This Act continues the practice of amending periodically the Delaware Revised Uniform Partnership Act (the “GP Act”) to keep it current and to maintain its national preeminence. The following is a section-by-section review of the proposed amendments to the GP Act: Section 1 amends § 15-902 of the GP Act to permit a certificate of merger or a certificate of ownership and merger to state any amendments to the statement of partnership existence of a surviving domestic partnership in a merger (and in the case of a surviving domestic partnership that is a limited liability partnership, to the statement of qualification of such surviving domestic partnership) as are desired to be effected by the merger. This section also amends § 15-902 of the GP Act to require a domestic partnership that is causing a merger under § 15-902(m) of the GP Act to file a statement of partnership existence (if it has not already filed a statement of partnership existence). Section 2 provides that the amendments to the GP Act take effect on August 1, 2024. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose or levy a tax or license fee.
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This Act continues the practice of amending periodically the Delaware Statutory Trust Act (“the Statutory Trust Act”) to keep it current and to maintain its national preeminence. The following is a section-by-section review of proposed amendments to the Statutory Trust Act: Section 1 amends § 3801(e) of the Statutory Trust Act to confirm that any series of a statutory trust is bound by the governing instrument of such statutory trust regardless of whether the series executed the governing instrument. This amendment is not intended to imply that other references to “statutory trust” in the Statutory Trust Act do not include series thereof to the extent required by the context. Section 2 amends § 3806(b)(9) of the Statutory Trust Act to confirm that the governing instrument of a statutory trust may be amended as permitted by § 3825(f). Section 3 amends § 3806(l) of the Statutory Trust Act to conform the reference to the Investment Company Act of 1940 in this section to other references to the Investment Company Act of 1940 in the Statutory Trust Act. Section 4 adds a new § 3806(p) to the Statutory Trust Act to confirm that the trustees of a statutory trust may authorize the beneficial owners to direct the voting of securities held by the statutory trust. Many registered investment companies have implemented, or are considering implementing, forms of pass-through voting. Section 5 amends § 3811(c) of the Statutory Trust Act to conform the language to the analogous provision in the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act. Section 6 amends § 3815(b)(4) of the Statutory Trust Act to change a reference from “person” to “entity”. Section 7 amends § 3815(f) of the Statutory Trust Act to confirm that an amendment to a governing instrument or the adoption of a new governing instrument effected pursuant to § 3815(f) of the Statutory Trust Act may be effected only with respect to the governing instrument of the surviving or resulting statutory trust and not with respect to the governing instrument of a constituent statutory trust that is not the surviving or resulting statutory trust. Section 8 amends § 3820(g) of the Statutory Trust Act to provide that the approval of a conversion to a statutory trust, and the approval of the governing instrument of the statutory trust, are required to occur prior to the time a certificate of conversion to statutory trust becomes effective rather than prior to filing of the certificate of conversion to a statutory trust. Section 9 amends § 3822(g) of the Statutory Trust Act to provide that the approval of a domestication as a statutory trust, and the approval of the governing instrument of the statutory trust, are required to occur prior to the time a certificate of statutory trust domestication becomes effective rather than prior to filing of the certificate of statutory trust domestication. Sections 10, 11, and 12 amend §§ 3827, 3828, and 3829 of the Statutory Trust Act to clarify that §§ 3827, 3828, and 3829 apply to all of Chapter 38 of Title 12 of the Delaware Code rather than to only Subchapter I of Chapter 38. Section 13 provides that the amendments to the Statutory Trust Act take effect on August 1, 2024.
