Help Keep Pete Working for Us.
Legislative Letter - January 2003 |
| During the campaign, I stated that when elected,
I would try to keep you informed of events in Dover. I plan to accomplish
that with periodic articles to the local papers, frequent appearances on
WGMD and being very accessible to you. First, one final word about the campaign. When I decided to run for Representative for the 14th District, one of the first things I did was to meet with my opponent. Mike and I had a nice conversation and we agreed to keep the race respectable and to concentrate on the issues without resorting to personal attacks. We succeeded and our race was one of the cleanest and most honorable in the state. It is nice to know that in the year 2002, two candidates can shake hands and their word is still their bond. I’ve been very busy since being sworn into office. I am on seven committees- Public Safety, Corrections, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Sunset, Tourism and the Family Law Commission. The pace is frenetic and I am getting a crash course on who’s who in government. I’ve also learned very quickly not to stop in the hallway at Legislative Hall or else be surrounded by three or four new friends all with the first name of Lobbyist. So far, two issues seem to be dominating a lot of attention- the budget and the future of the Clean Indoor Air act better known as “the smoking ban.” The budget outlook is ever changing due to varying revenue forecasts directly tied into our national economy. Governor Minner delivered her State of the Budget address last week and she is taking some very difficult steps to balance the budget for fiscal year 2004 which is mandatory. Her top priority is to protect people’s jobs. That means agency budgets will be reduced, some services will be cut and government will be streamlined. She has proposed raising some taxes such as the cigarette tax, the corporate franchise tax and increasing the state’s share of the Video Lottery revenue. Delaware’s tax on cigarettes has been $.24/pack since 1991 and all of our surrounding states are $1/pack or higher. Her proposal would be to raise the tax to $.50/pack which is still only half of any of our competing states. This tax increase seems to be the most controversial, which leads us into the second issue of importance- the smoking ban. One of the amendments before the House would weaken the smoking ban by allowing businesses licensed as a taproom or tavern to be exempt. I cannot support the amendment and I will vote against it because it would negatively affect every restaurant/bar in Rehoboth. The City of Rehoboth prohibits a taproom or tavern license and that would put the businesses in Rehoboth at a huge disadvantage. I have talked to many of the restaurant owners and employees and they want the ban to remain unchanged. I am sure that debate on the smoking ban will continue until March when the amendments will be voted on. They tell me that the General Assembly will consider approximately 1000 pieces of legislation during a term. I find that to be astounding. Bills fly around the House like mosquitoes. They are floated (looking to see how much support there is), shopped (for sponsors), introduced (for debate and voting), tabled (for various reasons), withdrawn (circumstances might have changed), passed, defeated or die (most times in committee). Some members introduce bills that stand little chance of passing only because a constituent asked them to do so. I find that to be astounding and counter productive. Not every situation can or should be accommodated with legislation and I am not one to introduce legislation for the purpose of introducing legislation. If there is a problem and a need then I will introduce a bill. Your job is to show me the need and my job is to take it to Dover and fight for its passage. On a side note, it is tradition to haze a freshman legislator when they introduce their first bill. My day was last Thursday. I introduced H.B. 11 which would allow a charter change for Henlopen Acres. It wasn’t a very exciting bill but it was a short 1-page bill with little for them to attack me on. They took their shots and I deflected several but eventually they got me. It was all in good fun and a great learning experience. My second bill should be a little more thought provoking. When I was the Troop Commander at Troop 7, I routinely met with numerous neighborhood groups and associations. Their number one concern has always been the enforcement of traffic laws within their communities. The problem is that a large number of residential community roadways are not public highways and the police cannot enforce most traffic laws on private property. My intent is to add more offenses such as stop sign violations and unsafe speed to the traffic laws that are enforceable on private property. However, I need your input on this and the other bills coming before the House. Some bills likely to cause discussion are the open container bill, reducing the BAC limit to .08, prohibiting dogs from riding in the beds of pickup trucks, and the health care issues. If you would like to contact me about these issues or any other issue, you can email me at peter.schwartzkopf@state.de.us, call me at home 227-6252 or at Legislative Hall 302-744-4351. I look forward to hearing from you. |
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