Rep. Kim Williams

Under current Delaware law, the county sheriff’s offices are required to appraise goods that are being levied upon to pay debts. In addition, the sheriff’s offices can be held liable to pay the debts of a judgment debtor if, for example, they inadvertently neglect to make a return on a writ of execution. The appraisal provisions in Title 10 of the Delaware Code addressed in this act are out-of-date and impractical to implement. On the subject of the liability of the sheriff's offices, it is a questionable policy to require the sheriff’s office to pay the debt of a judgment debtor for an inadvertent mistake in handling the procedure to levy upon and sell the debtor’s property. This act repeals the appraisal provisions in Title 10 related to the sheriff’s offices. It also repeals provisions imposing liability on the sheriff’s office to pay debt obligations of debtors who fail to pay their bills, when the sheriff’s office commits an error through neglect.

This Act prohibits the practice known as patient brokering, which is the practice where patient brokers are paid a fee to place insured people in treatment centers so that the treatment centers receive thousands of dollars in insurance claim payments for each patient. Increasingly, patient brokers fraudulently enroll patients in low-deductible health plans with out-of-network treatment benefits. Patient brokers target individuals with substance use disorders, who are told that they are receiving their treatment through a scholarship. Not only does this perpetrate fraud against insurers, when insurance plans are terminated for nonpayment of the premium, individuals are discharged from the treatment program with no services or housing and often in a state that is far from home.

This Act amends Section 3001(d)(1) of Title 14 to require that the Department of Education ensure that the standards of the Delaware Stars for Early Success system are consistent with the regulations of the Office of Child Care Licensing. It also removes the Office of Child Care Licensing from the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families and puts it within the Department of Education to facilitate that consistency. This Act clarifies the legal effect of the transfer of the Office of Child Care Licensing from the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to the Department Education. It also creates a requirement that the Secretary of the Department Education and the Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families develop a transition plan for the transfer.

This Act provides a fair bidding environment for contractors who obey the law and protects the interests of workers and taxpayers by implementing recommendations from the review of the Workplace Fraud Act required by Senate Resolution No. 26 of the 149th General Assembly by making changes to the Workplace Fraud Act and creating the Delaware Contractor Registration Act. This Act revises the Workplace Fraud Act by doing all of the following: 1. Creates definitions for the terms “contractor”, "general contractor", "construction manager", "labor broker", "outside of the usual course of business", "place of business", and "subcontractor" and revises the definition of "independent contractor". 2. Explicitly prohibits labor brokers from providing construction services. 3. Allows general contractors, construction managers, and subcontractors to engage other construction companies in the same line of work as the general contractor, construction manager, or subcontractor. The Delaware Contractor Registration Act creates a contractor registration system to effectively regulate employee misclassification by doing all of the following: 1. Requires contractors to pay a small annual fee and apply for a certificate of registration to engage in construction activities in this State. 2. Requires registered contractors to establish compliance with State labor and revenue laws. 3. Requires that all contractors who work on a public works contract comply with the new contractor registration requirement. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Substitute Bill differs from Senate Bill No. 95 as follows: 1. Clarifies the definition of “contractor” and “independent contractor”. 2. Narrows the information required for registration to requirements that are applicable to the contractor and to information the Department of Labor (Department) does not already have. 3. Requires the contractor to disclose if the contractor or a person holding a financial interest in the contractor's business has been convicted of home improvement fraud or new home construction fraud or found to have engaged in a prohibited trade practice. 4. Creates lower registration fees for contractors that do not have public works contracts. 5. Defines the circumstances when the Department can require a surety bond and when the surety bond must be released. 6. Clarifies the opportunity and process to request a hearing if the Department decides to take an action to against a contractor. 7. Makes this Act effective on October 1, 2020 and states that the Department will conduct education and information sessions statewide regarding this Act.

This bill creates an Expanded Learning Opportunities Subcommittee as part of the Interagency Resource Management Committee (IRMC) to provide research, recommendations, and coordination regarding before and after school programs and summer learning opportunities for school-age children. The chairperson of the subcommittee is also added to the Interagency Resource Management Committee as a non-voting member. The creation of an Expanded Learning Opportunities Subcommittee was one of the primary recommendations of the Statewide Afterschool Initiative Task Force, which was created by the 148th General Assembly. The Task Force felt that the design and delivery of services would be enhanced by a standing body tasked with tracking developments across the country and in the State, with a view towards encouraging the development of programs and funding models that maximize positive outcomes.

This Act requires the Secretary of the Department of Transportation to publish the transaction history for funds allocated to each member of the General Assembly under the Community Transportation Fund.

Over 80% of pharmaceuticals in the United States are purchased through pharmacy benefits manager (“PBM”) networks. PBMs serve as intermediaries between health plans, pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies, and PBMs establish networks for consumers to receive reimbursement for drugs. Given the scope of PBMs in the healthcare delivery system, this Act is designed to provide enhanced oversight and transparency as it relates PBMs. Specifically, this Act does the following: (1) Requires PBMs to register with the Insurance Commissioner. (2) Permits the Insurance Commissioner to issue cease and desist orders based on fraudulent acts or violations of Chapter 33A of Title 18 committed by PBMs. (3) Requires PBMs to maintain certain records. (4) Permits the Insurance Commissioner to examine the affairs of PBMs. (5) Grants the Insurance Commissioner the authority to enforce Chapter 33A of Title 18 by imposing fines, requiring PBMs to take affirmative actions, and suspending, denying, or revoking a PBM’s registration. In addition, this Act updates existing law regarding maximum allowable cost lists and establishes a more transparent appeals process for a pharmacy to rely on if a PBM does not reimburse the pharmacy the amount owed under their contract or the maximum allowable cost list. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act expands the collection procedures available to the Division of Unemployment Insurance to more closely match the collection procedures currently available to the Division of Revenue providing the Division of Unemployment Insurance with streamlined procedures to allow it to more quickly and easily execute on judgments for unpaid unemployment insurance tax assessments. These procedures include obtaining warrants for the levy and sale of property; extending liens; garnishments of wages, bank accounts, and other property; and denying or suspending professional licenses of judgment debtors. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 128 as follows: 1. Provides authority for appeals tribunals to hear protests under § 3368 of Title 19 and hearings under § 3369 of Title 19. 2. Aligns the length of a lien of a judgment under Chapter 33 of Title 19 with the length of a lien of judgment obtained by the Division of Revenue. 3. Removes debts owed due to overpayments from garnishment. 4. Makes clarifications and technical corrections.

This Act changes the penalty for an employer’s failure to file a report required by the Division of Unemployment Insurance from $17.25 to 15% of the total contributions paid or payable by the employer, unless 15% of the total contributions is less than $100 or more than $450. If 15% of the total contributions is less than $100, the penalty is $100. If 15% of the total contributions is more than $450, the penalty is $450. These reports are used to calculate the unemployment tax assessments due from employers. The tax assessments fund Delaware’s Unemployment Trust Fund. The amount of this penalty has not been adjusted for inflation in over 25 years.

This Act permits a horse racetrack to make and sell beer on the horse racetrack premises for consumption on or off the licensed premises. This Act also makes technical corrections to existing law.