Sen. Stephanie Hansen

This Act amends Delaware’s Whistleblower Protection Act to preclude an employer from reporting or threatening to report an employee’s citizenship or immigration status or a family members citizenship or immigration status to a federal, state, or local agency, in response to the employee engaging in a protected activity under Delaware’s Whistleblower Act.

This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council ("WIAC"). This Act clarifies quorum, removes a prohibition against WIAC members voting when attending a meeting virtually, and authorizes WIAC to adopt procedural rules to carry out its functions. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act provides protection to homeowners from sellers that may have misled buyers (or their settlement attorneys) regarding a criminal judgment that attached to real property. It prevents innocent owners from potentially becoming a second victim by having a prior owner’s lien attach for more than 7 years after the settlement.

This Act creates a “Ban the Box” policy for postsecondary institutions in the state. “Ban the Box” or “Beyond the Box” policies refer to the removal of questions about one’s criminal conviction history on a college or job application. Research shows that questions about criminal conviction history deter individuals from applying to an institution and increase the likelihood of rejection, with a disproportionate effect on people of color. This Act promotes diversity by prohibiting academic institutions from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal conviction history, with limited exceptions for inquiries into certain types of offenses such as stalking and sexual assault. If the institution elects to deny an applicant because of a conviction for such an offense, it must disclose that fact to the applicant. After an applicant has been admitted, an institution may inquire into the applicant’s criminal conviction history for the limited purposes of offering counseling and making decisions concerning the applicant’s participation in campus life. In addition, the Act requires the Department of Education to compile and complete an annual report on admissions from each academic institution, including the race and gender of the applicants and of the accepted students.

House Bill No. 302 clarifies that the creation or possession of an altered or fake vaccination document is forgery in the second degree. This crime includes electronic vaccination documents because the existing definition of "written instrument" under § 863 of Title 11 includes electronic equivalents. This Act does not address electronic vaccination records because the existing crime of misusing computer system information, § 935 of Title 11, clearly covers tampering with computer records, which includes vaccination records. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 302 revises the language describing the altered or fake vaccination document so it cannot be read as requiring each of the details listed. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act would add designation that the holder is a veteran to the Delaware Driver License or Identification Card upon request. Adding designation that the holder is a veteran to a Driver License or Identification Card would eliminate the need for a veteran to carry a separate card or official discharge forms in order to prove their service.

This bill makes needed changes to the Lyme Disease Oversight Board by adding 2 members including an infectious disease epidemiologist and a licensed veterinarian or entomology specialist.

This bill updates the State Bureau of Identification’s definition of “criminal justice agency” in two ways. First, by adding the Division of Management Support Services in the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families to reflect the shift in some criminal justice functions to that Division from the Division of Family Services. Second, by clarifying that the Office of the Child Advocate is a criminal justice agency. The Office of the Child Advocate provides legal representation to children in foster care, and the Investigation Coordinator, located within the Office of the Child Advocate, is a member of the criminal multidisciplinary response to child abuse and neglect.

This Act deletes from the Delaware Code a derogatory and highly offensive term for Italian-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-American immigrants.

This bill permits health-care providers who are licensed in a state other than Delaware to deliver health-care services by telehealth and telemedicine only if a health-care provider-patient relationship has been established in accordance with § 6003 of Title 24.