Rep. Sean Matthews

This Act renames the Claymont Regional Transportation at First State Crossing in Claymont, Delaware as the "Harris B. McDowell, III Transportation Center" after Senator Harris B. McDowell, III, the longest serving member of the Delaware General Assembly.

This Act provides school-base physical therapists who have graduated from an accredited college or university with the highest level masters or doctorate degree, and who have achieved a passing score on the national physical therapy examination issued by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, with base salaries of Master Plus 30 or Doctorate, and provides the ability to move forward on the salary schedule for additional credits earned. Since 2015, a doctorate degree is required in order to sit for the national physical therapy examination for licensure.

This Act amends §137, Title 17 of the Delaware Code to allow for right of way acquisitions to commence upon the approval of final right of way plans on a parcel by parcel basis. This will improve project delivery by allowing acquisitions on finalized parcels to begin earlier. This Act also adds a requirement for notification to adjoining property owners when parcels with minimal independent utility are available for disposal. This Act amends the reporting date for properties being held for projects, properties deemed surplus, and for excess and unmarketable properties to be submitted by the end of the calendar year, which aligns it with other reporting requirements. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual including moving the series of purposes and means for acquiring property or property rights in paragraph § 137 (a)(1) to a list to make the meaning clearer and easier to cite to.

Like Senate Bill No. 35, this Act defines specific violations of wage payment and collection laws under Chapter 11 of Title 19 as wage theft, providing specific penalties for these violations, and creates a new criminal offense of wage theft, with a mechanism for the Department of Labor to refer completed investigations to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Clearly defining wage theft protects Delaware workers and Delaware taxpayers from employers who pay their employees “under the table” because this practice results in lost tax revenue to this State and exposes employees to personal risk in the areas of unemployment compensation and workplace injuries. The civil penalties collected for violations that are wage theft must be used for the enforcement of wage payment and collection laws under Chapter 11 of Title 19 and prosecution of the offense of wage theft under § 841D of Title 11. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 35 differs from Senate Bill No. 35 as follows: • Clarifies that Chapter 11 of Title 19 does not apply to independent contractors. • Defines the term "independent contractor" using the same definition that is used in Chapter 35 of Title 19 and specifically identifying as "independent contractors" a person licensed by the Department of Insurance or registered under Chapter 73 of Title 6 as a broker-dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative. It also allows the Department of Labor to designate additional occupations as an “independent contractor” through regulations. • Does not make any changes to the definitions sections of other chapters in Title 19. • Adds terms and definitions to § 1101 of Title 19 that are used in Chapter 11, with the same definitions for the terms as would have applied under the revisions to § 101 of Title 19 in SB 35. Like Senate Bill No. 35, this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to give criminal jurisdiction to inferior courts.

Under current Chapter 27 of Title 10 the Board of Examiners of Constables is charged with appointing constables and certifying their commissions as well as monitoring their training and in-service. Currently, there is no member on the Board who acts as a representative for constables. This bill removes the constable statute from Title 10 by deleting Chapter 27 in its entirety, and adding Chapter 56, as it relates to Constables, to Title 24 of the Code. This bill renames the Board “Constable Board of Examiners”, expands the number of Board members from 5 to 7 and replaces the current representative from the American Society of Industrial Security with 3 constables, 1 specifically employed with a higher education institution and 1 specifically employed with a healthcare institution. This bill also clarifies the authority of the Board and the powers and duties of constables. The Act also brings the Board’s process under Delaware’s Administrative Procedures Act. The Act grandfathers all currently commissioned constables, except requiring their compliance with all firearms training, until their present term expires. The Act also amends Title 18 to reflect that commissioned constables, as in current law, remain eligible for line-of-duty death benefits under this new Chapter.

This act authorizes the application of funds from the Delaware School Safety and Security Fund, which is subject to available appropriations, for the retention of constables to be utilized by the LEAs.

This Senate Joint Resolution designates August 31, 2022, as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware and directs the State flag to be lowered to half-staff at State facilities and encourages local governments, businesses, and Delawareans to do the same.

