This bill clarifies that the definition of employees who receive gratuities also includes employees that receive tips, that these employees earn more than 50% of their income from tips or gratuities. This bill clarifies that employers may continue to pay a tipped minimum wage to primary direct service employees under this bill. Employers cannot direct employees to engage in tip pooling in Delaware—tip pooling arrangements must be controlled by the employees themselves. It also clarifies that tips automatically added to a bill or added to credit card charges are to be treated like tips or gratuity and must be paid by the employer directly to the employee at the next pay period as opposed to being held by the employer waiting to receive payment from the credit card company and that the employer may not deduct service fees from the employees tips or gratuities.
This Act clarifies various aspects of the State’s procedures to operate its unclaimed property program, including promoting and determining holder compliance, processing owner claims, and preventing fraudulent claims. Sections 1, 13, and 15 confirm current examination practice and address recent court decisions that, to determine a holder’s compliance, the State Escheator may request and review records to verify the completeness and accuracy of the holder’s records, even if such records may not identify property reportable to the State, and that the State may initiate an examination to determine compliance for any reason and is under no obligation to provide a detailed or specific reason or justification. Section 2 clarifies that the dormancy period for various types of bonds is 3 years, which confirms current practice to treat these property types similar to securities-related property. This section also clarifies and addresses recent changes made by the SECURE Act that impact the escheatment of Individual Retirement Accounts. This Section takes effect on August 1, 2021, for the next annual reporting period. Section 3 clarifies that holders whose business is described in 30 Del. C. § 2906 (“the business of operating a restaurant, snack bar, soda fountain, take-out food service, catering service, private eating or drinking club, or other eating establishment or service”) do not have to report and remit unredeemed gift card property that had an original issue amount of $5 or less. This Section further clarifies that no report is required from any holder for unredeemed gift cards having an aggregate face value of less than $5000 for the reporting period. Sections 4 and 13 clarify and confirm current practice that owner notification (“due diligence”) letters may be sent at any time during an examination at the holder’s initiative or at the direction of the State Escheator. Section 13 expressly allows the State to mail owner notification letters during an examination. Sections 5 and 24 clarify and confirm current practice that the State Escheator is only required to publish or provide upon request only last known address identifiers, which currently is considered city and state, rather than a property owner’s full address. Section 6 limits the scope of the State’s holder indemnification to property claimed by other jurisdictions and excludes penalties, as defined, imposed by other jurisdictions from the State’s indemnification obligations. Sections 7 and 14 clarify and confirm current practice by aligning the scope (included years and legal entities) of a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (“VDA”) or a subsequent examination, which is to be determined as of the earlier of the following: the date the VDA invitation letter is delivered, the date a holder elects to enter the VDA program, or the date the notice of examination is delivered. Sections 8 and 9 clarify and confirm current practice related to the return of securities-related property to owners. Section 8 makes a technical correction to change the imprecise 18-month time limit to an exact time period of 558 days (31 days multiplied by 18 months), to allow owners the maximum amount of time under the law to file a claim to recover their securities or market value as of the date of the claim, rather than the liquidated cash value. Because an owner’s right may be significantly altered after the expiration of this time period, precise calculation of this time period to the owner’s benefit is necessary. The 558-day period is the current standard applied by the State Escheator to determine the return of securities or market value as of the date of the claim versus liquidated cash value, and codification of the 558-day period avoids additional software development costs. This Section also clarifies that claimants receive any dividends that the State received while it held the security. Sections 8 and 9 clarify that the 558-day time limit begins to run based on the notice provided as required by the statute in effect when the property was delivered to the State and ends based on the claimant’s first documented contact with the State if the claim is made within 60 days of such contact. Section 10 clarifies procedures for the denial of a claim and the investigation of potentially fraudulent claims. Section 11 makes a technical correction to change the imprecise 4-month time limit to an exact time period of 120 days for claimant appeals to the Tax Appeal Board. Section 12 clarifies that the State may send Verified Report and Compliance Review notices to the appropriate legal entity, which may include an agent, affiliate, or subsidiary of the reporting legal entity. Section 14 establishes a permanent expedited examination program for any company whose examination began after February 2, 2017. Companies who complete their examinations within the parameters of the permanent expedited examination program will receive the benefit of a waiver of penalties and interest, except for a nominal, non-waivable 1% interest assessment. Companies who receive a notice of examination after August 1, 2021, and who do not complete an expedited examination are subject to a minimum, non-waivable 20% interest assessment, up to an assessment of full interest and