This Act changes the age at which a person can bartend from 21 years old to 18 years old, and requires that a bartender who is 18, 19, or 20 years old be directly supervised by a person who is 21 years of age or older and who is working behind the bar with the 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old. This Act also increases the frequency of statutorily mandated alcoholic beverage server training from every 4 years to every 2 years. To ensure that 18–20-year-olds are protected from sexually oriented content by virtue of being permitted to bartend, this Act prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from entering into or working in any capacity in a tavern or taproom that offers sexually oriented entertainment. This includes taverns and taprooms that are licensed as adult entertainment establishments under Chapter 16 of Title 24, taverns and taprooms that offer sexually explicit performances as defined in § 787 of Title 11, and tavern and taprooms that are advertised as “strip clubs,” “adult entertainment clubs,” “gentlemen’s clubs,” or that offer performances or services of a sexually oriented nature. Currently, Delaware is in the minority of states when it comes to requiring bartenders to be 21 years old. By reducing the legal bartending age to 18, this Act will help Delaware’s food service industry remain competitive with the many other states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in which 18–20-year-olds can bartend.
This Act amends the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law to adopt the protections of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973’s Section 504 (“Section 504”), and its implementing regulations as those regulations existed on January 1, 2025. This bill will help ensure that Delawareans with disabilities get broad and full protection within Delaware. The bill also adds that references to Section 504 in other parts of Delaware law or regulation will be considered a reference to the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law.
This Act creates civil penalties for vehicles that obstruct pedestrian right-of-ways. Fines range from $100-$300 depending on the number of offenses committed within a 12-month span. This bill also prohibits individuals from using public spaces, such as streets or public parking, to sell, store, service, detail, or work on cars. It also allows law enforcement to issue a ticket or tow a car that is in violation of this law. Civil penalties range from $100-$300 per violation.
This House Concurrent Resolution commends the 2026 Delaware Behavioral Health Professional of the Year, Taylor Richey and all of the District/Charter Network Behavioral Health Professionals of the Year.
This bill designates June 9, 2026, as "Youth Prevention Day" in Delaware to raise awareness about youth-related issues. It does not create new laws or change government operations but serves as a symbolic recognition of the date. The measure was passed by both the House and Senate without requiring a formal vote count.
This bill designates June 2026 as "Caribbean American Heritage Month" within the State of Delaware. It directly affects state government entities and encourages public acknowledgment of Caribbean American contributions during that month. The primary mechanism is a formal resolution passed by both the House and Senate to officially recognize the date. This action serves as a commemorative measure rather than establishing new laws or funding.
This bill designates the week of September 28 to October 4, 2026, as "Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week" throughout the State of Delaware. The measure directly affects state officials and agencies by formally recognizing this specific time period to highlight awareness of the condition. By passing in the Senate, the resolution establishes an official state designation intended to draw attention to frontotemporal degeneration during those dates.
This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes June 8 through 12, 2026, as “Community Health Improvement Week” in the State of Delaware and honors the essential role of community health workers in advancing health equity, improving health outcomes, and strengthening communities across the State.
This House Concurrent Resolution celebrates the progress of the LGBTQ+ movement and acknowledges the month of June 2026 as LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the State of Delaware.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the historic and cultural significance of Mother African Union Church in Wilmington, one of the oldest Black congregations in Delaware. This Resolution expresses the support and solidarity of the Delaware General Assembly for the congregation and surrounding community following the devastating fire of May 17, 2026.
This bill designates May 20, 2026, as Public Health Advocacy Day in Delaware to formally acknowledge the importance of public health efforts. It is a symbolic measure that does not alter laws, allocate funding, or impose new requirements on individuals or organizations. The resolution serves as an official state recognition rather than a functional policy change.
This Act adopts the 2017 updates to the Uniform Parentage Act ("Uniform Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. Delaware 's current law related to parentage is based on the Uniform Law Commission's 2000 version of the Uniform Parentage Act. The Uniform Law Commission’s website states that it “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The 2017 updates to the Uniform Act have been adopted by 11 states and is pending before the Pennsylvania state legislature. This Act, through the adoption of the Uniform Act, does all of the following: (1) Removes gendered terms throughout this Act to ensure equal treatment of children born to same-sex couples. In Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court held that laws barring marriage between two people of the same sex are unconstitutional. And, in Pavan v. Smith, 137 S. Ct. 2075, 2078-79 (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state may not deny married same-sex couples recognition on their children’s birth certificates that the state grants to married different-sex couples. After these decision, parentage laws that treat same-sex couples differently than different-sex couples may be unconstitutional. These changes are also consistent with Delaware’s efforts to write laws using gender silent language unless a solely masculine or feminine term is required to apply a law to 1 gender. See § 211(c) of Title 1 of the Delaware Code. Specifically, these changes include broadening the provisions of Delaware’s parentage law related to the presumption of parentage (Section 11 of this Act), acknowledgment of parentage (Sections 12 through 26 of this Act), genetic testing (Sections 41 through 52 of this Act), and assisted reproduction (Sections 82 through 89 of this Act) to make them gender neutral. (2) Includes a provision for the establishment of a de facto