill 302 (Rep. B. Short)–Seeks  “to encourage the reporting of suspected financial exploitation of the elderly and infirm adults by providing immunity from criminal and civil liability for making such reports.” I support the intent of this bill, but just have one cautionary concern. Sometimes it is hard to tell the protective and greedy family members apart when families fight over who has the best interests of their elderly/infirm relatives at heart (as opposed to who gets to handle their assets). Sometimes, both parties are equally greedy and equally vindictive. I hope the bill doesn’t provide immunity for greedy relatives seeking to game the system by filing false reports against rival family members. It’s happened more than you might think.

Senate Bill 169 (Sen. Ennis)-I don’t recall reading or hearing about this bill passing the Senate, but it’s one that I suspect all the DL contributors might strongly support. SB 169 makes “obstructing ingress to or egress from a health care facility a Class B misdemeanor.” Reading the bill in its entirety here leaves no doubt as to its intentions. There were 3 ‘no’ votes in the Senate: Bonini, Simpson and (surprise, not) Venables. I told you that Bruce Ennis was a huge improvement over Jim Vaughn, and he is.  Hmm, I wonder how Monsignor Lavelle will vote on this one. Lotsa pro-choice people in his Brandywine Hundred district…

There are no Senate committee meetings scheduled. Really, I’m not sure why the Senate is even bothering to show up this week since, to date, they haven’t done anything.