This legislation, the State Spending Accountability Amendment, is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would reform the state budgeting process. This amendment would continue the Budget Stabilization Fund, established in 2018 under Executive Order 21, issued by Governor John Carney. It also seeks to continue the state Benchmark Index and state Benchmark Appropriation, established by the same executive order, which will expire at the end of the Carney administration in January 2025. This amendment would further hold the General Assembly accountable for responsibly managing state spending growth by instituting new protocols. It would create the 8-member Budget Accountability Review Commission (BARC) and establish a set of procedures to ensure the state operating budget complied with the state Benchmark Index and state Benchmark Appropriation. These benchmarks could be exceeded when extraordinary circumstances presented themselves.
This Act amends the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act by removing the requirement that a patient have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card, instead allowing health-care providers to make the determination of whether a patient has a diagnosed medical condition for which the patient would receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical marijuana. As a result, this Act removes the CBD-rich and compassionate use programs, which previously allowed for the use of marijuana for the treatment of conditions that otherwise did not qualify a patient for a registry identification card. This Act allows patients aged 65 and older to self-certify their qualification for a registry identification card without a written certification from a health-care provider. This Act authorizes the Department to issue registry identification cards with 1-, 2-, or 3-year expiration dates. It also requires the issuance of a registry identification card with an indefinite expiration date where the qualifying patient has a terminal illness. This Act allows individuals with out-of-state registry identification cards or equivalent certifications who would qualify for a registry identification card in this State to use those cards or certifications for any purpose for which the person would be authorized to use a registry identification card issued under this chapter.
This Act promotes increased capital investment at Delaware casinos by restructuring the table games licensing fee reduction currently received by lottery agents to allow capital investments greater than the minimum amounts required under § 4815(b)(3)a. of Title 29 of the Delaware Code to count toward the allowable license fee reductions. For ease of administration, this Act also aligns time periods for both table games and video lottery calculations.
This Act requires all employers in the State to provide employees with a minimum of 1 hour of earned sick time and safety leave for every 30 hours worked. For employers of fewer than 10 employees, the time may be unpaid, job-protected time instead of paid time. Accrued earned sick time and safety leave may be used by the employee for time off with pay at the employee’s same wage and benefit rate to deal with the mental and physical health needs of either the employee or an employee’s family member and other specified purposes. Earned sick time and safety leave may also be used to address the consequences of domestic violence for such things as meeting with lawyers, obtaining services from victim service organizations, temporary relocation and the like. Employers may cap the number of hours earned per year at 40, the carryover from one year to the next at 40 hours, and the maximum earned sick and safety leave an employee has access to at any one time at 40 hours. Employers may require employees to have been employed at least 90 days before they may take earned sick leave and safety time. Employers whose benefits packages already meet the minimum requirements of this Act are not required to offer anything additional. The Department of Labor will promulgate regulations governing operation of the Act and will enforce the provisions of the Act. Employers who violate the Act are subject to civil penalty of no less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee who complains to the Department that an employer has violated the Act. Where discrimination or retaliation is found to have occurred a penalty between $1,000 and $5,000 may be applied.
This bill grants the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement the ability to enter into offers in compromise with importers to resolve alleged violations of Title 4 and Office of the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner Rules. Currently, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and eleven states plus the District of Columbia utilize offers in compromise.
This Act is enabling legislation that establishes the framework and requirements for a competitive mobile sports wagering market in Delaware under the authority of the Lottery Director. Sports wagering is now legal in 38 states, and 29 states have legalized mobile sports wagering using computers or other Internet-connected devices, including the neighboring states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Pursuant to this Act, the Lottery Director is authorized and directed to commence the Internet sports lottery by administering a solicitation and request for applications process to license qualified operators that have entered into a market access agreement with one of Delaware’s existing video lottery agents. Each video lottery agent is authorized to partner with a maximum of two prospective Internet sports lottery operators, and certain minimum requirements for applicants are established in the legislation as part of the criteria the Lottery Director will develop to evaluate proposals from applicants. The Lottery Director may disqualify applicants that fail to provide required information. Further, the Director is not required to license applicants that are deemed not to be qualified. Licensed Internet sports lottery operators are required to pay a $500,000 fee for an initial 5-year license to offer Internet sports lottery games in Delaware, and operators must return proceeds from their operations at a rate of 18% of the operator’s monthly adjusted gross sports lottery receipts. Licensed operators will also contribute 1.5% of their monthly adjusted gross sports lottery receipts to purses for allocation under the direction of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission or the Delaware Harness Racing Commission, as applicable. Licensed Internet sports lottery operators must also contribute additional purses to cover any deficit in the event total purse revenues in any fiscal year from all sports lottery and Internet sports lottery operations are less than the total purses paid in the last 12 months prior to the start of the Internet sports lottery. Licensing fees collected from operators are allocated to the General Fund. Proceeds returned to the State by Internet sports lottery are allocated first to the Lottery Office’s costs and administrative expenses. Thereafter, $400,000 or 3.5% of the proceeds returned to the State, whichever is greater, is allocated to DSAMH for programs for the treatment, education, and assistance of compulsive gamblers and problem gambling. The balance of the proceeds remaining are allocated to the State Lottery Fund for the benefit of the State. The Act provides the Lottery Director with authority to regulate and provide for the security and effective administration of the Internet sports lottery. Minimum duties of licensed Internet sport lottery operators are established in the Act, including, among other requirements: (i) employing a monitoring system to identify betting irregularities; (ii) reporting suspicious activity to the Director; (iii) maintaining sufficient cash balances and daily records of receipts; and (iv) keeping current in all payments and obligations to the Director. Violations are subject to enforcement under existing statutory provisions. The Act directs the Lottery Director to implement the Internet sports lottery as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than 150 days after enactment. The Lottery Director is authorized to issue conditional or probationary licenses during initial implementation of the Internet sports lottery and may issue emergency regulations to the extent necessary to implement the Act. Final regulations for the Internet sports lottery are to be promulgated within 1 year after enactment. Finally, Section 8 of the Act provides that the Act’s provisions do not apply to any vendor awarded a contract by the Lottery Office to provide an online casino and sports gaming platform for Delaware’s three licensed video lottery agents pursuant to that certain Request for Proposal issued by the Lottery Office on January 12, 2023, entitled “Internet Wagering System and Services Solution [FIN23001-IWSSS]” or any renewal or successor contract thereto. This Act expands the definition of “Sports lottery” to include amateur and electronic sporting events. This Act requires a 3/5 vote because it creates a fee.
