Like House Bill No. 166, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 166 establishes the Elevate Delaware program. Elevate Delaware will provide payments for tuition and auxiliary expenses, up to $10,000, for individuals to attend an approved non-credit certificate program. The Workforce Development Board will create a list of non- credit certificate programs eligible for the Elevate Delaware program and establish priorities based upon the skill requirements of employers in Delaware. It also allows the Department of Labor to provide payments to participants in Elevate Delaware to cover auxiliary expenses necessary to meet basic living expenses or purchase supplies necessary for the non-certificate program or employment upon completion of the program. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 166 differs from House Bill No. 166 as follows: 1. Instead of basing eligibility upon graduation from a Delaware high school, individuals are eligible for Elevate Delaware if they are employed by an employer with under 51 employees and are subject to Delaware income tax. This change helps small employers expand by investing in workforce development and helps Delaware residents increase their earning capacity. Currently, over 83% of Delaware employers have under 51 employees. 2. States that the intent of Elevate Delaware is to preserve jobs in Delaware and for Delaware residents and that the Department of Labor may recoup payments made on behalf of individuals if either the individual or an employer acts in bad faith under the requirements of Elevate Delaware. 3. Requires that if an individual is not a resident of Delaware, the individual’s employer must intend to retain the individual as an employee for at least 1 year following completion of the eligible program and the individual must intend to work in Delaware for at least 1 year following completion of the eligible program. 4. Tuition payments are made directly to an eligible program. 5. Allows Elevate Delaware payments to be made for supplies an individual needs for the training program or employment upon completion of the program. 6. Requires the Workforce Development Board to approve non-credit certificate programs throughout the State, based upon the population of each county. 7. Takes effect for program that begin after December 31, 2021 instead of within 1 year from enactment of this Act. 8. Removes the requirement that the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee review this Act because this review can occur without a specific requirement in this Act.
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Delaware has been irreparably harmed by the opioid crisis. In 2018, 400 people died of an overdose in Delaware, and in 2019, 431 people died of an overdose. Settlements from opioid distributors, manufacturers, and pharmacies are expected to provide significant monies over a substantial period of time to Delaware. These funds are intended to address to harm caused by the opioid crisis in our communities. This Act establishes the Prescription Opioid Settlement Fund (Settlement Fund) and Prescription Opioid Distribution Commission (Commission), to ensure that settlement money is used to remediate and abate the opioid crisis and is not diverted to other purposes. The Commission is part of the Behavioral Health Consortium and is established to ensure that decisions on how to spend funds are reached through consensus driven process that takes into account the views and experience of affected communities. The Behavioral Health Consortium will distribute money received by the Settlement Fund and the Prescription Opioid Impact Fund (Impact Fund), enacted by Senate Bill No. 34 of the 150th General Assembly, according to the recommendations of the Commission. The Commission shall seek input from the public and relevant stakeholders and shall convene a Local Government Committee to ensure that recommendations from counties and municipal governments are carefully considered. The terms of settlement agreements, bankruptcy plans, or other agreements for the payment of monies by defendants in opioid-related litigation will likely include terms that establish how the money must be spent. The Commission is required to adhere to those terms. The Commission must produce an annual report regarding the receipt and disbursement of funds. This Act preserves the status quo of the existing parties to litigation while limiting the ability for new local government opioid suits to be brought, because new lawsuits could limit the size of Delaware’s recovery in global settlements that are expected to be reached. This Act repeals the sunset of the Prescription Opioid Impact Fee (Impact Fee) and Impact Fund It also repeals the report requirement for the Impact Fund because the information in that report will be included in the new report that the Commission must produce. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 4 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-quarters of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to appropriate funds to a county or municipality. This Act also 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.
The purpose of this act is to open up The Delaware Student Excellence Equals Degree Act (SEED Act) to adult Delaware residents, who are not recent high school graduates. Currently, about 56% of Delawareans age 25-64 lack a post-secondary degree. This expansion of the SEED grant program will encourage adult learners to return to school to enhance their knowledge and skills and increase their job opportunities. Adult individuals with a high school diploma or less education were significantly impacted by Covid-19-related job loss. This legislation can help to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on those adults. Tennessee has instituted a similar program called the Tennessee Reconnect Act.
