| HB 91 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Bentz | This Act amends Delaware’s Consumer Fraud Act (Subchapter II, Chapter 25, Title 6 of the Code), to give Delaware consumers and businesses the protection against unfair acts or practices in commerce that the General Assembly intended to give them when it enacted the Consumer Fraud Act.
When the General Assembly enacted the Consumer Fraud Act in 1965, it stated, in what is now § 2512 of Title 6 of the Code, that the purpose of the Consumer Fraud Act is “to protect consumers and legitimate business enterprises from unfair or deceptive merchandising practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce in part or wholly within this State,” and that “[i]t is the intent of the General Assembly that such practices be swiftly stopped.” However, § 2513(a) of the Consumer Fraud Act, as enacted, prohibits only deceptive practices, and does not protect consumers and businesses from unfair practices as the General Assembly intended.
To address this, the Act amends § 2513(a) of the Consumer Fraud Act to include the term “unfair practice” among the activities explicitly prohibited by the Consumer Fraud Act. This aligns Delaware with the 7 states in the Top 10 of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform’s 2017 Lawsuit Climate Survey, and the 44 states overall (plus the District of Columbia), which prohibit the use of unfair or unconscionable acts or practices in commerce. It will also align Delaware with federal law, which since 1938 has prohibited unfair practices in commerce in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 45).
In order to provide guidance as to the meaning of “unfair practice,” this Act uses the most common definition of unfairness or unfair practice used by states where unfairness has been defined either by statute or court decision (based on information published by the National Consumer Law Center) including California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, and provides that interpretations of similar language in other jurisdictions should be considered in determining its meaning. The word “immoral” was purposely omitted from the definition of “unfair practice” despite its use in the definition of unfair practice in many other jurisdictions.
Prohibiting unfair practices will protect honest businesses by enabling them to compete fairly and effectively in the marketplace, in addition to protecting individual consumers (and businesses acting as consumers) harmed by such practices. Prohibiting unfair practices will also protect consumers in situations that may not be readily or easily addressed by current Delaware law, such as the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, price gouging during a state or national emergency, and other situations in which consumers are being unfairly taken advantage of and they are unable to reasonably avoid injury. Finally, prohibiting unfair practices will also enable the Delaware Attorney General to participate more effectively and robustly with other state attorneys general in multistate investigations and litigation seeking to protect consumers and remediate harm on a nationwide basis.
The act also amends § 2513(a) to add the term “receipt,” to clarify that persons who provide goods or services at no charge to consumers—such as social media companies funded by advertising revenue—are not precluded from being held liable for engaging in consumer fraud simply because they may not directly sell or lease their goods or services to consumers. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROHIBITED TRADE PRACTICES. |
| HB 125 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Longhurst | Section 1 of this bill establishes the crimes of possession of an unfinished firearm frame or receiver with no serial number, possession of and manufacturing a covert or undetectable firearm, possession of and manufacturing an untraceable firearm, and manufacturing or distributing a firearm using a three-dimensional printer. This bill also makes it a crime to possess a firearm frame or receiver with a removed, obliterated, or altered serial number. This bill makes very limited exceptions to the requirement that certain guns have serial numbers which are: (1) Firearms manufactured before 1968; (2) Muzzle loaders that only use black powder, and antique replicas. Finally, this bill makes clear that § 1463 of Title 11 concerning untraceable firearms does not apply to members of the military forces or members of a police force in this State duly authorized to carry an untraceable firearm, and does not apply to the manufacture or importation for sale to a law-enforcement or military entity in this State.
Section 2 is a severability clause.
Section 3 provides that Section 1459A of Title 11, which is possession of an unfinished firearm frame or receiver with no serial number, takes effect 90 days after the Act's enactment into law. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FIREARMS. |
| HB 124 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Griffith | This Act prohibits a person who is the subject of a Protection from Abuse Order of the Family Court and who knows or has reason to know, that the Order has been issued from purchasing, owning, possessing, or controlling a deadly weapon or ammunition for a firearm in this State. This Act also prohibits the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant, active indictment or information related to a felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from purchasing a firearm. The subject of the pending criminal process must know or have reason to know that the process is pending in order for the prohibition to apply. This Act also makes technical changes to the existing law to make it conform to the Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE POSSESSION OR PURCHASE OF DEADLY WEAPONS BY PERSONS PROHIBITED. |
| SB 123 w/ SA 1 | Signed | Poore | This bill will allow all surviving spouses of persons killed in the course and scope of employment to receive the same level of death benefits as the surviving spouses of those persons defined as “covered persons” in Section 6601(2), Title 18 of the Delaware Code, in the event that the surviving spouse remarries. This expansion of the death benefit beyond the surviving spouses of those persons specified in Section 6601(2) will result in all surviving spouses, who decide to remarry, being treated equally under Delaware’s Workers’ Compensation laws. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO WORKERS' COMPENSATION BENEFITS. |
| SB 131 w/ SA 1 | Committee | Sturgeon | This Act lowers the tax rate for premium cigars from 30% to 15% of the wholesale price so that Delaware's tax rate is consistent with the tax rates for premium cigars in surrounding states. The tax rate in Maryland is 15% and there is no tax on premium cigars in Pennsylvania. Under this Act, a premium cigar means any roll for smoking that is all of the following:
1. Made entirely of tobacco, including the wrapper, binder, and filler.
2. Hand rolled.
3. Contains no filter, tip, or any mouthpiece consisting of material other than tobacco, or any additional flavoring.
This Act takes effect on October 1 following its enactment into law.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAXATION OF PREMIUM CIGARS. |
| SA 1 to SB 131 | Passed | Sturgeon | This Amendment revises the definition of "premium cigar" by adding additional requirements. | |
| SA 1 to SB 123 | Passed | Poore | This amendment reinstates existing language that was previously deleted. | |
| SB 142 | Signed | Poore | This bill removes the exclusion of Community Transportation Funds from the performance-based rating system. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STATE PROCUREMENT. |
| SB 144 w/ SA 1 + HA 2 | Signed | Pinkney | This Act modernizes the hate crime statute and consolidates related offenses together with the hate crime statute in the Criminal Code.
Changes to the hate crime statute include:
(1) That the hate crime be motivated, in whole or in part, on a bias. This reflects instances where a hate crime is committed but is only motivated in part by hate in addition to another component.
(2) That the focus be on the defendant’s belief or perception. Currently our law focuses on the victim’s actual race, gender, religion, or other immutable characteristic, rather than focusing on the state of mind of the defendant. This change refocuses the inquiry on the defendant’s state of mind, and specifically, what the defendant believes to be true at the time the act was committed.
(3) Prohibiting any crime committed in whole or in part on a belief or perception of an immutable characteristic of a group. This Act adds “group” to make clear that a hate crime can be committed because of the hate towards a group at large.
In addition, this Act does the following:
(1) Combines and updates the existing desecration and desecration of a burial place sections maintaining the existing penalties.
(2) Establishes a right of civil remedies to allow individuals to seek relief from hate crime, desecration, and religious symbol burning related injury.
(3) Requires law enforcement to report violations and investigations of violations of hate crimes to the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH, ORDER, AND DECENCY. |
| SB 145 | Signed | Poore | This Act amends the Charter of the Municipal Service Commission of the City of New Castle by granting the City Council of New Castle the power to appoint two of the three Commissioners to serve on the Municipal Service Commission, with the incumbent Mayor as the third Commissioner. This Act also sets the terms of each appointed Commissioner to 4 years, and allows the City Administrator to serve as a substitute for the Mayor on the Commission in the Mayor's absence. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE MUNICIPAL SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF NEW CASTLE. |
| SB 152 w/ SA 2 | Signed | Poore | This Act creates a new Utilities Coordination Council, as recommended by the Utilities Coordination Working Group established by SCR No. 48 from the 150th General Assembly. The purpose of the Council is to review and recommend best practices for efficient utility relocations on transportation projects on Delaware's highways. Additionally, the Council will be responsible for implementation, accountability, and the resolution of any specific utility delays. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 17 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO UTILITIES COORDINATION. |
| SB 153 w/ SA 1 | Signed | Gay | This Act updates statutes relating to the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. It adds "Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit" to the definitions within the existing statute. In addition, it updates references in certain sections of the laws to reflect whether the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, or a unit or division within that Department, is responsible for certain duties as described in the Delaware Code. It also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES. |
| SB 156 | Signed | Walsh | This Act requires that prevailing wages be paid to laborers and mechanics working on all University of Delaware construction sites or renovation projects that exceed a certain cost. The prevailing wages are set by the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, and apply to various classes of laborers and mechanics, according to the county in which the work is performed. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE CHARTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE. |
| HCR 30 | Passed | Morrison | This Concurrent Resolution acknowledges June 2021 as LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the State of Delaware. | ACKNOWLEDGING JUNE 2021 AS LGBTQ+ PRIDE MONTH IN DELAWARE. |
| HCR 31 | Passed | Wilson-Anton | This Concurrent Resolution congratulates Melissa Hopkins for receiving Delaware's Mother of the Year Award. | HONORING MELISSA HOPKINS FOR BEING NAMED DELAWARE'S 2021 MOTHER OF THE YEAR. |
| SB 168 w/ SA 1 | Signed | Lockman | This Act establishes a Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing Program that allows for companies to facilitate the shared usage of vehicles in Delaware. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 RELATING TO PEER-TO-PEER CAR SHARING. |
| SA 1 to SB 153 | Passed | Gay | This amendment makes a minor technical correction. | |
| SA 1 to SB 144 | Passed | Pinkney | This Amendment does all of the following:
(1) Revises the hate crime reporting requirements to better reflect current practice and to establish an annual report published by the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust on the number and nature of hate crimes in Delaware.
(2) Updates the existing fine for desecration of a burial place to mirror the fine threshold set in Title 11 for class A misdemeanors. It makes the new requirement for restitution and community service at the court's discretion and removes the elevation of desecration and cross burning to maintain the offense level at the current level. | |
| SA 1 to SB 168 | Passed | Lockman | This amendment changes the record retention requirement to 4 years and clarifies that the notification requirement for safety recalls be provided in writing or electronically. | |
| SA 2 to SB 152 | Passed | Poore | This amendment removes the Delaware Contractors Association and adds a representative from the Delaware Chapter of the National Association of Water Companies as a member of the Utilities Coordination Council. | |