This Act removes the requirement for a lifeguard at a pool exclusively serving a residential or apartment community not accessible to the general public. Under existing law, a lifeguard is not required at a hotel, motel, or campground. A lifeguard is not required in a family community when the pool is or will ultimately be owned by residents. Requiring a lifeguard at a pool that is not accessible to the public increases the cost for private communities which must be passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent. This legislation aligns the statutory and regulatory requirements so that the lifeguard requirement in a rental community is the same as for a single family residential community, hotel, motel, and campground.
This Act permits wine producers holding a valid license within this State or another state to obtain a license and ship wine directly to Delaware consumers so long as it is done through a common carrier with a carrier permit. This Act requires that wine producers pay the taxes normally due for wines; limits the amount of wine that a direct shipper of wine can sell to a single household to 3 9-liter cases per year. This Act requires the signature of a person 21 years of age or older before delivery of the wine and to receive training regarding how to deliver wine responsibly.
This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of the Delaware Health Resources Board, which this Act renames the Delaware Health Resources Advisory Board ("Advisory Board"). Based on the research, review, and discussion of both the JLOSC and a task force created to assist the JLOSC's research, JLOSC approved recommendations to change the Advisory Board into an advisory council and move the Advisory Board's decision-making authority to the Delaware Health Care Commission's executive director. In addition to those approved recommendations, this Act also implements JLOSC's approval to amend the Advisory Board's statute in the following ways: - Renames the certificate of public review process to the nationally-recognized name of "certificate of need." - Clarifies procedures and review considerations, including removing the Health Resources Management Plan ("Plan") and codifying relevant sections of the Plan. The Plan will be replaced by a statewide health-care facility utilization study, be conducted on a biennial basis, and include utilization information to process certificate of review applications. - Adjusting for inflation, updates the monetary threshold that triggers the requirement for a certificate of need application. The monetary threshold has not been updated since 2007. - Removes references to the Bureau of Health Planning and Resources Management, because staff support was transferred in 2012 to the Delaware Health Care Commission and DHSS, Office of the Secretary. This Act takes effect 6 months after the date of enactment. This Act does not apply to applications that are submitted before the enactment date of this Act.
This Act directs phased in unit funding for every school or district to have an athletic trainer. A school or district with less than 3 sports teams must submit an application to the Department of Education should it wish to receive partial funding for an athletic trainer position. The State Board of Education may review any objection to the Department’s decision.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 2. Like Senate Bill No. 2 this Act does all of the following: (1) Creates an application process to obtain a handgun qualified purchaser permit to authorize the purchase of a handgun. While an applicant will incur costs related to fingerprinting and required training, a fee will not be charged to obtain the permit. A holder of a valid concealed carry permit, a qualified law-enforcement officer, and a qualified retired law-enforcement officer are not required to obtain or present a handgun qualified purchaser permit. (2) Prohibits a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer, as well as unlicensed persons, from selling or transferring a handgun to an individual unless the individual has a handgun qualified purchaser permit. (3) Requires that an applicant complete a firearms training course within 5 years before the date of application, similar to what is required by Delaware’s concealed carry permit law. (4) Makes clear that § 904A of Title 24 is not intended to prohibit law-enforcement officials from keeping records. (5) Requires the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to develop and administer a firearms training voucher program for low-income residents to provide low-income residents with a voucher to cover the costs of the firearms training course required under Section 1 of this Act. (6) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 2 as follows: (1) By increasing the time a handgun qualified purchaser permit is valid from 180 days to 1 year. (2) By requiring the Superior Court to schedule the de novo hearing within 15 days of the filing of the appeal rather than to hold the hearing within 21 days of the filing of the appeal. (3) By extending the implementation timeline of Sections 1 and 5 of this Act from a maximum of 6 months from the date of the Act’s enactment to a maximum of 18 months from the date of the Act’s enactment.
This Act removes membership with the Blood Bank of Delaware as a recognized benefit by the State due to changes in policies in how hospitals and insurance companies bill for blood replacement and blood replacement procedures.
