General Assembly Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show: Thurs., April 6, 2017

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on April 6, 2017

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.

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  1. bamboozer says:

    Redistricting should have been taken away from the politicians a great many years ago, no politicians involved equals the death of the hated Gerrymander, it needs to be done on a national basis as well.

  2. You’re right. Problem is, it is up to the politicians to take gerrymandering away from the politicians.

    We’re almost halfway there.

    It’ll be tougher from here.

  3. Blackflyer says:

    Som, it is the times we live in. They get cover from the president. I refuse to make this the new normal. And they should pay a price for this with the voters.

  4. Delaware Left says:

    hb91 is extremely misguided. All cracking down on prescription opiates has done is push people towards heroin. Why are we doing this again?

  5. Josh W says:

    And not cracking down on prescription opiates allows for more people to get hooked down the road. We should be pushing those who are already addicted to seek treatment, not enabling them by continuing to letting pill mills run rampant.

  6. waterpirate says:

    And for people with a real medical need for pain killers, It forces their doctors to treat them like felons, subject them to non stop medication reduction, and a endless tirade about blaming the legislature for the bullshit. Pill mills are a real problem, but patients are not being protected.

  7. Josh W says:

    It forces doctors to treat opiates like the dangerous and addictive substances that they have proven to be, time and time again, rather than the solution to every patient who comes in with a pain problem. There are less dangerous drugs and longer lasting therapies that we should be trying to encourage doctors to recommend.