2014 Update—June 22nd to July 6th

On Tuesday the 24th, I attended the bill signing for HB 256, which prohibits the sexual solicitation of children.  I also attended the signing of a proclamation affirming LGBT rights in Delaware.  After (a very long) session, I attended a reception to bid farewell to DNREC Secretary O’Mara.  On Wednesday the 25th I attended a homeownership gathering on the Dover Green, held a Manufactured Housing Committee meeting, attended the bill signing for a law which increases the availability of the drug Naloxone, which addresses those who overdose on heroin, and a bill signing for bills improving education in Delaware, one which provides better information to families who are considering ‘choicing’ their children into non-feeder schools.  On Thursday I attended the bill signing for four Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) bills.

On Monday the 30th I attended a committee hearing on the casino relief proposal, and we had session from about 4pm to 4am.  On Tuesday the 1st I attended a homecoming ceremony for the National Guard.  I hosted my monthly coffee at Panera on the 2nd, marched with friends in the Hockessin parade on the 4th of July, and joined Senator Bethany Hall-Long at the UD Liberty Day celebration.  On Saturday the 5th I attended the 2nd annual Juneteenth celebration at the George Wilson Center “School Hill.”

On Tuesday the 24th we passed several bills including SB 241, which restructures the troubled Medical Examiners Office.  On Wednesday the 25th we passed several bills, including SB 255, the annual budget, and HB 319, my midwifery reform bill (after a spirited debate).  The bill received over 60% of the vote, including almost equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans.  On the 26th, we passed a large number of bills, including HB 13 which limits when a retiring legislator may accept a job lobbying the General Assembly, HB 148 which provides a Roth contribution option to state employees, HB 417 which helps address financial fraud inflicted on our senior citizens, HB 218 which permits a Delawarean to use a prescription for home health care written by an out-of-state doctor, SB 94 which bans the use of tanning beds for minors, SB 238 a manufactured housing bill our committee released on Wednesday.  On the evening of the 30th we passed a lot of bills, including my HB 137 to provide increased pension payout options to married, retired state employees.  After midnight, we passed a further collection of bills, including HR 42 to establish a task force to study issues for people who are deaf or hard of hearing or deaf-blind, SB 220 which provides one year of relief for Delaware’s three racinos, SB 261 which introduces a small increase for retired state employees’ pensions, SB 266 which is the ‘Grants-in-Aid bill’, SCR 63 for an IEP task force, and SCR 65 for an Autism Educational task force.

Emails over the past two weeks involved a lot of proposed legislation, foremost the midwifery bill, but also the medical examiners office bill, the casino relief bill, HB 400 (the DMOST bill, which permits a patient and their doctor to agree to a medical order which paramedics and other health care providers must follow), the physical therapist (dry needling) bill, the cash management board reform bill, SB 36 which removes some judicial discretion from setting bail (I opposed this, but the bill passed), HB 155 (prohibiting driving while using a head-mounted computer), adding parent members to  the IEP task force, HB 286 which involves the state in collecting debts between private parties, HB 87 (the STOLI, Stranger Originated Life Insurance bill), HB 198 (which changes a little how DNREC works with clean-up sites).

I have also addressed many resident concerns, including speeding, intersection markings, and computer science courses in our high schools.

I have also been boosting my campaigning.  In addition to attending many events in and around the district, I have been busy knocking on doors.  Lately I have been north of town, in Covered Bridge Farms, Fairfield Crest, and the homes along Wedgewood Road.