penalties under the statute. Section 16 clarifies that the Secretary of State may send notices inviting holders to participate in the VDA program by any commercially reasonable means that includes evidence of delivery. This Section establishes that holders will have a 90-day period during which holders may enter the VDA program or may request to expedite their examination conducted by the State Escheator. Holders who neither enter the VDA program nor elect to expedite their examination will be referred to the State Escheator for a conventional examination. Section 17 prohibits the use of documents obtained in an examination initiated by Delaware to be used in a multistate examination, unless the holder agrees to such use in writing. This Section applies to examinations initiated after August 1, 2021. Sections 18 and 20 make a technical correction for consistent nomenclature of the “statement of findings” and “request for payment” issued at the conclusion of an examination. Section 19 requires exclusively hourly compensation to be paid to third-party audit firms, except for examinations of accounts or policies of insurance and securities-related property. This Section also requires third-party audit firms to comply with the State’s standard non-disclosure agreement requirements, regardless of whether the holder under examination agrees to such requirements. Finally, this section clarifies which senior unclaimed property positions in the Department of Finance are prohibited from vendor employment for a 2-year period. Sections 21 and 22 simplify and clarify the application and possible waivers of interest and penalties for past-due property. To encourage voluntary annual compliance and participation in the Secretary of State’s VDA program, under this Act, interest and penalties may be waived by the State Escheator, or Secretary of State for VDAs, in all circumstances, except the following: 1) Past-due property determined in an expedited examination as established by the Act will be subject to a nominal, non-waivable 1% per incident interest assessment; and 2) Past-due property determined in a conventional, non-expedited examination initiated after August 1, 2021, will be subject to a minimum, non-waivable 20% per incident interest assessment. Section 23 clarifies and confirms current practice regarding limitations on finder agreements to locate property. Section 24 expressly applies the confidentiality requirements of § 1189 to state contractors, such as third-party audit firms. This Section also excludes policies and procedures related to the determination of claims and fraud prevention measures from disclosure as a public record under the Freedom of Information Act. Sections 1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, and 22 of this Act shall apply retroactively to any claims, examinations, or litigation pending as of the effective date of this legislation. Sections 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 24 of this Act take effect on August 1, 2021. This bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill removes the option of allowing notification to the public of candidates for Mayor and City Council by posting the names of such candidates in at least five (5) public places in the City rather than having this information published in a newspaper of local and/or general circulation; incorporates City Council's decision to move the Delaware Department of Elections' voter registration system, effective for the 2022 municipal elections; incorporates the City Council's decision to continue utilizing the "Book of Registered Voters" only for non-resident property owners; conforms the titles of the City's election officials to the titles used in Chapter 75 of Title 15 of the Delaware Code entitled "Municipal Elections"; corrects the month during which the elected officials are sworn in and the Vice Mayor elected; and removes the reference to a specific meeting during which appointments of non-elected City officials and staff are made.
Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 243 (150th General Assembly) enacted § 10006A of Title 29, which allows an advisory body to hold a virtual meeting, if there is an anchor location that is open to the public, allows any public body to hold public meetings during a state of emergency, and clarified that public bodies must allow a member with a disability to attend a meeting electronically as a reasonable accommodation under § 4504 of Title 6, unless doing so would present an undue burden. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 243 sunsets on June 30, 2021. During the last year, citizens and members of public bodies have become comfortable with virtual meetings and attendance and participation in public meetings has increased because virtual meetings are more convenient and accessible to many citizens. Thus, this Act makes permanent changes to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), Chapter 100 of Title 29, that allow any public body to hold a virtual meeting if there is a physical anchor location where the public can attend the meeting in person and other notice and access requirements are met. Specifically, this Act does all of the following: 1. Repeals the current video-conferencing provision of § 10006 of Title 29 and the temporary provisions of § 10006A of Title 29 and replaces these sections with permanent virtual meeting requirements. 2. Maintains the requirement that a public body must allow a member with a disability to attend a meeting electronically as a reasonable accommodation except if doing so imposes an undue burden on a public body whose members are all elected by the public. 3. Requires that a virtual meeting conform to all requirements under FOIA, including adequate notice that includes information on how the public may view and provide comment, if public comment is accepted. 4. Provides that during a state of emergency, or to prevent a public health emergency, all public bodies may hold virtual meetings without an anchor location. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a charter issued to a municipal corporation.