This Act amends the Delaware Code relating to financial assistance for education in order to promote and support the state’s high demand career fields and reduce student debt for Delaware residents. The Act clarifies the Delaware Higher Education Office’s role in administering programs. Professional incentive scholarship loan programs will generally be replaced with the career-based scholarship program and the educator support scholarship and mental health services scholarship programs will be established. In addition, a loan repayment program is created for speech-language pathology and mental health professions to attract and retain these professionals in Delaware schools. Career-based and educator support scholarships will be made to Delaware students who intend to pursue careers in specific fields identified as areas of need in Delaware. Academic scholarships will be awarded to Delaware students in memory of elected officials and other distinguished citizens. Need-based scholarships will be awarded to Delaware students so that they will not be denied the opportunity of an education because of financial need. The Act also clarifies the programs that are not administered by the Delaware Higher Education Office.  The Education Endowment Fund and the Michael C. Ferguson Achievement Awards will be repealed because they are no longer funded.  The Delaware College Investment Plan has been renamed the DE529 Education Savings Plan, and conforming changes are made to other parts of the Code.  The Ivyane D. F. Davis Memorial Scholarship program is updated.

This Act establishes the Delaware Expanding Access for Retirement and Necessary Saving (“EARNS”) program to serve as a vehicle through which eligible employees may, on a voluntary basis, provide for additional retirement security through a State-facilitated retirement savings program in a convenient, cost effective, and portable manner. The EARNS program will be designed to serve small businesses who are unable to offer retirement plans to employees due to the cost and administrative burden. Because there are documented wealth gaps in Delaware, disproportionately impacting women and people of color, a state-facilitated savings plan aims to alleviate barriers small employers face in offering options, close the wealth gap among low to modest wage earners and keep Delaware competitive with neighboring states by attracting talented workers to Delaware. A state-sponsored savings plan, funded by employees, facilitated by employers, and overseen by the State, will offer one solution to the quickly emerging crises stemming from generations of workers without adequate savings. The Act creates the Delaware EARNS Program Board to oversee initial design and implementation of the program. The board will be disbanded no later than December 31, 2025, at which point all duties and functions of the board will be transferred to and assumed by the Plans Management Board. The effective date of the Act is contingent upon an appropriation by the General Assembly necessary to implement the Program. This Act also makes technical changes to the existing law to make it conform to the standards of the Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act renames the Human Trafficking Interagency Coordinating Council as the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council (Council) for the purpose of providing a clearer description of the work that the Council performs. This Act also transfers the Council from under the authority of the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to the Criminal Justice Council. DHSS's clerical staffing duty is removed. This Act requires the Council to appoint an Executive Director, who will serve at the Council's pleasure. The Executive Director shall support the Council in carrying out its statutory duties. Subject to the approval of a quorum of the Council and within the limits of any appropriation made by the General Assembly or available funding from another funding source, the Executive Director shall also employ staff and contract for services as necessary to assist the Council with performing its duties. By providing the Council with staff, the Council will be better able to comply with its statutory mandates under Delaware's Human Trafficking law. It will also be able to pursue grant funding opportunities that it previously did not have the infrastructure to support. Additionally, this Act broadens several existing statutory duties of the Council to ensure the Council has the flexibility necessary to perform its work and allows it to pursue work that may broaden opportunity to obtain grant funding. This Act also clarifies that one member of the Council must be an individual with prior experience in working with victims of human trafficking in a legal or advocacy capacity and that this individual may reside in any county. This Act also clarifies how this member must be appointed. This Act adds additional reporting requirements, clarifies that the report is intended to be an annual report, and adds that the report must also be submitted to the Executive Director of the Criminal Justice Council. This Act removes language related to the initial startup of the Council because this language is no longer relevant. This Act also repeals § 787(k)(2)j. of this Title because the paragraph contains language that is no longer relevant. Procedural requirements for Council business are located in § 787(k)(4), so the procedural requirements in § 787(k)(2)j. were moved to § 787(k)(4)b. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including corresponding corrections to internal references in § 787(l) and § 787(m) since paragraphs within § 787(k) have been renumbered. The Council wishes to name this Act for and honor the late Ms. February O’Donnell and the late Ms. Amy Day. Ms. O’Donnell, a human trafficking survivor, and Ms. Day, a victims’ services volunteer who started the nonprofit, Meet Me At The Well, were remarkable women who helped lead the way in Delaware’s fight against human trafficking.