This bill provides for gradual increases in the Delaware minimum wage to $15 over a period of several years.
This Act strikes the sections of existing law pertaining to merged instruction and apprenticeship programs for cosmetologists and barbers because no schools have applied for approval to conduct merged programs. This Act authorizes transfer of apprentice hours to cosmetology and barbering programs which will accomplish the same purpose as merged programs which are being eliminated. This Act also makes technical changes to existing law to conform to the Legislative Drafting Manual. Under the Act, shaving certifications are available to cosmetologists or cosmetology instructors who obtain 35 hours of relevant training and authorizes a master barber to obtain a skin and nail certification either through supplemental school instruction or an apprenticeship. The Act adds lash treatments to the services an aesthetician or cosmetologist may perform in conformity with advancements in those professions. The Act increases membership in the Board of Cosmetology and Barbering by two and adds shop and school owners or managers as required categories of Board candidates. The Act also specifies that the 40 hour per week limit of school hours does not include any hours a student is using to make up missed hours.
Section 1 of the Act amends subsection (b)(1) of section 12A-103 of Title 6 to remove a reference to testamentary trusts that is either a redundancy or otherwise might conflict with new section 3550 of Title 12 (which is a part of the Act). Section 2 of the Act addresses statutes under Chapter 33 of Title 12 and (i) amends section 3315(b) to make clear that a discretionary interest in a trust is not a property right and to define more clearly what constitutes a discretionary interest, and also to make clear that these clarifications do not affect the standard of review applicable to the discretion of a trustee or other fiduciary; (ii) amends section 3326 to expand its application to the resignation of officeholders (such as advisers under section 3313 or designated representatives under section 3339) and not just to the resignation of trustees; (iii) amends section 3327 to expand its application to the removal of officeholders (such as advisers under section 3313 or designated representatives under section 3339) and not just to the removal of trustees, and to permit other officeholders (in addition to trustors and beneficiaries) to petition to remove an officeholder; (iv) amends section 3331 to expand its application to governing instruments (beyond just wills and trust instruments, such that it is not intended to change the statute’s application to wills and trust instruments); (v) amends section 3339 to make clear that a designated representative begins to serve when the representative is appointed (and not merely when authorized) and has accepted the role (whether by written acceptance or through service or other action signifying acceptance), to prioritize appointment methods (that is, to provide that certain appointment methods are available if a designated representative is not appointed under previously-enumerated methods), to define for what purposes a designated representative may be appointed, to provide that the surviving parent or parents or custodial parent of a minor for whom a designated beneficiary has been appointed must be given notice of such appointment, to enable a trustor to appoint a designated representative to represent and bind beneficiaries who are minors or are otherwise described in paragraph (b)(2) of section 3339 in any nonjudicial matter, to enable a beneficiary to appoint a designated representative to represent and bind such beneficiary in any nonjudicial matter, and to provide that a person accepting appointment as a designated representative submits to personal jurisdiction in this State regarding any matter involving the trust (without precluding other methods of obtaining jurisdiction over the designated representative); (vi) amends section 3342 to make clear that, consistent with section 3303 of Title 12, a trustor may opt out of the application of section 3342 by express reference; and (vii) amends section 3344 to make clear that the statute applies unless a governing instrument expressly provides that a trustor may not be reimbursed by the trust for the trustor’s income tax liability, to expand the scope of permissible reimbursement to include county, metropolitan-region, city, local, foreign, and other income taxes (in addition to state income taxes), and to make clear that the statute does not apply if it would eliminate or reduce a marital or charitable deduction available to any person for state or federal income, gift, or estate tax purposes. Section 3 of the Act addresses statutes under Chapter 35 of Title 12 and (i) amends section 3536 to add to the flush language of subsection (c) to provide that a person who becomes a beneficiary of a trust due to the exercise of a power of appointment by someone other than such person is not considered under this title to be a trustor of a trust—even if the person who so became the beneficiary created and funded the trust and granted the power of appointment of another, such that if the trustor did not otherwise retain a beneficial interest in the trust that was otherwise reachable (e.g., the trustor did not name himself as a beneficiary of the trust at the time it was created), the mere fact that some other person exercises a power of appointment to later make the trustor a beneficiary will not create an interest that is reachable by the trustor’s creditors—which change would abrogate the common law relation back doctrine as it pertains to who is to be deemed the trustor of a trust created upon exercise of a power of appointment, if such doctrine were extant in Delaware, although the applicability of the common law relation back doctrine to this particular issue does not appear to have been adjudicated or acknowledged in any decisional case law in Delaware; (ii) amends section 3545 to add a new subsection (c), which confirms that other writings that create, modify, or revoke trusts and that are not described in subsection (a) of section 3545 are validly executed if they are executed in conformity with subsection (a), but also confirms that subsection (c) does not limit the creation, modification, or revocation of a trust by other means that Delaware law permits, and further confirms that subsection (c) does not apply to trusts formed under Delaware’s Statutory Trust Act and other trusts formed for the purpose of consummating a commercial transaction; and (iii) adds a new section 3550 providing that governing instruments and certain other trust-related documents, if validly executed under the sections of the Delaware Code that apply to those documents, may also be executed under Chapter 12A of Title 6 of the Delaware Code (the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act). Section 4 of the Act provides that Sections 2 and 3 apply to trust whenever created.