This legislation updates the licensing requirements for gaming employees and vendors. In addition, it updates references in certain sections of the laws to reflect which law enforcement agencies are responsible for the duties as described in the Delaware Code. It also ensures that administrative and vendor costs necessary to run the Internet video lottery are deducted only once from the net proceeds derived from the Internet video lottery. Finally, this Act clarifies that the prohibition on selling a lottery ticket for a price greater than that fixed by the Director includes sports lottery tickets in addition to drawing lottery tickets and instant lottery tickets.
This Act creates an automatic voter registration system at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and grants the State Election Commissioner the authority to implement automatic voter registration at other state agencies that already offer voter registration services under existing law. This Act stipulates that an unregistered adult citizen who provides proof of U.S. citizenship during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically registered to vote by the Department of Elections, if otherwise eligible for registration. To ensure the accuracy of voter rolls, this Act also ensures any updated name or address received from a registered voter during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically forwarded to the Department of Elections for the purpose of updating existing voter registration records. Using an existing mailer, the Department of Elections then will notify new registrants of their registration and provide them an opportunity decline registration or affiliate with a political party. Existing registrants will similarly be notified of any update to their registration using an existing mailer and provided an opportunity to undo the change, if necessary. People who register to vote under this automatic system but do not identify a specific political party will be afforded another opportunity to affiliate at the polls during the primary election immediately following their registration. To prevent ineligible non-citizens from registering to vote, individuals who provide documents establishing non-citizenship during a DMV transaction and individuals applying for the Delaware Driving Privilege Card will not be offered the opportunity to register to vote at the DMV and will not have any information forwarded to the Department of Elections. Unregistered individuals who do not provide proof of U.S. citizenship or proof of non-citizenship during a license or identification card transaction will be offered the opportunity to register to vote during the DMV transaction only if they affirm citizenship and other eligibility requirements, consistent with federal law requirements and existing law. This Act becomes effective two years after enactment, or five days after the State Election Commissioner certifies to the Governor and the General Assembly that the systems to implement the act are functional, whichever is earlier.
The minimum wage for employees who receive tips or gratuities has not changed since 1983, when the overall state minimum wage was $3.35 per hour. Tipped wage workers at that time were paid a percentage – 66.67% – of the minimum wage, which was $2.23 per hour. In 1989, the General Assembly changed the hourly wage to a flat $2.23 per hour, where it has remained since. Had the calculation been left unchanged, the tipped wage would have increased along with the minimum wage. Therefore, this bill ensures that employees who receive tips or gratuities also receive a minimum wage increase when other employees in the State receive a minimum wage increase.
This Act codifies a reasonableness requirement for the use of force, both non-lethal and lethal. This is important when the state of mind is an issue in a criminal trial, such as when the judge or jury must decide as to what someone believed, knew, or intended at a given time. The justification law as currently written uses the term “defendant believes” throughout its several sections. This Act makes it clear that the determination of one’s state of mind is an objective standard —that is, what a reasonable person would have believed, rather than what the defendant believed. Additionally, this Act makes clear that deadly force includes the use of a chokehold.
This Act appropriates $221,121,200 to provide one-time funded projects through the Office of Management and Budget.
This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Act.
This Act provides an August 1 deadline for minor political parties to nominate candidates for a general election. This change is necessary because under current law, the deadline for notification for candidacy for general elections is the same as the deadline for nomination of candidacy from primary elections. Thus, when House Bill No. 30 changes the date for primary elections from September to April, the deadline for minor political parties to nominate candidates for a general election also changes. This Act extends the deadline for minor political parties who are not required to nominate candidates for primary elections until August 1 in the year before the general election. It also revises the names of Part III and Chapter 33 so it is clear which elections are governed by each. This Act takes effect on January 2, 2024, the day after House Bill No. 30 is enacted, and does not take effect if House Bill No. 30 is not enacted. As such, this Act is drafted using the versions of the statutes as amended by House Bill No. 30. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act adjusts the existing tax brackets and the tax rate for each bracket, combining some existing brackets and creating 2 new brackets. The 2 new brackets are taxed at the highest rates, but by combining some existing brackets, this Act also slightly increases or decreases the tax rate for some incomes. Under current law, taxable income in excess of $60,000 is taxed at a rate of 6.6%. Under this Act, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, income between $60,000 and $125000 will continue to be taxed at a rate of 6.6%, but income above $125,000 will be taxed as follows: 1. In excess of $125,000 but not in excess of $250,000, at 6.75%. 2. In excess of $250,000, at 6.95%
