Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos

In 2016, Title 2, Chapter 19 was enacted to address the growing use of ride share applications also known as a Transportation Network Companies (“TNC”), which transport passengers for compensation. In 2016, the General Assembly acknowledged the importance of protecting TNC passengers as well as other drivers on Delaware roads by requiring that a TNC possess $1,000,000.00 in death, bodily injury and property damage insurance coverage when transporting passengers. Because many Delaware citizens do not use a TNC for transportation but use other forms of transportation, such as buses, taxicabs or limousines, this Act increases the death, bodily injury and property damage insurance coverage required for the Delaware Transportation Authority (i.e. DART buses) and public carriers as defined by Chapter 18, Title2 to that which is already required by a TNC. The Act also requires that public carriers, TNCs and Delaware Transportation Authority possess uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage to protect their passengers. The Act will take effect on July 1, 2022.

This Act provides an automatic satisfaction of a mortgage 10 years after the maturity date as stated in the mortgage or any recorded extension of the mortgage or, in the absence of a stated maturity date, 40 years after the recording of the mortgage or any extension of the mortgage. This Act also reduces the time after which an attorney may file a certificate of satisfaction under § 2123 of Title 25 of the Delaware Code to 10 years after the maturity date and 40 years after the recording of a mortgage.

This Act renames the Claymont Regional Transportation at First State Crossing in Claymont, Delaware as the "Harris B. McDowell, III Transportation Center" after Senator Harris B. McDowell, III, the longest serving member of the Delaware General Assembly.

Acquiring a driver’s license is an important part of young adults in foster care achieving normalcy and eventual independence. Yet, youth in long term foster care face numerous unique barriers in this endeavor. Not only are there logistical challenges in the process of obtaining a license for teenagers not in parental care, but the automobile insurance industry’s rules can be unaccommodating and financially prohibitive. And, research shows that youth who leave foster care with a driver’s license are more likely to have a successful outcome, avoiding homelessness and incarceration, as reliable transportation is a crucial step to employment. Like Senate Bill No. 151, this Substitute Act seeks to aid youth in foster care by doing the following: (1) Establishing a pilot program within the Office of the Child Advocate (“Office”) that would pay the cost of driver education, licensure and other costs incidental to licensure, and motor vehicle insurance. (2) Prohibiting automobile insurers from using certain factors in determining a foster child’s automobile insurance rates. (3) Prohibiting the DMV from charging certain fees related to licensure for a foster child participating in the Office’s pilot program. (4) Exempting certain individuals from liability for negligence of a foster child. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 151 as follows: (1) By directing that the Act is to be implemented the earlier of April 1, 2023, or the date of publication in the Register of Regulations of a notice by the Child Advocate that the Act is to be implemented. (2) By setting the date reports from the Office of the Child Advocate are due based on the implementation date of the Act. (3) By directing the Act to expire, or sunset, 2 years from the implementation date of the Act.

Like Senate Bill No. 35, this Act defines specific violations of wage payment and collection laws under Chapter 11 of Title 19 as wage theft, providing specific penalties for these violations, and creates a new criminal offense of wage theft, with a mechanism for the Department of Labor to refer completed investigations to the Department of Justice for prosecution. Clearly defining wage theft protects Delaware workers and Delaware taxpayers from employers who pay their employees “under the table” because this practice results in lost tax revenue to this State and exposes employees to personal risk in the areas of unemployment compensation and workplace injuries. The civil penalties collected for violations that are wage theft must be used for the enforcement of wage payment and collection laws under Chapter 11 of Title 19 and prosecution of the offense of wage theft under § 841D of Title 11. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 35 differs from Senate Bill No. 35 as follows: • Clarifies that Chapter 11 of Title 19 does not apply to independent contractors. • Defines the term "independent contractor" using the same definition that is used in Chapter 35 of Title 19 and specifically identifying as "independent contractors" a person licensed by the Department of Insurance or registered under Chapter 73 of Title 6 as a broker-dealer, agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative. It also allows the Department of Labor to designate additional occupations as an “independent contractor” through regulations. • Does not make any changes to the definitions sections of other chapters in Title 19. • Adds terms and definitions to § 1101 of Title 19 that are used in Chapter 11, with the same definitions for the terms as would have applied under the revisions to § 101 of Title 19 in SB 35. Like Senate Bill No. 35, this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to give criminal jurisdiction to inferior courts.

