HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 2

TO

HOUSE BILL NO. 311

AMEND House Bill No. 311 by deleting lines 29 through 33 in their entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"performing public functions. This definition includes hotels and motels catering to the transient public, but it does not apply to the sale or rental of houses, housing units, apartments, rooming houses, or other dwellings, nor to tourist homes with less than 10 rental units catering to the transient public.”.

FURTHER AMEND House Bill No. 311 on line 76 by deleting “ It ” and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“ Except as provided under paragraph (a)(6) of this section, it ”.

FURTHER AMEND House Bill No. 311 between line 102 and line 103 by inserting the following:

“ (6) Paragraph (a)(4) of this section does not apply to religious organizations or entities controlled by religious organizations, including places of worship. ”.

FURTHER AMEND House Bill No. 311 on line 132 by deleting " 90 days 1 year " and inserting in lieu thereof “ 90 180 days”.

SYNOPSIS

This Amendment corrects a drafting error so that consistent with federal law, the exemption for religious organizations only applies to requirements to provide reasonable modifications for individuals with disabilities. This Amendment also aligns this exemption with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act by making religious organizations completely exempt from the requirement.

This Amendment also includes the change in House Amendment No. 1, revising the length of time to file a complaint under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law so that instead of extending the deadline from the current 90 days to 1 year, a complaint must be filed no more than 180 days after the occurrence of the alleged discriminatory practice. The 180-day time limit is consistent with the time frames under federal law for filing administrative complaints based on discrimination with the Office of Civil Rights in both the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education. Maryland and New Jersey also provide 180 days to file a complaint under the state equal accommodations law.