parent as a legal parent of a child. A de facto parent is one who functions as a parent to the child but is unconnected through biology or marriage. This is not a change for Delaware, which has recognized de facto parents in Delaware’s definition of parent in Delaware’s parentage law since 2010. This Act moves the process for establishing de facto parentage to § 8-609 of Title 13 (Section 62 of this Act) to be part of the provisions related to adjudicating parentage, as establishing de facto parentage requires a judicial determination. (3) Updates the assisted reproduction provisions of Delaware’s parentage law, including the parental status of a deceased individual addressing issues similar to those raised by Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 119 (153rd General Assembly). Specifically, the Uniform Act would treat a deceased individual as a parent of a child conceived by assisted reproduction if the embryo is in utero not later than 36 months after the individual’s death or the child was born not later than 45 months after the individual’s death and if one of the following apply: a. The individual consented in a record to be a parent if assisted reproduction occurs after the individual’s death. b. The individual’s intent to be a parent after the individual’s death is established by clear-and-convincing evidence. (4) Updates the surrogacy provisions of Delaware’s parentage law to reflect recent scientific, legal, and cultural developments in surrogacy practice (See Section 90 of this Act). Delaware’s parentage law currently includes a gestational carrier law and this Act continues that law and adds procedures related to a genetic carrier, which is an individual who is not an intended parent but becomes pregnant through assisted reproduction using the individual’s own gamete. Specifically, §§ 8-801 through 8-807 establish the rules that apply to both types of carrier agreements. Sections 8-808 through 8-813 includes the current rules that apply to gestational carrier agreements. Sections 8-814 through 8-821 adopts the Uniform Act’s rules that apply to genetic carrier agreements. (5) Adopts requirements and procedures regarding access to non-identifying medical history and identifying information regarding gamete providers by children born through assisted reproduction and their parents. Based on data from 2015, the CDC reports that “approximately 1.6% of all infants born in the United States every year are conceived using ART.” Data suggests that this percentage continues to increase. Gaia Bernstein, Unintended Consequences: Prohibitions on Gamete Donor Anonymity and the Fragile Practice of Surrogacy, 10 Ind. Health L. Rev. 291, 298 (2013) (noting that “from 2004 to 2008 the number of IVF cycles used for gestational surrogacy grew by 60%, the number of births by gestational surrogates grew by 53% and the number of babies born to gestational surrogates grew by 89%”). Accordingly, it is increasingly important for states to address these issues. The Uniform Act specifically does the following: a. Requires gamete banks and fertility clinics to collect and retain both identifying information and nonidentifying medical history about gamete donors. b. Requires gamete banks and fertility centers to provide non-identifying medical history to parents on request at any time and on request by the donor-conceived child who attains 18 years of age. c. With regard to identifying information, provides that a gamete bank or fertility center shall provide this information to the donor conceived child who attains 18 years of age on their request. (6) Makes technical corrections that conform existing law to current standards of legislative drafting, consistent with the Uniform Act and the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. (7) Consolidates or transfers existing provisions of Delaware’s Parentage Act to ensure logical organization of the law consistent with the Uniform Act, including the following: a. Definitions related to genetic testing, which are transferred from § 8-102 to § 8-501 (Section 41 of this Act). b. Provisions related to genetic testing, which are transferred to § 8-503(e) and (h) (Section 43 of this Act) from § 8-622 (Section 70 of this Act). c. Provisions related to the admissibility of results of genetic testing, which are transferred to § 8-606 (Section 59 of this Act) from § 8-621 (Section 69 of this Act). d. Provisions adjudicating parentage of a child with an alleged genetic parent, which are transferred to § 8-607 (Section 60 of this Act) from §§ 8-622, 8-623, 8-631, and 8-634 (regarding adjudicating parentage by default) (Sections 70, 71, 73, and 76 of this Act). e. Provisions adjudicating parentage of a child with a presumed parent, which are transferred to § 8-608 (Section 61 of this Act) from § 8-607 (Section 60 of this Act). f. Provisions adjudicating parentage of a child with an acknowledged parent, which are transferred to § 8-610 (Section 63 of this Act) from § 8-609 (Section 62 of this Act). g. Provisions adjudicating parentage of a child with an adjudicated parent, which are transferred to § 8-611 (Section 64 of this Act) from § 8-609 (Section 62 of this Act). h. Provisions adjudicating parentage of a child with an acknowledged parent, which are transferred to § 8-610 (Section 63 of this Act) from § 8-609 (Section 62 of this Act). i. Provisions related to issuing temporary orders, which are transferred to § 8-615 (Section 67 of this Act) from § 8-609 (Section 62 of this Act). j. Provisions related to combining proceedings, which are transferred to § 8-616 (Section 67 of this Act) from § 8-610 (Section 63 of this Act). k. Provisions related to proceedings before birth, which are transferred to § 8-617 (Section 67 of this Act) from § 8-611 (Section 64 of this Act). l. Provisions related to the child being a party and representated, which are transferred to § 8-618 (Section 67 of this Act) from § 8-612 (Section 65 of this Act). m. Provisions related to the court adjudicating parentage, which are transferred to § 8-619 (Section 67 of this Act) from § 8-632 (Section 74 of this Act). n. Provisions related to dismissal for want of prosecution, which are transferred to § 8-621 (Section 69 of this Act) from § 8-635 (Section 77 of this Act). o. Provisions related to orders adjudicating parentage, which are transferred to § 8-622 (Section 70 of this Act) from § 8-636 (Section 78 of this Act). p. Provisions related to the binding effect of a determination of parentage, which are transferred to § 8-623 (Section 71 of this Act) from § 8-637 (Section 79 of this Act). q. Miscellaneous provisions currently in subchapter IX which are transferred to subchapter X to allow for the inclusion of new provisions related to information about donors of gametes or embryos intended for use in assisted reproduction. (8) In Sections 98 through 125 of this Act, makes changes to conform existing law to the changes made by the Uniform Act. The majority of these changes ensure consistent usage of terms and definitions used by the Uniform Act.
