Senate Bill No. 134 prohibits a food establishment from providing consumers with a single-service plastic coffee stirrer, cocktail pick, or sandwich pick or with ready-to-eat food or a beverage in polystyrene containers. SB 134 also prohibits food establishments from providing single-service plastic straws, unless requested by a consumer. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 134 creates the same restrictions as SB 134, but updates and corrects terms and definitions, and includes additional exceptions for both polystyrene foam food service packaging and plastic straws. Section 1 of SS 1 for SB 134 also makes technical corrections to § 122(3)u. of Title 16, the authority under which the Department of Health and Social Services regulates food establishments. Substantively, SS 1 for SB 134 differs from SB 134 as follows: 1. Defines the term "compostable" using the standards under the Federal Trade Commission's guides for the use of environmental marketing claims and as established by the American Society for Testing and Materials. 2. Revises the term "polystyrene", and how it is defined, to clearly include only polystyrene foam, and also include both processes by which polystyrene foam can be made. 3. Revises the definition of "polystyrene foam food service packaging" to exclude coolers or ice chests used for the processing or shipping of seafood and containers used to contain, transport, or package raw, uncooked, or butchered meat, poultry, fish, seafood, or eggs. 4. Adds the term "food" to the list of terms that have the meaning defined in the Delaware Food Code because the Delaware Food Code definition of "food" includes beverages. 5. Revises the restrictions on providing plastic straws by creating exemptions for plastic straws provided to patients or residents of hospitals or long-term care facilities and for plastic straws that are attached to pre-packaged goods, such as juice boxes. 6. Revised the penalty section to align with the current penalties under the Delaware Food Code. 7. Delays the effective date of Section 2 this Act until July 1, 2023.
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This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to ensure that every Delawarean is afforded personal reproductive liberty. The Delaware Constitution is our founding legal document stating the overarching values of our society. This amendment is in keeping with the values espoused by the current Delaware Constitution. The Preamble to the Delaware Constitution states: Through Divine goodness, all people have by nature the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences, of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring and protecting reputation and property, and in general of obtaining objects suitable to their condition, without injury by one to another; and as these rights are essential to their welfare, for due exercise thereof, power is inherent in them; and therefore all just authority in the institutions of political society is derived from the people, and established with their consent, to advance their happiness; and they may for this end, as circumstances require, from time to time, alter their Constitution of government. Section 21 of Article 1 of the Delaware Constitution provides that, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, national origin, or sex." The core value reflected in the Preamble and § 21 is that all people should be afforded all the benefits and protections bestowed by the government, and that the government should not confer special advantages on the privileged. The right to reproductive liberty is fundamental to the exercise of personal autonomy and involves decisions people should be able to make free from compulsion of the State. Enshrining this right in the Constitution is critical to ensuring equal protection and treatment under the law and upholding the right of all people to health, dignity, independence, and freedom. This Act would ensure that government does not create or perpetuate the legal, social, or economic inferiority of any class of people. This Act requires greater than a majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution. Amending Delaware’s Constitution requires 2 pieces of legislation, referred to as “legs,” which are enacted in successive General Assemblies. This Act is the first leg of this amendment to the Delaware Constitution.
In this Senate Concurrent Resolution, the Delaware General Assembly requests that the Delaware Judiciary study and, if appropriate, recommend revisions to courts’ rules of procedure or statutes, if needed, to implement a disclosure requirement for third-party litigation funding.
This Act is companion legislation to Senate Bill 270. Currently, state code requires all school districts to match state- appropriated minor improvement funds with 40% local funds, regardless of a district’s ability to do so. This bill changes the requirements for the school district match for minor capital improvement funds to use the more equitable formula in place for major school construction projects.
