Rep. Debra Heffernan

This bill establishes a 2-year residential drinking water purification system pilot program to be administered through the Department of Health and Social Services with funding through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

This bill repeals certain provisions in Title 11 relating to abortion including provisions which treat abortion differently than other medical procedures, and provisions which criminalize women and the sale of medical devices and medicines.

This Act establishes a Behavioral Health Professional of the year award program throughout the State. Through this legislation, the state will formally honor and recognize the work behavioral health professionals, such as, school counselors, social workers, licensed clinical social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses.

This Act amends the Fiscal Year 2021 Bond and Capital Improvements Act to (1) authorize a portion of funding previously allocated to the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation to be used for unrestricted operations; (2) authorize additional reimbursements from the Community Transportation Fund; (3) authorize the Secretary of State to rapidly complete restoration and maintenance projects and sell, transfer or acquire historic buildings and sites; (4) authorize New Castle County Vocational Technical School District to transfer non-obligated funds from Howard High School/1927 Building to St. Georges Technical High School and Delcastle Technical High School; (5) authorize funding previously allocated to the Peoples Settlement Association to be used for additional repairs; (6) authorize funding from the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund to be used for improvements at the Daniel S. Frawley Stadium; (7) authorize prior year contingency funding to ensure timely completion of a system for the Registrar of Regulations; (8) authorize the Department of Transportation to transfer funding for storm related repairs; (9) authorize the Department of Transportation to use Community Transportation Funds to maintain roads in the Knollac Acres community; and (10) authorize prior year contingency funding for the Rose Hill Community Center renovations project.

This Act suspends the educator evaluation system during the 2020-2021 school year and replaces it with an observation and feedback cycle that provides educators with coaching and support related to hybrid and remote learning practices. This Act provides for all of the following during the observation and feedback cycle: 1. An initial goal setting process, classroom observation, and end-of-year conference. 2. Feedback provided to an educator must be recorded in the Data Service Center platform. 3. Evidence collected and feedback provided during observations may not be used as part of the evaluation cycle or to assign a summative rating for the 2020-2021 school year. 4. Recommendations on performance may not result in a formal improvement plan. 5. Educators must complete only the goal setting form and a verification form. This Act also provides that formal improvement plans in place for the 2020-2021 school year remain in effect through the next evaluation cycle under this section.

This Act modifies the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards Act to do the following: (1) Continues increasing the required minimum percentage of electrical energy sales to Delaware end-use customers from renewable energy sources through 2035. (2) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. (3) Eliminates “cost-cap” mechanism for freezing the RPS and replaces it with a market-based mechanism. (4) Clarifies the rulemaking authority for this Act.

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 waives the 13-week waiting period for the state to "trigger on" to pay extended unemployment benefits in periods of high unemployment. Section 2 establishes the 2021 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 extends the provisions in H.B. 352 from the 150th General Assembly authorizing the Delaware Secretary of Labor to issue emergency rules amending the Delaware Unemployment Insurance Code to deal with the effects of COVID-19 and implement federal programs providing unemployment benefits to respond to COVID-19. Section 4 exempts unemployment compensation benefits received in 2020 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 pandemic.

This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2022 Bond and Capital Improvements Act.

This House Resolution condemns the violence at and assault on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021; commits the House of Representatives to peaceful, thoughtful, and respectful discourse in the conduct of public business; and expresses gratitude to the members of the Delaware National Guard.

This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment to add race, color, and national origin to § 21 of Article I of the Delaware Constitution to explicitly declare that protection against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin is one of Delaware's fundamental rights. The first leg of this constitutional amendment was Senate Bill 191 of the 150th General Assembly, published in Chapter 287 of Volume 82 of the Laws of Delaware. On passage of this second leg by this General Assembly this amendment will become part of the Delaware Constitution. Since the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, with Delaware ratifying it in 1901, at least 15 states have added a provision to their state constitution that prohibits the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on race, color, or national origin. In 2019, Delaware amended the state constitution to prohibit the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on sex, but no such prohibition exists as to race, color, or national origin. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when the General Assembly amends the Delaware Constitution.