This Act makes the following changes to election law: (1) Increases the contribution or expenditure threshold for requiring a candidate for a public office, including a municipal office, to form a candidate committee, or file a statement of organization, with the State Election Commissioner from $2,000 to $5,000. (2) Changes the deadline to file campaign finance reports from 4:30 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. and makes clear that the reports are required to be filed electronically using the Department of Elections’ campaign finance reporting system. (3) Provides a deadline by which a candidate must withdraw to be removed from the general election ballot. 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 municipal charter.
This Act does the following: (1) Permits the State Elections Commissioner (“Commissioner”) to issue a citation to a reporting party who fails to file or deliver a required campaign finance report. (2) Requires the Commissioner to publish the name of a candidate who without reasonable cause failed to file a campaign finance report or has been assessed an administrative penalty. (3) Requires a reporting party who fails to file or deliver a required campaign finance report to take training on the Department of Elections’ electronic campaign finance reporting system. (4) Caps the amount of an administrative penalty that may be assessed by the Commissioner for a tardy campaign finance report. (5) Permits the Commissioner to authorize a payment plan for, waive administrative penalties under $500 owed by, or negotiate the total amount of administrative penalty owed by a reporting party, if the reporting party has filed or corrected a tardy report. Section 4 of this Act makes this authority retroactive to fines imposed by the Commissioner before the effective date of the Act. (6) Permits an administrative penalty to be paid by a political committee or political action committee, instead of by a reporting party. The Act makes this authority retroactive to fines imposed by the Commissioner before the effective date of the Act. (7) Increases the amount of time the Reports Appeals Subcommittee has to meet following the filing of an appeal. (8) Increases the stipend a member of the Reports Appeals Subcommittee may receive for attending a meeting from $50 to $100 and the total yearly stipend a member may receive from $250 to $500. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act modernizes fishing, hunting, and trapping license and associated waterfowl and trout stamp specifications to include digital formats. This Act refines the definition of waterfowl consistent with the gamebird waterfowl definition in existing code for determining when a waterfowl stamp is required to hunt waterfowl. This Act also eliminates trout catch reporting requirements, clarifies when and where a trout fishing stamp is required for fishing, and corrects certain trout stamp exemptions in the current code.
Section 1 of this Act clarifies that the reinstatement obligations of insurers under Section 3903(d) apply in instances of both nonrenewals and cancellations of policies due to nonpayment of premiums. Sections 2 through 4 of this Act revise the method by which an insured may contest or appeal a nonrenewal or cancellation of an automobile policy from a hearing process to a review by the Commissioner on the papers, which reflects the Department’s prior practices in handling these appeals and provides a more streamlined and efficient process for timely reviewing a consumer’s appeal. Section 5 of this Act extends the protections against unfair automobile insurance rating practices related to a service member’s deployment to deployments both within and outside of the U.S. and its waters.
This Act provides a phased in approach to further the reduction of single-use plastic bags. This Act increases the minimum thickness for a plastic bag to qualify as a reusable bag from 2.25 mils to 10 mils effective January 1, 2022 and makes the restrictions applicable to stores regardless of size effective July 1, 2022. This Act also makes corrections to existing law to make it conform to the standards of the Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill increases the minimum amount of property damage that triggers the mandatory reporting of a vehicular collision to police from $500 to $2,000. This bill also increases the minimum amount of property damage requiring police agencies to investigate from $1,000 to $2,000. This increase makes Delaware more consistent with other states and reflects the Legislature’s intention in 1997 to increase the amount annually by $100.
Recent high-profile attacks on judges and their families are a constant reminder to those that choose public service that they may be doing so at the risk of their and their loved ones’ lives. The death of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas’ son, Daniel Anderl, in New Jersey is tragically just one example – numerous instances of threatening and harassing behavior targeted at judicial officers rarely make prime time news but nonetheless impacts them. The rise and use of social media and online access to information has made it more difficult for judicial officers to maintain their privacy. This Act would allow judicial officers to make a written request that their personal information not be published and remain confidential. The Act takes effect 1 year after its enactment to allow for implementation.