Sen. Marie Pinkney

This act clarifies that the University of Delaware, like other institutes of higher learning including Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College, must comply with the terms of the Prevailing Wage Law for projects secured under the State Procurement Act. This Act ensures that laborers and trade unions working on public work projects at or for the University of Delaware enjoy the same protections of the Prevailing Wage Law as they would on any other project governed by the SPA. The bill is curtailed such that it will only apply to the University’s designation as a “state agency” for the limited purpose of the application of the Prevailing Wage Law, and does not otherwise expand or limit the entity’s duties and liabilities under any other governing statute. This Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including to ensure the consistency of language throughout the provisions included in this Act.

This Act revises the Fair Housing Act 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. Nine 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.

This resolution celebrates March 25, 2021, as the 200th Anniversary of Greek Independence, and reaffirms Delaware’s commitment to the principles of democracy and religious freedom.

In the 1943 decision West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 63 S. Ct. 1178, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a public school requirement that students salute the flag or face punishment violated the First Amendment of the Constitution because it compelled students to declare a belief. Under Barnette and similar decisions, current Delaware law, which requires teachers and students to salute and pledge allegiance to the American flag every morning is unconstitutional because it is coercive. State law requires teachers and students to “salute and pledge allegiance to the American flag” every day and imposes a criminal penalty on a principal or teacher who fails to require students to participate in the salute and pledge of allegiance. A New Hampshire law requiring that time be provided during the school day to recite the pledge of allegiance and which specifically provides that students not participating in the recitation of the pledge of allegiance may silently stand or remain seated while respecting the rights of students participating was found constitutional. This Act preserves the requirement that students have the opportunity to salute and pledge allegiance to the American flag each school day but revises the Code so that the requirement complies with the First Amendment of the Constitution. Specifically, this Act does all of the following: Section 1 revises § 4105 of Title 14 to comply with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by requiring schools to provide an opportunity for students to salute the flag and pledge allegiance to the American flag every day. Section 2 adds charter schools to § 4101A of Title 14 to be consistent with the revisions in Section 1 of this Act and makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 3 repeals the penalties imposed on a principal or teacher for failure to comply with § 4105 of Title 14. Section 4 repeals the penalties imposed on a principal or teacher for failure to comply with § 4101 of Title 14.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution proclaims the month of April 2021 as “Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month” in the State of Delaware.

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 restores the $500 senior real property tax credit.

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 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.