This Act amends Delaware’s Consumer Fraud Act (Subchapter II, Chapter 25, Title 6 of the Code), to give Delaware consumers and businesses the protection against unfair acts or practices in commerce that the General Assembly intended to give them when it enacted the Consumer Fraud Act. When the General Assembly enacted the Consumer Fraud Act in 1965, it stated, in what is now § 2512 of Title 6 of the Code, that the purpose of the Consumer Fraud Act is “to protect consumers and legitimate business enterprises from unfair or deceptive merchandising practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce in part or wholly within this State,” and that “[i]t is the intent of the General Assembly that such practices be swiftly stopped.” However, § 2513(a) of the Consumer Fraud Act, as enacted, prohibits only deceptive practices, and does not protect consumers and businesses from unfair practices as the General Assembly intended. To address this, the Act amends § 2513(a) of the Consumer Fraud Act to include the term “unfair practice” among the activities explicitly prohibited by the Consumer Fraud Act. This aligns Delaware with the 7 states in the Top 10 of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform’s 2017 Lawsuit Climate Survey, and the 44 states overall (plus the District of Columbia), which prohibit the use of unfair or unconscionable acts or practices in commerce. It will also align Delaware with federal law, which since 1938 has prohibited unfair practices in commerce in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 45). In order to provide guidance as to the meaning of “unfair practice,” this Act uses the most common definition of unfairness or unfair practice used by states where unfairness has been defined either by statute or court decision (based on information published by the National Consumer Law Center) including California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, and provides that interpretations of similar language in other jurisdictions should be considered in determining its meaning. The word “immoral” was purposely omitted from the definition of “unfair practice” despite its use in the definition of unfair practice in many other jurisdictions. Prohibiting unfair practices will protect honest businesses by enabling them to compete fairly and effectively in the marketplace, in addition to protecting individual consumers (and businesses acting as consumers) harmed by such practices. Prohibiting unfair practices will also protect consumers in situations that may not be readily or easily addressed by current Delaware law, such as the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, price gouging during a state or national emergency, and other situations in which consumers are being unfairly taken advantage of and they are unable to reasonably avoid injury. Finally, prohibiting unfair practices will also enable the Delaware Attorney General to participate more effectively and robustly with other state attorneys general in multistate investigations and litigation seeking to protect consumers and remediate harm on a nationwide basis. The act also amends § 2513(a) to add the term “receipt,” to clarify that persons who provide goods or services at no charge to consumers—such as social media companies funded by advertising revenue—are not precluded from being held liable for engaging in consumer fraud simply because they may not directly sell or lease their goods or services to consumers.
Sponsored bills
Many of the State’s waters do not meet water quality standards to support their designated uses, such as for drinking, swimming or supporting aquatic life. The Clean Water for Delaware Act establishes a framework for assessing needs and planning and implementing projects that support Delaware’s efforts to improve the quality of the State’s water supply and waterways. A Delaware Clean Water Trust account is created as a funding source for executing projects highlighted by this framework. The Trust account will have oversight from the Clean Water Trust Oversight Committee (the “Committee”). The Committee will draw upon recommendations from the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council, (WIAC), the county Conservation Districts’, experts in the effected Cabinet agencies and other public input with the goal of assisting municipal and county governments and others in implementing affordable water quality projects. The Committee is required to develop and publish an Annual Report and multi-year Strategic Plan for Clean Water with annual updates.
This Act requires certain police officers and some certain employees of the Department of Correction and Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families to wear a body worn camera and to use the body worn camera to record interactions with a member of the public in accordance with the regulations to be established by the Council on Police Training. This Act requires state agencies to implement the statewide body worn camera program through the procurement of cameras, development of a central data storage program, and provision of necessary personnel as funding is available. This Act tasks the Council on Police Training with creating and promulgating regulations setting forth standards for body worn camera use by Delaware’s police officers and some certain employees of the Department of Correction and Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families with the goal of ensuring widespread and consistent use of body worn cameras in 2022. This Act also makes changes to the membership of the Council on Police Training by adding the following members to the Council: the Chairs of the House and Senate Public Safety Committees, 2 public members unaffiliated with law enforcement appointed by the Governor each for a 3-year term. This bill also changes the membership of the Council by changing two positions to be permanently held by mayors from Kent or Sussex County. The bill also changes the quorum from 7 to 9 members. The bill requires the Council to hold a minimum of two public meetings to solicit public input into the development of the regulations.
This bill provides for gradual increases in the Delaware minimum wage to $15 over a period of several years.