This Act continues the practice of amending periodically the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (the “LP Act”) to keep it current and to maintain its national preeminence. The following is a section-by-section review of the proposed amendments to the LP Act: Section 1 amends § 17-204 of the LP Act. Because Section 2 contains amendments that permit a certificate of merger or a certificate of ownership and merger to amend the certificate of limited partnership of a surviving domestic limited partnership in a merger to reflect the admission of one or more new general partners of the surviving domestic limited partnership in connection with the merger, Section 1 amends § 17-204 of the LP Act to require each new general partner to sign the certificate of merger or certificate of ownership and merger. Further, because Section 5 contains amendments that permit a certificate of merger of registered series to amend the certificate of registered series of a surviving registered series in a merger to reflect the association of one or more new general partners with the surviving registered series in connection with the merger, Section 1 amends § 17-204 of the LP Act to require each new general partner to sign the certificate of merger of registered series. Section 2 amends § 17-211 of the LP Act to permit a certificate of merger or a certificate of ownership and merger to state any amendments to the certificate of limited partnership of a surviving domestic limited partnership in a merger (and in the case of a surviving domestic limited partnership that is a limited liability limited partnership, to the statement of qualification of such surviving domestic limited partnership filed under § 15-1001 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Partnership Act) as are desired to be effected by the merger. Section 3 amends § 17-218(d) of the LP Act to confirm and clarify certain of the mechanisms for revoking termination of a protected series. Specifically, Section 3 amends § 17-218(d) to confirm and clarify that the references to “other persons” in § 17-218(d)(1) and (2) are references to other persons whose approval is required for such termination of the protected series pursuant to the partnership agreement. Section 4 amends § 17-221(f) of the LP Act to confirm and clarify certain of the mechanisms for revoking dissolution of a registered series. Specifically, Section 4 amends § 17-221(f) to confirm and clarify that the references to “other persons” in § 17-221(f)(1) and (2) are references to other persons whose approval is required for such dissolution of the registered series pursuant to the partnership agreement. Section 5 amends § 17-224 of the LP Act to permit a certificate of merger of registered series to state any amendments to the certificate of registered series of a surviving registered series in a merger as are desired to be effected by the merger. Section 6 amends § 17-806 of the LP Act to confirm and clarify certain of the mechanisms for revoking dissolution of a limited partnership. Specifically, Section 6 amends § 17-806 to confirm and clarify that the references to “other persons” in § 17-806(1) and (2) are references to other persons whose approval is required for such dissolution of the limited partnership pursuant to the partnership agreement. Section 7 provides that the amendments to the LP Act take effect on August 1, 2024.
This Act amends the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act by removing the requirement that a patient have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card, instead allowing health-care providers to make the determination of whether a patient has a diagnosed medical condition for which the patient would receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical marijuana. As a result, this Act removes the CBD-rich and compassionate use programs, which previously allowed for the use of marijuana for the treatment of conditions that otherwise did not qualify a patient for a registry identification card. This Act allows patients aged 65 and older to self-certify their qualification for a registry identification card without a written certification from a health-care provider. This Act authorizes the Department to issue registry identification cards with 1-, 2-, or 3-year expiration dates. It also requires the issuance of a registry identification card with an indefinite expiration date where the qualifying patient has a terminal illness. This Act allows individuals with out-of-state registry identification cards or equivalent certifications who would qualify for a registry identification card in this State to use those cards or certifications for any purpose for which the person would be authorized to use a registry identification card issued under this chapter.
This Act promotes increased capital investment at Delaware casinos by restructuring the table games licensing fee reduction currently received by lottery agents to allow capital investments greater than the minimum amounts required under § 4815(b)(3)a. of Title 29 of the Delaware Code to count toward the allowable license fee reductions. For ease of administration, this Act also aligns time periods for both table games and video lottery calculations.
This Act requires all employers in the State to provide employees with a minimum of 1 hour of earned sick time and safety leave for every 30 hours worked. For employers of fewer than 10 employees, the time may be unpaid, job-protected time instead of paid time. Accrued earned sick time and safety leave may be used by the employee for time off with pay at the employee’s same wage and benefit rate to deal with the mental and physical health needs of either the employee or an employee’s family member and other specified purposes. Earned sick time and safety leave may also be used to address the consequences of domestic violence for such things as meeting with lawyers, obtaining services from victim service organizations, temporary relocation and the like. Employers may cap the number of hours earned per year at 40, the carryover from one year to the next at 40 hours, and the maximum earned sick and safety leave an employee has access to at any one time at 40 hours. Employers may require employees to have been employed at least 90 days before they may take earned sick leave and safety time. Employers whose benefits packages already meet the minimum requirements of this Act are not required to offer anything additional. The Department of Labor will promulgate regulations governing operation of the Act and will enforce the provisions of the Act. Employers who violate the Act are subject to civil penalty of no less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee who complains to the Department that an employer has violated the Act. Where discrimination or retaliation is found to have occurred a penalty between $1,000 and $5,000 may be applied.
