This concurrent resolution designates January 23-29, 2022 as Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists' (CRNA) Week in the State of Delaware.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes January 16, 2022, as "Religious Freedom Day" in Delaware.
This bill provides COVID-19 related relief to both claimants receiving unemployment benefits and employers who are assessed unemployment taxes, and extends the end date of the Secretary of Labor’s COVID-19 related rulemaking authority. Section 1 exempts unemployment compensation benefits received in 2021 from the calculation of Delaware adjusted gross income so that unemployment claimants will not have to pay state taxes on the benefits they received during the continuation of the pandemic into 2021. This exemption was previously granted for 2020 state taxes. Section 2 holds the 2022 new employer assessment rate, average industry assessment rate and average construction industry assessment rate at the same rate as 2020 in order to avoid an increase in these rates as a result of the increase in unemployment claims due to COVID-19. Section 3 reduces the unemployment tax assessment rate for merit rated employers to the lowest of their earned rates for 2020, 2021 and 2022, in order to provide further tax relief for employers dealing with the economic effects of COVID-19, but does not provide this reduction for any employers who are paying the delinquency rate of assessment because of a failure to file quarterly assessment reports or failure to pay assessments. Section 3 also allows the Department the administrative authority to reduce employer assessment rates below the delinquency rate and provide responding credits, as necessary to correct administrative errors or address fraudulent claims charged to employers, except for employers who are charged the delinquency assessment rate because they have failed to file any quarterly tax report. Section 4 holds the taxable wage base at $14,500 for 2022, which will reduce the amount of wages on which employers pay unemployment tax assessments into the UI Trust Fund for 2022. The Department has determined that the impact of this change on the UI Trust Fund balance is estimated to be $11.4M in 2022. Sections 5 and 6 extend to December 31, 2022 the provision in HB 65, which authorized the Delaware Secretary of Labor to issue emergency rules amending the Delaware Unemployment Insurance Code to deal with the continuing effects of COVID-19 and implement federal programs providing unemployment benefits to respond to COVID-19.
This concurrent resolution proclaims February 7-14, 2022, as Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Week in Delaware.
This Act commits discretion over the length of certified nursing assistant training and orientation programs to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. This change will facilitate the rapid certification of National Guard members as certified nursing assistants (CNAs) by allowing the Department of Health and Social Services to establish the total required classroom and clinical training and mandatory facility-specific orientation hours. Modeled after a Minnesota initiative, eligible guard members will participate in rapid certification programs through DelTech and be deployed to provide temporary staffing in long term care facilities experiencing staffing shortages under MOUs entered will the facilities. National Guard members have served as a critical part of the state’s response efforts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Training and deploying National Guard soldiers to work as CNAs will help relieve staffing shortages in health care settings and facilitate the transfer of patients out of Delaware’s hospitals to free up in-patient bed space.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution proclaims January 23, 2022, as "Maternal Health Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware.
This concurrent resolution remembers and recognizes the life and service of former Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution honors and recognizes the leadership, achievements, and sacrifices of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and urges all citizens of the First State to participate fittingly in the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 17, 2022.
This bill amends the Delaware Public Employment Relations Act in two ways. First, it expands the jurisdictional application of the Act to employers with less than 100 employees and as few as 10. Second, it requires the Board either to issue written decisions following hearings on unfair labor practice charges within 180 days of the close of the record, or, if the Board requires more time to issue its decision, it must provide a written notice to the parties advising of the same within the 180 day period and every 30 days thereafter.
The 18-month recidivism rate among juveniles released from Delaware’s Level 4 and Level 5 juvenile detention facilities is over 80%. This Act creates a fund to allow the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families to award competitive grants for the targeted provision of services that have been proven effective in helping juveniles avoid contact with the criminal justice system. This Act also allocates $500,000 for FY 2022 to the Fund for provision of cognitive behavioral therapy services and vocational training services. Finally, the bill updates outdated language.
