House Bill 80 requires doula services to be covered by Medicaid starting Jan. 1. (Nagakan Aka photo from Pexels)

Bill calls for Medicaid to reimburse doula services

Sam Haut Headlines, Government

House Majority Whip Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown is back with another bill on requiring Medicaid to pay for doulas. Doulas provide physical and emotional support while a woman is giving birth. House Bill 80, which requires doula services to be covered by Medicaid starting Jan. 1, has 15 other sponsors: 14 Democrats and Republican Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Laurel. House Bill 343, sponsored …

Delaware House of Representatives Valerie Longhurst apologizes to Melissa Minor-Brown

Longhurst starts House Day 2 by apologizing to Minor-Brown

Betsy Price Government, Headlines

  The Delaware House of Representatives majority leader started the second day of the 152nd General Assembly Wednesday by apologizing to the new minority leader for the way she phrased a description of her. On Tuesday, Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, had introduced Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown as “the first colored woman in leadership in the House of Representatives.” They hugged after …

DelawareLive Dec 4

Delaware LIVE Weekly Review – Dec. 4, 2022

Sonja Frey Delaware Live, Weekly Review

Click on the image below to view as a PDF This Week’s Top Headlines Include: Headlines Sneak Peek: Chancery Market Food Hall and Bar Teachers union calls for pay committee to #MoveTheMeeting Many Del. districts don’t evaluate superintendents annually Culture Hale Byrnes House to unveil painting of witness tree Odessa Houses’ Christmas designer takes on the White House ‘Sister Act’ …

Melissa Minor Brown

Melissa Minor-Brown: ‘I stand on the shoulders of giants’

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

When state Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown won election to the General Assembly in 2018, she knew right away that she wanted to be in leadership.  The Democrat from New Castle got her wish this November when the House Democratic Caucus elected her majority whip, making her the first person of color in Delaware history elected to a leadership position in the …

Caucus votes for new leadership

Democrats pick (not so) new caucus leaders

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

Delaware House and Senate Democrats are sticking with the status quo in the next General Assembly. Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, was re-elected Speaker of the House during a caucus meeting Saturday after serving in that position since 2013. Schwartzkopf faced a challenge from Rep. Paul Baumbach, D-Newark. House Democrats would not release a roll call vote to Delaware LIVE …

State Sen. Eric Buckson bills moving too quickly through Assembly

House bill aims to expand abortion protections

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

Democratic lawmakers filed legislation Thursday they say will improve the availability of abortions and protect patients and providers from facing legal action under other states’ abortion laws.  Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, D-New Castle, Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, and Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, D-Talleyville, announced the legislation in the wake of a leaked draft opinion suggesting the United States Supreme Court may …

Interrogation

Lawmakers aim to ban deceptive tactics in juvenile interrogations

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

A bill set to be considered by the Delaware House of Representatives would make it illegal for police to lie to children during interrogations.  House Bill 419, sponsored by Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, D-Wilmington, would ban the use of deceptive tactics, such as making misleading statements about evidence or offering false promises of leniency to extract a confession or other incriminating …

Sen. Darius Brown’s committee positions reinstated

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

Sen. Darius Brown, D-Wilmington State Sen. Darius Brown has been reinstated as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and member of the Senate Capital Improvement Committee. Brown, D-Wilmington, was removed from the Judiciary Committee in May 2021 after being arrested on misdemeanor offensive touching and disorderly conduct charges. He was removed from the Capital Improvement Committee in Nov. 2021 after …

Corrections summit ends with apology to inmates, families

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

SUSSEX CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION/GOOGLE MAPS STREET VIEW A two-day virtual summit on Delaware’s correctional system ended with Sen. Marie Pinkney apologizing to current and former inmates for perceived failures in the state’s criminal justice system.  “To those who have been involved in our justice system or to those that love people that have been involved in our justice system, we apologize …

Virtual summit on Delaware’s correctional system to be held this week

Charlie Megginson Government, Headlines

A two-day virtual summit focused on improving Delaware’s correctional system will begin Tuesday morning.  The event, organized by Sen. Marie Pinkney, D-New Castle, and Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, D-New Castle South, will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on both Tuesday, Feb. 22 and Wednesday, Feb. 23 and is open to the public.  The “State of State of Corrections” summit …