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The "meltaway" Vote in Delaware Senate

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If you want to find out how a Delaware State Senator voted on an issue in committee you might not know much even after the panel adjourns.

That’s the complaint from Phil Drew who is active in Republican politics and lives near Bethany Beach.

He says that there are no ayes and nays.

Instead the measure is sent around for signatures of those who want to release it to the full Senate.

And, that, Drew told the Wilmington News Journal results in lawmakers not being held accountable.

State senator Greg Lavelle seconds that view.

The Republican lawmaker, who has spent 12 years in the House before moving onto the Senate last November, says the practice is called “the meltaway”.

He says it is often used for such controversial legislation such as same-sex marriage and gun control.

And the two Republicans get support from the group Delaware Coalition for Open Government which says it runs contrary to the principle of transparency.

 

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.