This Act clarifies that discrimination against any person because of religion is illegal under Chapter 45 of Title 6, the Delaware Equal Accommodations Act. Religion and religious beliefs were always intended to be protected under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Act through the word "creed" and this Act codifies that understanding, consistent with the Superior Court’s decision in Boscov’s Dep’t Store v. Jackson, 2007 Del. Super. LEXIS 37. This Act adds the term “religion” to the list of prohibited bases for discrimination and defines “religion” to include all aspects of religious observance and practice, not just belief. This Act also updates the forms of communication covered by the Delaware Equal Accommodations Act so the list includes notices or advertisements on television or the Internet. This Act is known as "The Religious Freedom for All Act". This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
The 2019 Delaware Literacy Plan (“Literacy Plan”) established a framework to address Delaware’s literacy challenges. The Literacy Plan concluded that a strong teacher preparation program should lay the foundation for teachers to be able to engage students in the essential components of evidenced-based reading instruction, known as the "science of reading." This Act incorporates the science of reading into Delaware’s public and charter schools by requiring, beginning July 1, 2023, that teacher preparation programs which prepare elementary school, early childhood education, or special education teachers or reading specialists must provide instruction in evidence-based reading instruction. It requires the Department of Education to establish a minimum number of hours of training that instructors in educator preparation programs must complete in evidence-based reading instruction. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Currently, blood lead level screening and testing rates are well below what the Division of Public Health would expect them to be based on the risk factors that determine when screening or testing is necessary. This Act simplifies the requirements and process for health-care providers and eliminates confusion that may be causing the low compliance rate for screening or testing. Specifically, this Act does the following: (1) Defines “screening” and “testing” for clarity. (2) Mandates screening, defined as a capillary blood test, at or around 12 and 24 months of age. (3) Clarifies insurance coverage for the costs of compliance with the Act. (4) Directs the Division of Public Health to report on elevated blood lead levels to the General Assembly annually and to develop regulations to implement and enforce the Act within 12 months of being enacted. (5) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill clarifies that the definition of employees who receive gratuities also includes employees that receive tips, that these employees earn more than 50% of their income from tips or gratuities. This bill clarifies that employers may continue to pay a tipped minimum wage to primary direct service employees under this bill. Employers cannot direct employees to engage in tip pooling in Delaware—tip pooling arrangements must be controlled by the employees themselves. It also clarifies that tips automatically added to a bill or added to credit card charges are to be treated like tips or gratuity and must be paid by the employer directly to the employee at the next pay period as opposed to being held by the employer waiting to receive payment from the credit card company and that the employer may not deduct service fees from the employees tips or gratuities.
This legislation updates the licensing requirements for gaming employees and vendors. In addition, it updates references in certain sections of the laws to reflect which law enforcement agencies are responsible for the duties as described in the Delaware Code. It also ensures that administrative and vendor costs necessary to run the Internet video lottery are deducted only once from the net proceeds derived from the Internet video lottery. Finally, this Act clarifies that the prohibition on selling a lottery ticket for a price greater than that fixed by the Director includes sports lottery tickets in addition to drawing lottery tickets and instant lottery tickets.
This Act creates an automatic voter registration system at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and grants the State Election Commissioner the authority to implement automatic voter registration at other state agencies that already offer voter registration services under existing law. This Act stipulates that an unregistered adult citizen who provides proof of U.S. citizenship during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically registered to vote by the Department of Elections, if otherwise eligible for registration. To ensure the accuracy of voter rolls, this Act also ensures any updated name or address received from a registered voter during a DMV license or identification card transaction will be automatically forwarded to the Department of Elections for the purpose of updating existing voter registration records. Using an existing mailer, the Department of Elections then will notify new registrants of their registration and provide them an opportunity decline registration or affiliate with a political party. Existing registrants will similarly be notified of any update to their registration using an existing mailer and provided an opportunity to undo the change, if necessary. People who register to vote under this automatic system but do not identify a specific political party will be afforded another opportunity to affiliate at the polls during the primary election immediately following their registration. To prevent ineligible non-citizens from registering to vote, individuals who provide documents establishing non-citizenship during a DMV transaction and individuals applying for the Delaware Driving Privilege Card will not be offered the opportunity to register to vote at the DMV and will not have any information forwarded to the Department of Elections. Unregistered individuals who do not provide proof of U.S. citizenship or proof of non-citizenship during a license or identification card transaction will be offered the opportunity to register to vote during the DMV transaction only if they affirm citizenship and other eligibility requirements, consistent with federal law requirements and existing law. This Act becomes effective two years after enactment, or five days after the State Election Commissioner certifies to the Governor and the General Assembly that the systems to implement the act are functional, whichever is earlier.
This Act makes changes to House Bill 202 from the 150th General Assembly creating a pilot program for the Red Clay School District to use external camera systems on their school buses to catch motorists that fail to stop when a school bus is stopped and displaying flashing lamps to take on or discharge school children and assess a civil penalty as punishment. The changes in this bill are necessary to make clear that the Act, which mirrors 21 Del. C. § 4101(d), the State’s Electronic Red Light Safety Program, only creates a civil, not a criminal penalty.
