Legislative briefs

Dover Post

Tue Jun 30, 2009, 03:04 PM EDT

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Dover, Del. -

The House passed a Senate bill June 24 that outlaws Salvinorin A, a hallucinogenic compound found in the herb salvia divonorum. The bill makes the chemical a Schedule 1 controlled substance. The legislature banned the herb in 2006.
On the heels of legislation naming peach pie as Delaware’s state dessert, the House passed a bill June 24 presented by Rep. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, declaring strawberries the official state fruit. Hocker noted that Selbyville, Sussex County, was once known as the “Strawberry Capital of the World,” and that downstate Delaware used to have a thriving community of strawberry growers who shipped their crop all over the country. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The House passed two key Senate education bills June 25 that will do away with the Delaware Student Testing Program and use federal stimulus dollars to reward high-performing schools in low-income areas. The first bill replaces the oft-maligned DSTP with a computer-based assessment for students in second through 10th grades. The new test will be given twice per year and is intended to establish better markers for individual student achievement. The second bill would establish a committee responsible for awarding yearly grants of up to $150,000 to five schools that show significant improvement in student progress for two consecutive years. The money, gleaned from the federal stimulus package, must go to schools that have a high percentage of students from low-income families. Both bills are awaiting the governor’s signature.
On June 29 the Senate passed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to block access to a healthcare facility or accost individuals as they enter or leave such a facility. The bill, proposed by Sen. Bruce C. Ennis, D-Clayton, is designed to protect those entering health clinics that offer abortion services from individuals or groups that picket and protest outside such facilities. The most vocal opponents of the bill were Sens. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South, and Robert Venables, D-Laurel, who argued the measure would trample the right to freedom of speech and assembly.
Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark, introduced a bill June 29 that would place stricter regulations on adult entertainment establishments, including stores that sell adult merchandise. The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, contains recommendations made by the General Assembly’s Joint Sunset Committee. Under the proposal, no adult retail business would be permitted to operate within 500 feet of another such business, within 200 feet of a school bus stop or residence, and within 500 feet of a school or church. The bill also would prevent stores from displaying any adult materials outside of the business at any time. Violations would be punishable by a fine of up to $5,000.

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