This Act clarifies that discrimination against any person because of religion is illegal under Chapter 45 of Title 6, the Delaware Equal Accommodations Act. Religion and religious beliefs were always intended to be protected under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Act through the word "creed" and this Act codifies that understanding, consistent with the Superior Court’s decision in Boscov’s Dep’t Store v. Jackson, 2007 Del. Super. LEXIS 37. This Act adds the term “religion” to the list of prohibited bases for discrimination and defines “religion” to include all aspects of religious observance and practice, not just belief. This Act also updates the forms of communication covered by the Delaware Equal Accommodations Act so the list includes notices or advertisements on television or the Internet. This Act is known as "The Religious Freedom for All Act". This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Currently, blood lead level screening and testing rates are well below what the Division of Public Health would expect them to be based on the risk factors that determine when screening or testing is necessary. This Act simplifies the requirements and process for health-care providers and eliminates confusion that may be causing the low compliance rate for screening or testing. Specifically, this Act does the following: (1) Defines “screening” and “testing” for clarity. (2) Mandates screening, defined as a capillary blood test, at or around 12 and 24 months of age. (3) Clarifies insurance coverage for the costs of compliance with the Act. (4) Directs the Division of Public Health to report on elevated blood lead levels to the General Assembly annually and to develop regulations to implement and enforce the Act within 12 months of being enacted. (5) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 243 (150th General Assembly) enacted § 10006A of Title 29, which allows an advisory body to hold a virtual meeting, if there is an anchor location that is open to the public, allows any public body to hold public meetings during a state of emergency, and clarified that public bodies must allow a member with a disability to attend a meeting electronically as a reasonable accommodation under § 4504 of Title 6, unless doing so would present an undue burden. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 243 sunsets on June 30, 2021. During the last year, citizens and members of public bodies have become comfortable with virtual meetings and attendance and participation in public meetings has increased because virtual meetings are more convenient and accessible to many citizens. Thus, this Act makes permanent changes to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), Chapter 100 of Title 29, that allow any public body to hold a virtual meeting if there is a physical anchor location where the public can attend the meeting in person and other notice and access requirements are met. Specifically, this Act does all of the following: 1. Repeals the current video-conferencing provision of § 10006 of Title 29 and the temporary provisions of § 10006A of Title 29 and replaces these sections with permanent virtual meeting requirements. 2. Maintains the requirement that a public body must allow a member with a disability to attend a meeting electronically as a reasonable accommodation except if doing so imposes an undue burden on a public body whose members are all elected by the public. 3. Requires that a virtual meeting conform to all requirements under FOIA, including adequate notice that includes information on how the public may view and provide comment, if public comment is accepted. 4. Provides that during a state of emergency, or to prevent a public health emergency, all public bodies may hold virtual meetings without an anchor location. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a charter issued to a municipal corporation.
This legislation updates the licensing requirements for gaming employees and vendors. In addition, it updates references in certain sections of the laws to reflect which law enforcement agencies are responsible for the duties as described in the Delaware Code. It also ensures that administrative and vendor costs necessary to run the Internet video lottery are deducted only once from the net proceeds derived from the Internet video lottery. Finally, this Act clarifies that the prohibition on selling a lottery ticket for a price greater than that fixed by the Director includes sports lottery tickets in addition to drawing lottery tickets and instant lottery tickets.
This Act creates an automatic voter registration system at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and grants the State Election Commissioner the authority to implement automatic voter registration at other state agencies that already offer voter registration services under existing law. This Act stipulates that an unregistered adult citizen who provides proof of U.S. citizenship during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically registered to vote by the Department of Elections, if otherwise eligible for registration. To ensure the accuracy of voter rolls, this Act also ensures any updated name or address received from a registered voter during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically forwarded to the Department of Elections for the purpose of updating existing voter registration records. Using an existing mailer, the Department of Elections then will notify new registrants of their registration and provide them an opportunity decline registration or affiliate with a political party. Existing registrants will similarly be notified of any update to their registration using an existing mailer and provided an opportunity to undo the change, if necessary. People who register to vote under this automatic system but do not identify a specific political party will be afforded another opportunity to affiliate at the polls during the primary election immediately following their registration. To prevent ineligible non-citizens from registering to vote, individuals who provide documents establishing non-citizenship during a DMV transaction and individuals applying for the Delaware Driving Privilege Card will not be offered the opportunity to register to vote at the DMV and will not have any information forwarded to the Department of Elections. Unregistered individuals who do not provide proof of U.S. citizenship or proof of non-citizenship during a license or identification card transaction will be offered the opportunity to register to vote during the DMV transaction only if they affirm citizenship and other eligibility requirements, consistent with federal law requirements and existing law. This Act becomes effective two years after enactment, or five days after the State Election Commissioner certifies to the Governor and the General Assembly that the systems to implement the act are functional, whichever is earlier.
This Act codifies the Opportunity Fund, an additional source of educational funding for Delaware public schools intended to support the increased needs of low income and English learner students, and establishes the parameters for how the funding is to be distributed to school districts and charter schools.