Rep. Ed Osienski

This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill 73 provides a 5-year statute of limitations for the Department of Labor to bring civil actions to recover nonfraud overpayment debts and no period of limitations to recover fraud overpayment debts. This portion of the Substitute will apply to overpayment debts for which the statute of limitations has not yet run, which includes those that accrued less than 3 years prior to the enactment of this Act. This Substitute expressly codifies the current law that there is no deadline for the Department to collect overpayment debts by offset of future benefits, by state Department of Revenue offset or by federal Treasury offset of tax refunds, the last of which is mandated by federal law. Finally, this Substitute creates an overpayment waiver program, effective retroactively to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to give the Department authority to waive non-fraud overpayments of traditional unemployment benefits resulting from either Department error or claimants receiving certain low-income public assistance.

This Act increases the limits on the dollar amount of awards of compensatory or punitive damages, or both, in cases of employment discrimination, establishing specific caps based on the number of the respondent's employees. This Act also clarifies that the Superior Court may order equitable relief available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as back pay and front pay, which is an award made for the period between the date of judgment and the date of reinstatement. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Under current law, an individual can file a charge of employment discrimination by sending the verified charge to the Delaware Department of Labor (Department). This Act clarifies that a verified charge of discrimination is deemed to be filed on the date it is sent to the Department. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill creates the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act. The Act delineates a consumer’s personal data rights and provides that residents of this State will have the right to know what information is being collected about them, see the information, correct any inaccuracies, or request deletion of their personal data that is being maintained by entities or people. This Act is modeled after existing frameworks for data privacy in other jurisdictions. This Act will apply to entities that conduct business in the State of Delaware who controlled or processed the personal data of not less than 35,000 consumers or controlled or processed the personal data of not less than 10,000 consumers and derived more than 20 percent of their gross revenue from the sale of personal data. This Act requires Delaware Department of Justice to engage in public outreach to educate consumers and the business community about the Act beginning at least 6 months prior to the effective date of the Act.

This Act updates the definition of a catalytic converter and limits the purchase or sale of a catalytic converter to a licensed automotive recycler or licensed scrap metal processor, and their respective employees and agents. The Act prohibits minors from selling catalytic converters. The Act specifies the amount of time the catalytic converter must be held before sale as well as what contact information must be obtained from the purchaser and seller as well as identification information on the catalytic converter and requires the information be maintained for 1 year. The Act places a 48 hour hold on payments and limits payment form to checks and limits the time of day and location for the sale of a catalytic converter. The Act requires the licensed sellers to make the purchasers’ and sellers’ contact information available to the police. This Act makes a catalytic converter, in violation of this chapter, considered contraband and, possession thereof, subject to seizure and forfeiture. This Act is for the purpose of regulating the purchase and sale of catalytic converters and for the purpose of assisting law enforcement in response to the high level of catalytic converter theft that has occurred in Delaware. This Act also makes technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Senate Joint Resolution directs the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families to explore participating in the federal title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program to increase support to relative guardians and facilitate permanency solutions for Delaware youth in foster care.

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 182. Like Senate Bill No. 182, this act does all of the following: (1) Grants the Department discretion to reject or accept an application that is incomplete or contains inaccurate information. (2) Permits the contractor to submit a new application for registration if the Department rejected the application because it was incomplete or contains inaccurate information. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 182 in that it makes a technical correction to remove unnecessary language added to § 3607(b)(2) of Title 19 by Senate Bill No. 182.

This Act establishes a Delaware Educator Apprenticeship Program to be developed by the Department of Education. The Department of Education will work with the Department of Labor to create a program that places aspiring teachers in paid positions in schools, while the teacher candidates complete the training and schooling necessary to become a Delaware credentialed teacher. This program will complement the Grow Your Own Educator Program and teacher residency programs to create a low-cost pathway for aspiring teachers to earn their teaching credentials and will address the educator shortage in Delaware. A pilot program will be created for the 2023-24 school year between 1 institute of higher education and 1 district or charter school. The program shall be expanded if interest and funding is available for the 2024-25 school year and thereafter.

This Act limits those individuals who may possess a firearm at a polling place on an Election Day to the following: (1) law enforcement officers, (2) commissioned security guards acting in their official capacity, (3) constables acting in their official capacity, and (4) active-duty members of the United States Armed Forces and Delaware National Guard acting in their official capacity. This Act is applicable to any in-person election held under Title 15, any local school election held under Title 14, and any municipal election held in accordance with the municipality's charter, ordinance, or code, and includes locations designated for early voting. This Act also provides an exemption for individuals who reside or visit private property adjacent to a polling place, or who are traveling from private property to another location.

This bill amends the Delaware Public Employment Relations Act by expanding the jurisdictional application of the Act to employers with less than 100 employees and as few as 25 employees.