Delaware General Assembly Pre-Game Show: Tues., May 9, 2017

Filed in Delaware, Featured by on May 9, 2017

Tuesday’s Tale of Two Bills: Bringing back the death penalty in the House, and codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade in the Senate.

The Extreme Crimes Prevention Act will, of course, prevent no such thing.  But it’s a great opportunity to satisfy the bloodlust of both legislators and Angry White Men as well.  Oh, and cops. Especially the cops.  Raise your hand if you don’t think that proponents will invoke the name of Stephen Ballard during the debate.  If you raised your hand, you would be incorrect.  Corporal Ballard would not be alive today if this law was in place, but demagogues use raw emotion and intimidation to overcome logic.  Which, in part, is why this bill will likely pass the House.  We should be taking names.  Oh, and it’s time to call Jellyfish John’s office to get him to take a stand against this.

SS1 to SB 5 (Townsend) will essentially codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into Delaware law. Should the Supreme Court strike down Roe v. Wade, each state would make its own laws. SS1/SB 5 ‘makes Delaware’s laws on abortion consistent with the scope of the right protected by the United States Constitution and the practice in Delaware for the past 43 years’.  In other words, Delaware’s statute is currently unconstitutional and unenforceable (and is not being enforced) b/c Roe v Wade is the law of the land.  Should Roe v Wade be overturned, then the current statute would be the law of the State.  Which is why this is a VERY important bill. And I don’t think it’s a slam dunk.  Senate sponsors are Townsend, Henry, Bushweller, Cloutier, Hansen, McDowell,  Poore, Sokola, and Walsh.  Meaning, if your senator is not on the list, call them today!  Especially if they are among the following who might be receptive to such calls: Senators Marshall, Lopez,  Delcollo (it’s a solid D district, after all), McBride,  Ennis and Simpson. And, yes, even Greg Lavelle. Especially Greg Lavelle.  His district has a lot of pro-choice R’s, and the wrong vote here will almost inevitably redound to his disadvantage in 2018.  Call him on it by calling him.

One additional bill of interest on today’s House Agenda is HB 120 (Longhurst), which ‘requires health insurance policies to cover any medically appropriate drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of stage 4 metastatic cancer without requiring a patient to first prove that the patient failed to respond to a different drug or drugs.’  The bill is based on a similar Georgia law ‘that was inspired by President Jimmy Carter’s recent battle with cancer’.  Bipartisan sponsorship, bill will fly through.

Today’s Senate Agenda also features the Dover Mall bailout package.  5 bills, all will pass.

Here is the Session Activity Report from Thursday.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a committee preview. And, yes, marijuana legalization is on the agenda for the House Revenue and Finance Committee. Tomorrow at 3. And, yes, banning conversion therapy is on the agenda for the Senate Health, Children & Social Services Committee. Tomorrow at 2:30.

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  1. hockessin dad says:

    I wonder how many photo ops Townsend is going to try to pull out of this one…always feels like he is running for something!

  2. Yeah, he’s been all over the media on this.

  3. Death penalty repeal passed the House today, 24-16. The following D’s voted yes:
    Carson, Jaques, Longhurst, M. Smith, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Osienski, Paradee, Q. Johnson, and Schwartzkopf.

    Will someone please wake up the Delaware Chapter of the ACLU and let them know that this bill could pass? The ACLU was notable for its lack of engagement on this bill. If they’re not gonna engage on this, just what the bleep WILL they engage on?

  4. Finally, some GOOD news. SS1/SB 5, which would protect women’s reproductive rights in the event of a Supreme Court reversal on Roe v. Wade, barely passed the State Senate, 11 Y, 7 N, 2 NV, 1A. All the D’s except for Marshall (time for him to retire or for the voters to retire him) voted yes, and Cathy Cloutier crossed party lines to ensure the bill’s passage.

  5. chris says:

    WOW…10 House Dems voted to reinstate the death penalty….that’s quite a high number!!

  6. Bane says:

    Not really that surprising since they voted the same way last time