General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Weds., March 22, 2017

Quite the productive legislative day.  Perhaps the first one this year.  The House passed Rep. Bentz’ access to TANF bill with only one no vote: Sussex County’s Rich Collins.  Sean Matthews scored a two-fer with the passage of his bill to forestall dropping out of school (Briggs King and Yearick voted no, Spiegelman went not voting), and his bill authorizing the use of ‘prize-linked savings accounts’ in Delaware (unanimous). Rep. Yearick’s bill eliminating a requirement that requests for absentee ballots must be notarized also passed, with only Stephanie Bolden going not voting.

There was  some seriously progressive legislation introduced as well.  HB 85 (K. Williams)  ‘eliminates preferences for students living within a 5-mile radius of a charter school’.  Of note, both Rep. Jaques and Sen. Sokola are on the bill as co-sponsors.

And Sen. Townsend has been doing his homework:

SB 27 would create an independent commission to redraw legislative lines, but this one has a big difference from previous attempts: The commission would have members unaffiliated with either major political party.  Townsend has crafted this bill to create a truly independent redistricting, unlike any of its predecessors.  It’s worthy of a thread of its own.  Until then, take a look at it and let us know what you think.

SB 28 requires that all candidates for President or Vice President release their tax returns in order to be eligible to appear on the general election ballot in Delaware.

And…my favorite: SB 29,  which ‘removes from the Code the language that exempts members of the General Assembly from the obligations of the State Employees’, Officers’ and Officials’ Conflict of Interest and Code of Conduct rules’. Betcha didn’t know that the Honorables exempted themselves from such obligations. Now you do.  The bill also ‘adds to the Legislative Conflicts of Interest chapter a provision that expressly limits a legislator’s use of public assets for private or partisan political purposes.  God DAMN!

Wait, there’s more. SB 30:

requires political committees to report a contributor’s occupation and employment information. This is already a requirement in federal campaign finance law. If only a contributor’s name and address are disclosed (without occupation and employer), it is difficult to determine which industry, company, or group is funding a candidate. This will assist in furthering transparency and disclosure in the electoral process. It also addresses the obligation of the reporting candidate and treasurer.

Folks, that’s more than the beginning to a progressive agenda.  I’ll give you a heads-up as these bills start moving through the committee process. Looks like all the legislative energy is coming from the progressive D’s.  Meaning, let’s match their energy and help them enact their agenda.

Time to check out the creme de la creme of today’s committee meetings. Starting with the Senate.

We’ve already referenced the key bill to be considered, which is SB 10 (Marshall), the minimum wage increase.  During the Markell years, the fate of minimum wage legislation went as follows: A decent bill would be proposed, Markell said he could support the bill if certain changes were made, the changes were made, the bill passed the Senate and went to the House, Markell worked with Pete Schwartzkopf to make sure that the bill didn’t pass. Mostly by putting it in Bryon Short’s Business Lapdog Committee as opposed to the Labor Committee. It was like Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football. Markell negotiated in bad faith.  So, will John Carney fully embrace this bill?  If he does, it will become law.  If he either futzes around with it, or ‘pulls a Markell’, passage will be more challenging.  Also, here’s where the Blevins loss could hurt.  Brian Bushweller has been a less-than-enthusiastic backer of the bill, refusing to go along until amendments that weakened the bill were passed. Why?  Because of that sad-sack racino/hotel in his district.  Will he try to hold up the bill again? Can Cathy Cloutier be counted on to cross the aisle and vote yes (maybe)? Will Anthony Delcollo feel the need to back the blue collar constituents in what used to be Blevins’ district (almost certainly no)?  For all the questions, the answer lies with the Governor.  Will he for once govern like a Democrat or will he remain the Chamber’s lapdog? We’ll know soon enough.

Other Senate Committee highlights:

The Labor Committee also considers SB 9 (Marshall), which would implement a ‘Work a Day, Earn a Pay’ public works jobs program. The program would ‘offer employment to unemployed, at-risk, or disadvantaged individuals that may experience barriers to employment opportunities…in areas such as public works projects, litter control, river and stream cleanup projects, park cleanup projects, and housing renovation and improvement projects.

The Education Committee considers Sen. Hocker’s bill requiring public schools to delay opening until after Labor Day. Because, you know, beach resort income.  Which, of course, should override policy for all public schools in Delaware.

The Senate Executive Committee considers nominations. However, President Pro-Tem McBride has not seen fit to list those nominations on the committee notice. Going out on a limb–I betcha that the Acting Labor Secretary is not among those nominees.

House Committee  highlights:

I don’t like HB 46 (Miro), which extends the requirement for those who must undergo DNA testing from those that were convicted of crimes to those who were arrested but never convicted.  From a legal standpoint, you’re not a criminal if you haven’t been convicted of a crime.  But now, you’d be in the DNA databank as if you were one? Guilty even when adjudicated innocent. A civil liberties overreach.  In the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.

And here we have some special interest legislation sought by the fireworks industry, also being run by Rep. Miro. The bill would permit the sale of ‘ground-based and hand-held sparklers and certain other nonexplosive, nonairborne novelty items regulated by the federal government to be sold and used in the State.’  For reasons I don’t understand, this bill is also in the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.

HB 76 (Keeley)  ‘extends the Office of Foreclosure Prevention and Automatic Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program an additional two years’ through 2018.  This program was a necessary outgrowth of the mortgage scandals that left so many people at risk of losing their homes.  Business Lapdog Committee.

HB 82 (Schwartzkopf)  is a Sunset Bill w/o Portfolio.  The bill makes some changes to the code relating to mental health and chemical dependency professionals.  On the surface, the changes appear to broaden the availability of qualified professionals to address the massive drug epidemic. House Administration Committee.

HB 43 (J. Johnson)  ‘clarifies that a Department of Correction’s employee who has served for 25 years with at least 20 years as a correction officer is eligible to retire at 25 years.  In Corrections Committee.

Also, and this is interesting, the Joint Sunset Committee is reviewing the Delaware Board of Education. This News-Journal article lays out some of the issues.  While the committee considered several  recommendations at a Tuesday meeting:

The legislators ran out of time during the two-hour hearing before they addressed every proposed recommendation.

That includes a potentially controversial recommendation that would require the board to “provide evidence of a sustainable path for charter schools to include local buy-in to avoid disruption of the local portfolio” when granting new charters. Some traditional school advocates argue the board should consider the impact on local districts when approving charters, but some charter school backers say the state should approve any new charter that shows it can provide good results for kids. 

I’d love to hear from our friend and new DSEA President Mike Matthews as to what he would recommend.  Although…come to think of it, I know he won’t remain silent for long.

Neither will I. Back tomorrow.