2019 Update —January 22nd to February 2nd

On Monday the 22nd I attended an event at which a portion of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King’s Reflections from a Birmingham Jail was read at the Newark United Methodist Church. On Tuesday I had meetings before legislative session, attended a reception at the Delaware State University after session, and then attended the quarterly meeting of the Governor’s Council on White Clay Creek State Park at the Judge Morris Estate, White Clay Creek. On Wednesday morning I attended the morning coffee held by Sen. Dave Sokola at the Drip Cafe Hockessin. That morning I presented House Bill (HB) 45, a manufactured housing bill that was recommended by the task force I chaired last year. The committee voted to release the bill. I presented the issue of limiting plastic straws in restaurants to only upon request to the Delaware Restaurant Association. On Thursday the 24th I attended the Governor’s presentation of his recommended budget at the Delaware Public Archives, and I attended the lunch reception and program sponsored by the Epilepsy Foundation of Delaware before session.

On Monday the 28th in the morning I spoke on the phone with a Newark Post reporter. That afternoon I joined a group of concerned public school advocates in a meeting with Governor John Carney to discuss Christina School District. That evening I attended and spoke at a PTSA meeting at Newark High School.

On Wednesday the 30th in the morning I hosted my monthly coffee with guest State Treasurer Colleen Davis. That afternoon I drove to Dover to attend the presentation to the Joint Finance Committee by the Department of State, which included discussion of our public libraries and our historical marker program, two areas of special interest for me. On Thursday morning I drove to Dover to participate in a legislator forum at the LIFE conference focusing on issues for the disability community. On Friday I met with two UD Horn Entrepreneurship rogram students to discuss their business, and that afternoon I joined a conference call onan upcoming ACLU Delaware Guest Bartender 2019 event. On Saturday afternoon I attended a memorial for State Senator Steve Amick.

Emails—During the past two weeks I had many emails related to legislation, including those requesting support for voting access bills, the bills to provide support to furloughed federal workers during the 5 week federal government shutdown, funding for special education for K-3 public schools, direct shipment of wine, opposition to HB29 which authorizes the disclosure of DNA information for Delaware citizens who have not been found guilty of any crime, a federal constitutional convention to make changes to the US Constitution, expanding public meeting law to permit electronic participation, and support for HB47 which would remove the youth/training wage backdoor to the Delaware minimum wage.

I have had emails related to bills I am working on, including those tied to e-prescriptions, the Share the Care Act, the Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Act, restricting benzodiazepines, SB12 (electric vehicle to grid safety), SCR6 (advancing the work of the Medicaid Buy-in Study Group’s recommendations), and HB49 (Earned Income Tax Credit reform).

I had an email from a resident about a workers compensation issue with a behavioral health practice, had emails related to speed enforcement on Old Paper Mill Road, Newark-area logistical planning for Wednesday night’s Point in Time program of counting the state’s homeless population on a single day each year, City of Newark, Delaware web resources for the upcoming election, rules for Newark city charter changes, a request for an update on the closure of the ‘Rodney Dorm underpass/tunnel’, another from a resident with drainage concerns near his home in Covered Bridge, another from a resident concerned with the timing of the signal light at Library Avenue at East Main Street, emails to several state agencies on behalf of the UD students with the new business, making introductions, and another email with a resident concerned with steps the state is and is not taking to address global climate change.