| SS 1 for SB 174 | Committee | Gay | This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 174. Like Senate Bill No. 174, this Act adds Justices of the Peace, Commissioners in Superior Court, Family Court, and Court of Common Pleas, and Magistrates in Chancery to the State Judicial Pension Plan.
Section 1 of this Act amends the “Pensions for Members of the State Judiciary” chapter’s definition of “state judiciary” so that Justices of the Peace, Commissioners, and Magistrates in Chancery are included, which then results in their inclusion in the definition of “member”. Section 1 also removes the defined term “for which he or she is eligible under the Federal Social Security Act”, which is not used anywhere in Chapter 56 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code (“Chapter 56”), and creates a new definition, “State judicial officer”, which is used in place of “member of the state judiciary” and “judge” in this Act.
Sections 2 through 10 of this Act are included to ensure the term “member” is used consistently throughout Chapter 56 and to replace “member of the State judiciary” and “judge” with “State judicial officer”. This ensures that Justices of the Peace, Commissioners, and Magistrates in Chancery are included in the State Judicial Pension Plan.
Section 2 of this Act also increases the amount of annual compensation in excess of $6,000 up to the Social Security wage base that a State judicial officer who is covered by the State Judicial Pension Plan on or after the effective date of this Act must contribute to the State Judicial Plan from 3% to 4%.
Section 3 of this Act also establishes a one-time opt-out provision to allow a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner, or Magistrate in Chancery that may be adversely affected by the State Judicial Pension Plan, which would violate the Emoluments Clause under § 4 of Article XV of the Delaware Constitution, the ability to remain in the State Employee Pension Plan.
Section 7 of this Act also includes in Chapter 56 reference to statutory procedures in Title 10 for the assignment of a retired Justice of the Peace or Commissioner.
Like Senate Bill No. 174, this Act also does the following:
(1) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including (i) removing references to “or survivors” based on § 304 of Title 1 of the Delaware Code, which provides that the singular includes the plural and (ii) correcting a citation error in § 5614(g) of Title 29.
(2) Makes changes to delete obsolete language, including (i) deleting § 5605(a)(2)c. of Title 29, which no longer applies to a current State judicial officer, and (ii) deleting § 5609(b), which applied for 6 months from July 7, 1998, and has not applied since then.
This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 174 as follows:
(1) By updating the title “Master in Chancery” to “Magistrate in Chancery”, based on the passage of Senate Bill No. 179 (152nd General Assembly).
(2) By changing the definition of “Commissioner” to define the term based on the Code sections authorizing the appointment of a Commissioner, rather than the powers of a Commissioner.
(3) By clarifying that a Justice of the Peace, Commissioner, or Magistrate in Chancery who qualifies for the State Judicial Pension Plan on the effective date of this Act and elects to be covered by the State Judicial Pension Plan is entitled to a payout for accrued annual leave in incremental payments over a 5-year period.
(4) By renaming the title of Chapter 56, Title 29 of the Delaware Code to reflect changes made by this Act.
(5) By changing the effective date of this Act to January 1, 2025. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PENSIONS FOR THE STATE JUDICIARY. |
| HB 348 | Signed | Schwartzkopf | This Act removes the requirement for a lifeguard at a pool exclusively serving a residential or apartment community not accessible to the general public. Under existing law, a lifeguard is not required at a hotel, motel, or campground. A lifeguard is not required in a family community when the pool is or will ultimately be owned by residents. Requiring a lifeguard at a pool that is not accessible to the public increases the cost for private communities which must be passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent. This legislation aligns the statutory and regulatory requirements so that the lifeguard requirement in a rental community is the same as for a single family residential community, hotel, motel, and campground. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE CONCERNING THE PROVISION OF LIFEGUARDS AT CERTAIN POOLS. |
| SB 280 | Passed | Poore | This Act is a result of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association ("DIAA") Task Force. Based on the findings of the task force, this Act updates the DIAA's Executive Director from an education associate level position in the Department of Education to a director level position in the Department. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION. |
| SB 281 | Passed | Poore | This Act is a result of the work of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (“DIAA”) Task Force (“Task Force”). The 152nd Delaware General Assembly passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 19 establishing the Task Force to study and make findings and recommendations to best address the needs of student athletes and ensure DIAA’s effective and efficient functioning. The Task Force met over 8 months to discuss the most pressing issues facing DIAA. This Act addresses one of the identified issues: the waiver process when a student transfers from one school to another and wishes to play interscholastic athletics.
