By Matt Bittle

DOVER — The General Assembly will not meet today due to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, a proud Delawarean.

While this inauguration will have a drastically different appearance than past presidential swearing-ins due to COVID-19 and Jan. 6’s insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, top Democrats in the Delaware legislature are giving the body the day off to ensure members can watch the transition if they wish. The General Assembly previously canceled business when President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden took office in 2009.

Tuesday saw the legislature handle minor business, passing a few bills out of committee and approving several nominations from the governor.

The House Health & Human Development Committee approved legislation that would require all public middle and high schools (including charters) to provide free feminine hygiene products. The products would be available in half of the girls’ bathrooms.

It carries an annual cost of $77,000 to school districts.

“Schools supply paper towels, toilet paper and pencils because they are essential,” said main sponsor Valerie Longhurst, a Bear Democrat who is also the House majority leader. “Feminine hygiene products are essential.”

The measure received a positive reception from other lawmakers on the committee and all members of the public who spoke.

The bill passed the House 33-6 last year but never got a vote in the Senate, making it one of many casualties of COVID-19.

The committee also released to the full House a proposal that would establish a loan repayment program for recent medical school graduates. Intended to help incentivize the creation of new primary care practitioners and to encourage Delawareans to return to the First State after finishing medical school, the bill would authorize the Delaware Health Care Commission to award grants of up to $50,000 per year.

A scheduled House Corrections Committee hearing for a bill to create early release credits for inmates in the event of a public health emergency, such as COVID-19, was canceled due to technical difficulties.

Senators approved several gubernatorial appointees, including Karryl Hubbard as secretary of labor. Ms. Hubbard, most recently the deputy secretary for the Department of Labor, replaces Cerron Cade, who was confirmed last week as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The Senate is set to vote on a constitutional amendment preventing discrimination based on race or nationality when it next convenes on Thursday.