This Act allows both of the following: (1) The employment of a person 18 years or older to work in any capacity in a tavern or taproom, except that a person less than 21 years old may not prepare alcoholic liquor for patrons of a tavern or taproom. A person 18 years or older may sell or serve alcoholic liquor for patrons of a tavern or taproom. (2) A person 18 years or older may enter a tavern or taproom to pick up a food order for delivery through a third-party delivery service.

All human laboratory testing is regulated under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (“CLIA”). CLIA-waived tests are simple laboratory examinations and procedures that have an insignificant risk of an erroneous result. Common CLIA-waived tests include Influenza, HIV, COVID-19, and lipid-panel tests. Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the need for immediate diagnostic services that are close to home became vital. This bill authorizes pharmacists to order and perform tests authorized by the FDA and CLIA-waived and provide treatment for such health conditions.

This Act establishes an evaluation and assessment system created by the Department of Education to determine whether a school facility is in good repair to assure that school facilities are clean, safe, and functional for staff and students. This Act also requires the Division of Public Health to create a routine indoor air quality monitoring program that includes temperature and humidity standards that is published on the Department of Health and Social Services website. It further requires the Division of Public Health to create a contractor certification program for indoor air quality services that will allow schools to contract with properly trained and certified contractors when indoor air quality remediation is necessary. The Act also provides procedures for districts to make procedures clear for receiving and reporting indoor air quality complaints in schools. This Substitute bill differs from the original in that it does not provide for implementation of the routine indoor air quality monitoring program nor its enforcement. Once the program is created and there is a better understanding of what it will require, the General Assembly may then establish how, and to what extent, to implement the program with the knowledge of what is necessary to do so.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide incentives for resident Delaware taxpayers to donate organs and bone marrow for transplantation and for Delaware employers to grant paid time off to employees who donate organs and bone marrow for transplantation. To that end, the Act allows Delaware taxpayers to claim a tax credit of up to $10,000 of unreimbursed medical expenses, travel expenses, lodging expenses, and lost wages that are related to a donation of an organ or bone marrow by the taxpayer or a dependent of the taxpayer. The Act also gives a tax credit to Delaware employers who provide employees who donate an organ or bone marrow with paid time off for the purpose of the transplantation, in the amount of 25% of the employee’s gross wages paid to the employee during the time missed from work, not including any amount paid to the person by the employer as traditional paid time off, for a period of up to 30 days of missed work for each donation. For qualified expenses used for a tax credit under the Act, to the extent otherwise allowable under Title 30, no tax deduction is allowed for either the donor or the employer. This Act is a substitute for and differs from Senate Bill 301 by providing that expenses related to a donation of organ or bone marrow incurred in the taxable year before the transplantation took place must be claimed in the year transplantation took place. It also provides that lost wages, for purposes of the individual tax credit, do not include any amounts paid to the person as traditional paid time off, as other than traditional paid time off, as worker's compensation benefits, or pursuant to Chapter 37 of Title 19. Similarly, gross wages, for purposes of the employer tax credit, do not include any amount paid to the person by the employer as traditional paid time off. The Act also provides implementation dates for the individual tax credit and the employer tax credit. Finally, the Act includes minor changes made for purposes of clarification.

This Act renames the Blackbird State Forest’s Meadows Tract the “Ennis Tract” in honor of Senator Bruce C. Ennis. The Blackbird State Forest’s Meadows Tract covers 456 acres with open meadows, forested trails, and three ponds, and includes one of Delaware’s two forest education centers. The Meadows Tract is part of an ecologically critical zone connecting the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The Blackbird State Forest is managed by the Department of Agriculture and is a popular destination for hiking, horseback riding, nature watching, camping, and hunting.