Under current regulations, a student who transfers schools and wishes to participate in sports must complete a period of ineligibility unless the student meets certain conditions or qualifies for an exception. In order to meet the conditions or exception or otherwise request a waiver of ineligibility, the student must go through a waiver process. The student applies for a waiver, DIAA’s Executive Director makes an interim decision on the waiver, and the DIAA Board of Directors (“Board”) ratifies or rejects the Executive Director’s interim decision. If the Board has any questions about any part of the waiver application or interim decision, they reject the interim decision and schedule a hearing for the student to testify to answer the additional questions. By the time the Board issues a final decision on the waiver, the student has lost time to play sports and the Board has spend a great deal of its meeting time on the hearing, including going into executive session to maintain a student’s privacy.
Among other matters relating to the waiver process, the Task Force discussed the amount of time that the waiver process takes, both from the students’ and Task Force’s perspective, and how to make the process more efficient and more equitable for the students. The Task Force concluded that moving the waiver process out of regulations and into the Delaware Code is the most efficient way to streamline the process, thereby benefitting student athletes and allowing the Board more time to focus on its other work. This Act is a combination of existing regulations, regulations that the Board proposed but were not enacted during the 8 months that the Task Force met, and the Task Force’s discussions on how to best improve the waiver process.
Under this Act, the Executive Director makes the final decision on a waiver, subject to an appeal of a 3-member panel comprised of Board members. Shifting the final decision-making to the Executive Director removes duplicative steps, and specifying deadlines are to ensure as speedy a conclusion as possible. The Executive Director must issue their decision within 15 days of receiving a waiver, and a student may appeal the decision to the appeals panel within 15 days of receiving the decision. The appeals panel must issue its decision within 30 days of receiving an appeal. The appeals panel may not hold a hearing on an appeal or otherwise ask questions of a student who seeks an appeal; the panel must make its decision based on the documentation that the Executive Director used to make their decision.
This Act organizes the process into the following categories:
- Immediate eligibility applies to circumstances under which a student is immediately eligible to participate in sports at the school into which the student transfers (“receiving school”). A waiver is not required for immediate eligibility. Immediate eligibility applies if the student has not previously played the sport the student seeks to play at the receiving school, if the student has been placed in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families, or it is the student’s first transfer and the student did not play the sport during the 180 days prior to transferring. The receiving school of a student who qualifies for immediate eligibility must initiate the completion of a tracking form, to document the transfer and reason for immediate eligibility.
- Periods of ineligibility apply to a student’s subsequent transfer. A student is subject to a period of ineligibility of 30 days or ½ of the maximum number of contests, whichever is less. A student may seek a waiver of the period of ineligibility.
- Exceptions to periods of ineligibility are provided in this Act. A student who meets an exception is not required to seek a waiver, but must provide documentation relevant to the exception. Seven types of exceptions are available, including transferring schools due to homelessness, court action, or a change in the student’s residence due to military assignment. Each exception has its own requirements.
- Defining the waiver process, including deadlines, required documentation, and the factors required for granting a waiver. To approve a waiver, the Executive Director must consider the 4 factors under § 315(a), Title 14. The 4 factors do not include “hardship,” which has been a factor under the current regulations. The Task Force discussed that the hardship factor was too often an unreasonably difficult standard for a student to meet, resulting in a large percentage of the waivers sought and failing to meet the purpose of the ineligibility and waiver process, which is to discourage transfers for athletic reasons, multiple transfers, or transfers after a sports season has begun. The remaining 4 factor do meet this purpose.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION. |
| HCR 126 | Passed | Longhurst | This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of May 2024 as Mental Health Awareness Month. | RECOGNIZING THE MONTH OF MAY 2024 AS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH. |
| HCR 132 | Passed | Carson | This Concurrent Resolution recognizes May 18, 2024, as Armed Forces Day in Delaware. | RECOGNIZING MAY 18, 2024, AS "ARMED FORCES DAY". |
| HCR 131 | Passed | Chukwuocha | This House Concurrent Resolution designates May 15, 2024, as Youth Prevention Day in the state of Delaware. | RECOGNIZING MAY 15, 2024, AS YOUTH PREVENTION DAY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HCR 133 | Passed | Jones Giltner | This resolution designates May 12-18 as “National Skilled Nursing Care Week” in Delaware. | DESIGNATING THE WEEK OF MAY 12 TO MAY 18 AS "NATIONAL SKILLED NURSING CARE WEEK" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