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to make necessary technical corrections identified by the General Assembly's Division of Research. Specifically, these technical corrections consist of the following: Section 1 and Section 12 of this Act work in concert to transfer the date of the commencement of the terms of the members of the General Assembly from the Constitution’s Schedule to Article II (relating to the General Assembly) to avoid confusion and for ease of locating this information. Section 2 of this Act deletes § 24 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution to remove antiquated language to conform the Delaware Constitution to existing practice. This Section dates back to the Delaware Constitution of 1792 when the State Treasurer was also considered what we now know as the State Accountant, the Budget Director, the Director of Revenue, and the Secretary of Finance. The purpose of this Section was to provide the General Assembly with one, detailed report indicating that the State’s books were balanced and finances were being managed properly. Over time, as other, more specific roles were created within State government, the State Treasurer’s role in these aspects were shifted to other executive branch officers. Today, this constitutional requirement is now being met by several different state agencies in several different forms, all culminating in final products overseen by entities like the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC), the Cash Management Policy Board, and the General Assembly itself, and take the form of final reports issued to the General Assembly, administrative paperwork, and legislation like the annual appropriations act and annual capital improvement act. Section 3 of this Act corrects a codification error. The sentence stricken in Section 3 of this Act was originally to be struck by Chapter 607, Volume 50 of the Laws of Delaware in 1956. However, the sentence remains in the Delaware Constitution to this day. See Opinion of the Justices, 405 A.2d 694, 697 fn. 6 (1979). Section 4 of this Act updates the name of the State officer and State agency involved in determining whether the Governor is able or unable to discharge the Governor’s duties, which has changed since the adoption of this Section in 1969. Section 5 and Section 13 of this Act work in concert to transfer the date of the commencement of the terms of certain State and County elective executive branch officers from the Constitution’s Schedule to Article III (relating to the Executive) to avoid confusion and for ease of locating this information. Section 6 of this Act designates § 2 of Article V to make an internal reference clear. Section 7 of this Act makes changes to ensure the accurate adoption of an amendment to the Constitution proposed in 1998 by 71 Del. Laws, ch. 398. The amendment proposed in 1998 was proposed by Senate Bill No. 277 of the 139th General Assembly, which was later replaced by Senate Substitute No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 277. Senate Substitute No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 277 passed the General Assembly. When the 140th General Assembly concurred in the proposed amendment, the General Assembly used the language of Senate Bill No. 277 instead of Senate Substitute No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 277. See 72 Del. Laws, ch. 437 (Senate Bill No. 394 of the 140th General Assembly). This change ensures the original intent to concur in the language of Senate Substitute No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 277 is achieved. To properly achieve this change, the version of § 6 of Article V that existed before the passage of 72 Del. Laws, ch. 437 is shown as struck through in this Section. Section 7 of this Act also makes additional technical corrections to conform existing law to current practice and to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Sections 8 and 9 of this Act hyphenates “three fourths” to ensure consistent hyphenation of the supermajority vote requirements throughout the Constitution. Section 10 also makes additional technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual; specifically, to ensure use of the serial comma in two places in this Section. Section 10 of this Act corrects an incorrect reference to another provision of the Delaware Constitution. The reference to “Section 30” has existed in Section 7 of Article XV of the Delaware Constitution since its adoption in 1897; however, in 1951, a constitutional amendment was adopted to reorganize Delaware’s Judiciary. See 48 Del. Laws, ch. 109. That reorganization resulted in deletion and renumbering of Sections originally contained in Article IV of the Delaware Constitution, as adopted in 1897, but did not account for the internal reference to Section 30. Section 11 of this Act hyphenates “two thirds” to ensure consistent hyphenation of the supermajority vote requirements throughout the Constitution. House Bill No. 130 of the 151st General Assembly proposes an amendment to this Section and makes a technical correction to the first “two thirds” but not the second. This Section is intended to ensure that, on the 152nd General Assembly’s concurrence in House Bill No. 130 and this Act, the correct hyphenation of “two thirds” is achieved throughout this Section. 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 to amend the Delaware Constitution.
This concurrent resolution recognizes and honors the young women of Delaware participating in the 2022 session of Delaware Girls State.
Apprenticeship and workplace-based training are an “earn while you learn” systems that offer young people the chance to learn from the best trained construction workers in Delaware. Skilled craft apprenticeship programs offer the necessary capacities, resources, and flexibility needed to help low-income, minority, and female workers achieve and retain construction careers, while simultaneously assisting local construction employers obtain the skilled workforce they need to help drive growth in their local labor markets. This bill removes the “buy-out” for contractors to avoid participating in apprentice programs by paying into the Apprenticeship and Training Fund created in 2021. This “buy-out” benefits bad actors or those businesses only coming into Delaware to work on state taxpayer-funded projects whereas most Delaware merit shops and 100 percent of union shops have apprentice and training programs. The “buy out” also incentivizes contractors or never create training because the maximum cost of the buy-out is less than the cost to operate, fund, or participate in an apprentice program.
The Delaware Fair Housing Act and Residential Landlord-Tenant Code both prohibit discrimination based on source of income, which is defined as including rental payments from any government program, but both laws also provide that a landlord's nonparticipation in a government-sponsored rental assistance, voucher, or certificate system cannot be the basis for an administrative or judicial proceeding. This Act revises both the Delaware Fair Housing Act and Residential Landlord-Tenant Code to repeal the exception to discrimination based on source of income that allows a landlord to discriminate against tenants who participate in government-sponsored rental assistance programs. This exemption contributes to a lack of affordable housing in this State. There is currently a severe shortage of affordable housing for extremely low-income households in Delaware, with only 38 affordable rental units available for every 100 extremely low-income households. In addition, studies have shown that people who use government subsidies to move from high-poverty neighborhoods to communities with more opportunity have measurable health improvements and the children in these families earn more in adulthood than children who remain in high-poverty neighborhoods. At least 12 states and the District of Columbia have fair housing laws that protect against discrimination based on source of income that covers recipients of government subsidies. As of the end of 2019, half of all voucher households in the United States were protected by discrimination laws. 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 Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of October 2022 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
This concurrent resolution recognizes June 21, 2022 as "Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day" in Delaware.