On the 30^th I visited a House colleague who was recuperating at home from a medical procedure.  On the 31^st I had a breakfast meeting on an education topic.  On the 6^th I had a conference call with a House attorney who is working on several pieces of legislation that I am creating, and that evening I attended the monthly Democratic Representative District (RD) Committee meeting.  We are planning the annual Spaghetti Dinner, on April 11^th at the Aetna Fire Hall on 273, with Lt. Governor Matt Denn as our auctioneer.  I held my monthly coffee at Panera on the morning of the 8^th, discussed campaign finance reform with a House colleague, attended a fundraiser for Rep Kim Williams and the monthly Progressive Democrats for Delaware (PDD) meeting that evening.  On the 9^th I attended the press conference on House Bill 88, which creates a process for removing firearms and ammunition from those who intend to do harm to themselves or others, and that evening I attended a reception at the Brandywine Zoo for the newly appointed state parks director.  On Friday I participated in a conference call with Rep Carney’s staff, on the fiduciary consumer protections being considered for the brokerage industry, and I had a meeting on manufactured housing issues.

Upcoming legislation—bills which I am working on include providing provisional drivers licenses to those convicted of non-driving drug crimes who need the license to attend school (there is already a process for those who need the license to go to work), a few loose ends for the manufactured housing community, correcting poor implementation of Delaware’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program, improving the governance of our Cash Management Policy Board, and ensuring that when the University of Delaware is developing property for commercial purposes it is subject to normal city and county zoning rules.  In the future I expect to have legislation to correct our oversight of the home birth professionals.

I have begun reviewing legislation proposed by my colleagues, to determine which bills I wish to support by agreeing to serve as a co-sponsor.

I reviewed the final regulations for the implementation of Delaware’s medical marijuana law, and was pleased that there was so much public involvement, and that the Department of Health & Human Services did such a nice job incorporating the suggestions provided by the public

Emails—I had emails on drainage issues around Casho Mill Road and in West Branch, an issue of a crossover on route 95 near 896 for emergency vehicles, prioritizing quality affordable housing in Delaware, increasing the amount of relevant information on the city of Newark’s webpage on the proposed data center and power plant, the Veasey report on campaign finance reform, snow removal by the city of Newark and DelDOT during the recent storm, potholes on Elkton Road and Christina Parkway, Reach academy, the MBNA city charter school building, approval by the city of Newark planning commission of the proposed Cleveland Heights redevelopment of affordable housing, House Bill 196 which would affect landlords and renters and what income could be considered, and homeowners insurance for owners of manufactured homes.

I responded to an email from a resident who had concerns of how well or poorly Delaware is faring, compared with surrounding states, and what the government has done and is planning to do to improve our situation.  I have been learning more about what is involved with the current air permit review process that the data center/power plant project has applied for.  I responded to an email from a resident who wanted to know what is holding up the bill which would repeal Delaware’s death penalty.

The General Assembly reconvenes on Tuesday for three weeks (Tuesday to Thursday afternoons each week), so the next update should have more legislative news.