This Act is enabling legislation that establishes the framework and requirements for a competitive mobile sports wagering market in Delaware under the authority of the Lottery Director. Sports wagering is now legal in 38 states, and 29 states have legalized mobile sports wagering using computers or other Internet-connected devices, including the neighboring states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Pursuant to this Act, the Lottery Director is authorized and directed to commence the Internet sports lottery by administering a solicitation and request for applications process to license qualified operators that have entered into a market access agreement with one of Delaware’s existing video lottery agents. Each video lottery agent is authorized to partner with a maximum of two prospective Internet sports lottery operators, and certain minimum requirements for applicants are established in the legislation as part of the criteria the Lottery Director will develop to evaluate proposals from applicants. The Lottery Director may disqualify applicants that fail to provide required information. Further, the Director is not required to license applicants that are deemed not to be qualified. Licensed Internet sports lottery operators are required to pay a $500,000 fee for an initial 5-year license to offer Internet sports lottery games in Delaware, and operators must return proceeds from their operations at a rate of 18% of the operator’s monthly adjusted gross sports lottery receipts. Licensed operators will also contribute 1.5% of their monthly adjusted gross sports lottery receipts to purses for allocation under the direction of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission or the Delaware Harness Racing Commission, as applicable. Licensed Internet sports lottery operators must also contribute additional purses to cover any deficit in the event total purse revenues in any fiscal year from all sports lottery and Internet sports lottery operations are less than the total purses paid in the last 12 months prior to the start of the Internet sports lottery. Licensing fees collected from operators are allocated to the General Fund. Proceeds returned to the State by Internet sports lottery are allocated first to the Lottery Office’s costs and administrative expenses. Thereafter, $400,000 or 3.5% of the proceeds returned to the State, whichever is greater, is allocated to DSAMH for programs for the treatment, education, and assistance of compulsive gamblers and problem gambling. The balance of the proceeds remaining are allocated to the State Lottery Fund for the benefit of the State. The Act provides the Lottery Director with authority to regulate and provide for the security and effective administration of the Internet sports lottery. Minimum duties of licensed Internet sport lottery operators are established in the Act, including, among other requirements: (i) employing a monitoring system to identify betting irregularities; (ii) reporting suspicious activity to the Director; (iii) maintaining sufficient cash balances and daily records of receipts; and (iv) keeping current in all payments and obligations to the Director. Violations are subject to enforcement under existing statutory provisions. The Act directs the Lottery Director to implement the Internet sports lottery as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than 150 days after enactment. The Lottery Director is authorized to issue conditional or probationary licenses during initial implementation of the Internet sports lottery and may issue emergency regulations to the extent necessary to implement the Act. Final regulations for the Internet sports lottery are to be promulgated within 1 year after enactment. Finally, Section 8 of the Act provides that the Act’s provisions do not apply to any vendor awarded a contract by the Lottery Office to provide an online casino and sports gaming platform for Delaware’s three licensed video lottery agents pursuant to that certain Request for Proposal issued by the Lottery Office on January 12, 2023, entitled “Internet Wagering System and Services Solution [FIN23001-IWSSS]” or any renewal or successor contract thereto. This Act expands the definition of “Sports lottery” to include amateur and electronic sporting events. This Act requires a 3/5 vote because it creates a fee.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution commends the Food Bank of Delaware for its contributions toward ending hunger and resolving the root causes of poverty in the State of Delaware through its increased statewide impact.
This Concurrent Resolution designates May 27, 2024, as “Brain Cancer Awareness Day” in the State of Delaware. “Brain Cancer Awareness Day” brings attention to the experiences of individuals affected by brain cancer and empowers them to share their stories, which helps overcome stigmas, corrects misconceptions, fosters a supportive community for patients and their families, and helps patients and caregivers to navigate their journey with greater knowledge and support by sharing resources, support networks, and information about available services. “Brain Cancer Awareness Day” is critical to educating the public about brain cancer and to supporting research funding for effective brain cancer treatments including targeted therapies, immunotherapies, and ultimately a cure.
Maddy summaryThis bill designates May 2024 as Lyme Disease Awareness Month in Delaware to highlight the state's high rates of the infection. It serves as a symbolic reminder for the public to learn about the disease, which is spread by deer ticks and can cause serious health issues like joint pain and fatigue. The resolution does not change laws or allocate funding; instead, it formally acknowledges the importance of awareness and prevention during the month.