More Republican Bills

Here are four Republican sponsored bills, only one of which is likely to see a vote.

The first bill is House Bill 393, which would provide a $280 Tax credit for those making less than making $35,000 or less. The purpose of this Act is to encourage persons to join the labor force and to treat employed, lower income individuals the same as to how House Bill 285 treated those who received unemployment benefits during the pandemic: exempting them from being taxed, hence the $280 tax credit.

Are there masses of people out there refusing to work? Unemployment is increbily low right now. The problem is actually finding workers, not workers trying to find jobs.

House Bill 393 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
Collins Vanderwende Briggs King Gray Postles Ramone Shupe M.Smith Yearick
Hocker Bonini Pettyjohn Wilson
Current Status: House Revenue & Finance 4/28/22

Next up is Senate Bill 266, a Gun Owner’s Bill of Rights. LOL already.

Section 20, Article I of the Delaware Constitution guarantees the individual citizen’s right to keep and bear arms for legitimate and lawful purposes such as “defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use.”

You will notice that there is no right to a military offensive assault weapon used in war. Interesting.

Apparently the constitutional provision is not enough. Republicans do not want the right to own a gun to defend their home or for hunting. They want to bring their guns everywhere and force everyone to worship their gun as they do.

This Act “(1) Safeguards the rights of an individual or business entity from unscrupulous and discriminatory economic practices such as discriminatory pricing of products, goods, and services because the individual or business entity is a gun owner, hunter, or sportsperson.”

What? I want one example of this happening? Does McDonald’s add a tariff on the price of a Big Mac because the customer owns a gun? How would a business know this? Perhaps this is meant to address insurance premiums. The only conceivable situation where this would happen would be homeowner’s liability or health insurance raising rates if you owned a gun. Just like someone who smokes pays a higher health insurance rate, because the risk of death and disease is higher.

This Act “(2) Prohibits the creation, sale, or distribution of lists and information about firearms and their owners not otherwise authorized or required by law.”

I suppose this goes to the paranoid delusion that the government is going to register the names of all gun owners so that their guns can be confiscated. But if it was going to do this, the registration would be authorized or required by law. So what is the point? Are their private entities that keep lists of gun owners?

Finally, this Act “(3) Prohibits discriminatory economic practices because of an individual’s membership in hunting, shooting, or outdoor sports organizations.”

Again, give me an example of where this happens.

Senate Bill 266 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
Bonini Hocker Lawson Pettyjohn Ennis
Collins
Current Status: Senate Executive 5/11/22

Senate Bill 279 is the Republican Education Right to Know Act. Under the measure, each Delaware public school, including charter schools, would need to establish a web portal on which the public would be able to access the following information:

• A course syllabus or a written summary of each instructional course.
• A general description of instructional materials, textbooks, and digital resources that educators plan to utilize in each instructional course.
• The school’s policy on how information is communicated to parents/guardians and other stakeholders about violent incidents taking place at the school.
• What health care services are offered at the school and how parental/guardian notification and consent are handled regarding these services.

Parents and guardians would also be assured of an opportunity to meet with the
educators teaching their children at least once each academic year. The superintendent of each public school district, or the head of each charter school, in consultation with teachers, would have the flexibility for determining the timing and method for satisfying this requirement.

“Teachers are trained professionals and need the freedom to effectively carry out their essential mission,” Rep. Charles Postles said. “At the same time, parents should have access to what their children are being taught as well as what policies schools have set on important issues.” Well, Charlie, parents can do that already by going to Parent Teacher conferences, orientation night, and reviewing their child’s homework on a daily or weekly basis. And parents can contact teachers already via email or by phone whenever concerns arise.

This all sounds fine, but the reason it sounds fine is that I am pretty damn sure all of this is already being done. My brother and several of my friends are teachers. They already do this. What Republicans want to do is allow parents the opportunity to object to a teacher’s course plans, so that their children will not be taught that slavery was bad or that the civil rights movement was good or that racism exists.

Senate Bill 279 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
Richardson Wilson Bonini Hocker Pettyjohn
Briggs King Collins Gray Ramone D.Short Vanderwende Yearick
Current Status: Senate Education 5/3/22

Finally, a bill that might actually pass. Indeed, it is already out of committee. Senate Bill 294 is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would update the minimum voting age in the Delaware Constitution from twenty-one years to eighteen years.

Obviously, this outdated provision is from before the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1971. And of course, there really was no need to amend it, since the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, overruling all conflicting provisions in state constitutions and laws.

But, it’s good to clean up our own house.

Senate Bill 294 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
Richardson, Lawson, Pettyjohn, Wilson, Sokola
Dukes, Briggs King
Current Status: Out of Committee 5/18/22