Speak Up: House committee rejects bill giving tenants a right to eviction counsel

The House Appropriations Committee voted 3-2 recently against a bill that would have given tenants a right to free counsel in eviction proceedings. Supporters of the bill said it would have leveled the playing field between tenants and landlords, pointing to the fact that landlords are vastly more likely to be represented in such cases. Opponents of the legislation argue that granting tenants the right to a taxpayer-funded lawyer did little to address the core reason behind evictions — failure to pay rent. The state would be much better off expanding the Delaware Housing Assistance Program, which provides rental assistance to tenants, they said.

• Why would you vote against it now? A lot of people are going to be homeless. That’s not fair to everyone. Each state has a lot of money to give out from the stimulus, from COVID relief. Wow, so you’d rather everyone be on the street instead of being in their homes with their kids and a roof over their heads? This is crazy. You can’t even count on your own state to help out. People are already losing so much, and then, there is this. Everyone is already going through hard times. — Carla Randall-Iacone

Delaware encourages masks, boosters to combat latest COVID surge

With the spread of COVID-19 reaching levels not seen since the tail end of the winter surge, the Delaware Division of Public Health is encouraging but not requiring Delawareans to mask up indoors.

• I haven’t stopped wearing mine in stores, and I am not the only one. — Barbara Tebbens Ellis
• (At the time of the posting) Delaware is now ranked sixth highest in the country.— Cal William
• Did this work in 2019? 2020? 2021? It’s 2022. Feel free to wear one if you want, though! — Beth Gallagher
• Yes, it worked great. Mask up or stay home. — Charlie Harper