Rep. Ed Osienski

Under current law, the possession, use, or consumption of a personal use quantity of marijuana remains a crime for those under the age of 21 despite being a civil violation for adults. This Act makes the possession, use, or consumption of a personal use quantity of marijuana a civil violation for juveniles. This Act also makes conforming amendments to subsection (i), regarding expungement of a single criminal offense under subsection (c), as, after the effective date of this Act, subsection (c) will no longer contain a criminal offense.

State economic development officials pursue economic development opportunities that, if realized, would have significant impact on Delaware's future economic health and competitiveness. Such situations frequently require expeditious action and the need to enhance Delaware's transportation infrastructure on a timeline and schedule that is outside the 6 year Capital Transportation Program. To meet these challenges, this Act establishes the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund to provide economic assistance for renovation, construction, or any other type of improvements to roads and related transportation infrastructure in order to attract new businesses to Delaware, or for the expansion of existing Delaware businesses, when such an economic development opportunity would create a significant number of direct, permanent, quality, full-time jobs.

This Act expands the permitted uses of unclaimed electric cooperative capital credits to include investments in energy services for low income members and energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery storage, electrification and emerging energy technology programs. The bill also amends the annual reporting requirements to include an itemization of the amount allocated each year to low income assistance, energy efficiency and renewable technologies, and non-profit donations.

This Act adopts the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact (“Compact”). The Compact benefits the public by improving continuity of care, increasing license portability for military spouses, and increasing access to physical therapy providers. Under the Compact, physical therapists and physical therapist assistants licensed in a Compact member state may obtain an expedited license allowing licensees to practice in another Compact member state. In adopting the Compact, the state-based licensure system is preserved but communication between states is enhanced. The Compact will be administered by the Physical Therapy Compact Commission (“Commission”) which will process applications for Compact privilege. Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants licensed by the Delaware Examining Board of Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers (“Board”) may be granted "compact privilege," which will allow them to practice in another member state under the laws and regulations of the remote state. To exercise the compact privilege, a licensee must meet all of the following requirements: 1. Hold a license in the home state with no encumbrances. 2. Be eligible for a compact privilege in any member state. 3. Have no adverse actions within the previous 2 years regarding their license or any Compact privilege. 4. Notify the Commission that compact privilege is being sought in a member state. 5. Pay applicable fees. 6. Be aware of and comply with the laws and rules governing the practice of physical therapy in the remote state. 7. Report adverse action taken by any non-member state within 30 days. The Compact also authorizes the Board to do all of the following: 1. Appoint a qualified delegate to serve on the Commission. 2. Participate fully in the Commission's data system. 3. Notify the Commission about adverse action taken against licensees by the Board.

This act designates the Bellanca Cruisair as the official historical aircraft of Delaware.

This Act makes necessary changes to Delaware’s election laws based on the State’s purchase of new voting devices and establishes auditing requirements for the voting devices. The new voting devices will function differently than the existing voting devices and so election law must be updated to conform the law. The new voting devices allow each voter to view a paper ballot with the voter’s selections under glass for the voter to approve before pressing the final button to vote. This Act requires the Department of Elections (“Department”) to audit the results of primary, general, and school board elections and establishes the procedure to be used by the Department. This Act also requires the Department to adopt regulations to govern the procedure to be used if an audit reveals a discrepancy. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

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 expands upon the existing at-store recycling program regarding the use of single-use plastic bags. The existing requirements will continue, however stores subject to this program will now be limited from providing single-use plastic bags for only specific uses thereby encouraging a shift to reusable bags. The purpose of the bill, as detailed in the preamble, is to clean up Delaware’s communities and watersheds, reduce storm water and trash management costs to taxpayers, and promote the health and safety of watersheds, wildlife and humans, and the ecosystem’s food chain. On January 1, 2021 this bill enacts a ban on stores providing single-use plastic bags at check-out.

This Act addresses the serious problem of individuals dumping large quantities of trash on public and private property, by: • Defining a “substantial quantity” of litter as being more than an amount contained in a standard garbage can. • Providing enhanced penalties for the unlawful dumping of a substantial quantity of litter. • Creating the Litter Investigation and Enforcement Fund (“LIEF”), funded through restitution paid by offenders of this chapter, to support investigations to identify those who violate this chapter. This Act clarifies that a public authority or agency is not required to provide litter receptacles in a park or recreation area that is designated as a carry-on and carry-out facility. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Substitute to Senate Bill No. 5 makes the following changes: • Clearly labels “littering” as a category of unlawful activity distinct from “dumping.” • Adds State parks, State forestry areas, State fish and wildlife areas, federal wildlife refuges, and lands within the State that are administered by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, to the list of areas that trigger enhanced penalties. • Establishes LIEF as a subaccount to the already-existing Special Law Enforcement Assistance Fund (“SLEAF”) under Subchapter II, Chapter 41, Title 11. • Requires disbursement of LIEF funds to follow the disbursement procedures already established for SLEAF. • Clarifies that the voluntary assessment alternative applies only to littering offenses. The penalty for dumping includes a mandatory community service obligation, so voluntary assessment cannot apply to dumping. • Updates language to allow courts to accept methods other than check or money order to make payments under this Act.

This bill enables a key component of the Take Care Delaware program, a partnership between law enforcement and schools to adopt a trauma-informed approach to children who have been identified at the scene of a traumatic event. The Take Care Delaware program, which will start as a pilot, operates by a police officer or emergency-care provider alerting a child’s school about the child’s presence at a traumatic event that the police officer or emergency-care provider responded to. In order to avoid violations of the State Bureau of Investigation’s dissemination statute and the Victim’s Bill of Rights in Title 11, this bill creates a narrow exception to both statutes that allows police officers and emergency-care providers to send the child’s name to their school district or charter school so that the child’s teachers can ensure the child is handled in a trauma-informed way. The Take Care Delaware program is based on the national “Handle With Care” model and includes training and other best practices for law enforcement and schools to prevent and mitigate the negative impact of childhood exposure to trauma.