| HB 366 | Committee | Morrison | This Act requires a candidate’s political committee’s contribution and expense report, provided to the Department of Elections, to include the primary employer and job title of each person contributing to the committee. The Act requires the Department to review every committee report for any contribution or expense violation and to note the report, on the Department’s website, as either “submitted but not reviewed” or “reviewed and final”. The Act also requires the Department of Elections to provide a telephone number and online form for reporting alleged campaign financing violations with an option for the informant to provide their contact information to the Department. This Act also allows reporting parties who unintentionally receive or make a prohibited contribution to return or reimburse the contribution or pay the contribution to the State Treasurer. The Act also eliminates the ability of anyone who makes or accepts a prohibited campaign contribution from donating the money to a designated Title 30 charitable organization. The Act requires anyone who knowingly accepts an unlawful campaign contribution to pay the money to the State Treasurer for deposit to the General Fund. This Act also makes technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES. |
| HB 364 | Committee | Heffernan | This Act provides a registration system for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters. At the present time, individuals and organizations who are not certified to provide interpreting services are presenting themselves as acceptable/qualified interpreters without consequence. This is extremely problematic for all consumers utilizing interpreter services. It harms the interests of people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind by depriving them of the right to meaningful access and involvement in legal or medical settings, as well as other activities in the community. It also harms the interests of people who are not Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf-Blind by denying them access to effective communication with people who use ASL by providing a lesser quality service than what they believe they are purchasing. A State registration system will help ensure that only qualified individuals provide this vital and necessary service.
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose a fee. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE REGISTRATION OF INTERPRETERS FOR THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING AND DEAF-BLIND. |
| HB 370 | Committee | Michael Smith | This Act seeks to establish the Office of State Inspector General in Delaware.
The governor would nominate a candidate to serve as inspector general, with the Senate needing to confirm the nomination. The term of office for the post would be five years.
The inspector general created under this act would be charged with investigating complaints of waste, fraud, abuse or corruption regarding state employees or state executive branch agencies.
State agencies would be required to cooperate with any investigation conducted by the office of inspector general, including full access to the personnel, records, and the premises under agency control. The inspector general would have subpoena powers and would employ police officers for the purpose of conducting potential criminal investigations.
The office of inspector general would be mandated to share general audit and investigation reports with the public, excluding only that information needed to comply with Delaware confidentiality laws or which might compromise an ongoing criminal investigation.
Audits, investigations, inspections and reviews conducted by the office of inspector general would be subject to independent quality assurance reviews every three years, with the results shared with the public.
This Act would become effective 180 days after it is enacted and upon appropriate funding being budgeted for the office’s operations. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL. |
| SS 1 for SB 208 | Signed | Walsh | Senate Bill No. 208 clarifies that an employer is liable to an employee for liquidated damages if the employer does not make wages available on the next payday after an employee quits, resigns, is discharged, suspended, or laid off.
Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 208 revises these clarifications so it is clear which sections of existing law, §§ 1104 and 1107 of Title 19, provide the basis for an employer to have reasonable grounds to dispute that an employee is owed wages, and like SB 208, does not make any changes to existing law regarding when an employer may withhold or divert any portion of an employee’s wages:
1. Section 1104 of Title 19 requires that in a dispute over the amount of wages, the employer must pay all wages conceded by the employer to be due and the employee may pursue a claim for any balance claimed.
2. Section 1107 of Title 19 prohibits an employer from withholding or diverting any portion of an employee’s wages unless required or empowered to do so by state or federal law. Since 1979, Regulation 1328 of Title 19 of the Delaware Administrative Code has provided that an employer may, under written agreement, withhold wages for a cash advance or the value of goods and services, but withholding wages for damaged or unreturned property is a violation of § 1107 of Title 19.
Specifically, Senate Substitute No. 1 for SB 208 differs from SB 208 by doing the following:
1. In subsection (a), includes the changes from Senate Amendment No. 1 to SB 208, which clarify the manner that final wages earned by a former employee must be provided and a date by which that payment must be made. The date by which an employer must pay final wages changes current law by extending the time, allowing an employer to make this payment the later of the next regular pay cycle or 3 days after the last day the employee worked.
2. In subsection (b), clarifies that §§ 1104 and 1107 of Title 19 provide the reasonable grounds that may be a basis for an employer to dispute that an employee is owed wages.
3. In subsection (c), revises the correction of the grammar in existing law so that it is clear that an employer is not in violation of Chapter 11 of Title 19 if the employer is unable to prepare payroll due to a labor dispute, power failure, weather catastrophe, epidemic, fire, or explosion.
Like SB 208, this Substitute Bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and revises the section heading to accurately describe the content of the section. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO AN EMPLOYER'S FAILURE TO PAY WAGES. |
| HA 1 to HB 262 | Passed | Griffith | This amendment makes the following changes to the Act following meetings and discussions with stakeholders and consideration of the Act in committee:
The amendment clarifies the definitions of "brokered personal information" and “business”.
The amendment changes the term "data broker" to "data market participant" throughout the Act.The amendment excludes from the definition of “data market participant” any entity to the extent that it is a financial institution or an affiliate of a financial institution subject to the federal Gramm Leach Bliley Act.
The amendment relocates the definitions of "data collector" and "third-party data broker" within the Act.
The amendment adds definitions for the terms "Consumer Protection Unit", "publicly available information", “sell”, and "third-party service provider" used in the Act.
The amendment limits the liability of data market participants, for certain conduct of third parties, to the data market participant’s actual knowledge.
The amendment clarifies that the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice has enforcement authority over all violations of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of Section 12D-102.
The amendment clarifies that a business which does not sell or license brokered personal information does not have to register under the Act.
The amendment provides examples of federal and State laws or regulations governing the protection, security, or integrity of brokered personal information that may provide a safe harbor for a data market participant's written information security program.
The amendment eliminates the private right of action for violations of Section 12D-104.
The amendment changes the name of the fund to be established by the Act.
The amendment also makes technical corrections to the Act and conforms the language to the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | |
| HA 2 to HB 77 | Passed | Kowalko | This Amendment does all of the following:
1. Makes this Act consistent with California law by clarifying that for adult mattresses, the restrictions on the flame retardant chemicals and organohalogens only apply to foam.
2. Exempts used mattresses.
3. Clarifies the exemption for electronic components, making it applicable to the electronic components in children’s products, mattresses, and upholstered furniture, using language consistent with the law in California and New York.
4. Provides a blanket exception that allows mattresses or upholstered furniture that can be sold in California to be sold in Delaware.
5. Changes the name of Chapter 25G and corrects spelling and terminology.
6. Changes the effective date to July 1, 2023. | |
| HA 1 to HB 353 | PWB | Wilson-Anton | This Amendment changes the date that the moratorium on granting new charters or modifications of existing charters for schools in New Castle County so that the moratorium will not affect pending applications.
This Amendment also adds a reference to § 511 of Title 14 so that Section 2 of House Bill. No. 353 will be referenced in the Code. | |
