| SCR 31 | Passed | Brown | This Senate Concurrent Resolution proclaims April 2025 as "Second Chance Month" in the State of Delaware. | PROCLAIMING APRIL 2025 AS "SECOND CHANCE MONTH" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HB 88 | Committee | Bush | This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to allow the General Assembly to enact laws for the registration of voters without restrictions on the time period in which registration must be closed prior to an election. It also requires the General Assembly to provide by law for means to ensure the accuracy and integrity of voter registration.
This Act is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Albence v. Higgin, 2022 Del. LEXIS 377 (Del. 2022) which found a same-day registration statute to be “incompatible with Section 4 [of Article V of the Constitution]’s registration deadline and its relationship to the appeal and correction process.”
Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution. | AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING. |
| HS 1 for HB 47 | Out of Committee | K. Williams | This Act incorporates changes made by HS1 for HB204, which was passed by both chambers during the 151st General Assembly, but never enacted into law. It removes the exemption for private schools and youth camps that allows them to use a name-based, rather than a fingerprint-based, background check or choose not to do background checks at all for employees, contractors and volunteers. This Act also authorizes the Superintendent of State Police to promulgate regulations relating to re-use of a criminal background check. The State Bureau of Identification is also required to provide subsequent criminal history information to the agency receiving background check information. Authority is given to the Department of Education to pay the costs of background checks for its employees.
The Act also creates a new § 309A in Title 31, in response to a request from the federal government that the statutory authorization/requirement for private school background checks be separated from the statutory authorization for state and local government authorities.
The Act also makes some technical and clarifying changes to existing statutory language.
The Act takes effect on July 1, 2026 and child-serving entities and private schools must comply with the requirements by September 1, 2026.
This Substitute differs from the original HB47 in that the effective date is in 2026 rather than 2025. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BACKGROUND CHECKS. |
| SB 79 | Committee | Wilson | This Act creates a right to free legal counsel for certain relatives seeking to terminate parental rights and adopt a child in the relative’s family who has been in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (“Department”). The right to free legal counsel applies at all stages of the termination of parental rights and adoption proceedings, including any appeals. This Act also requires the Department to prepare and file the social study and report that is a required part of the termination of parental rights and adoption process at no cost to the relative.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AND ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS. |
| SCR 36 | Passed | Mantzavinos | This resolution recognizes March 25, 2025, as "Greek Independence Day" in Delaware. | RECOGNIZING MARCH 25, 2025, AS “GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY” IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HA 2 to SS 1 for SB 21 | Defeated | Phillips | This Amendment mirrors the proposed changes in SS 1 for Senate Bill 21, but provides that the corporation must "opt-in" to adopt them. It adds a new section one, which describes the method by which the corporation may opt in to the changes from the default, existing law.
The revision to the original opt-in amendment deletes any requirement of a majority-of-the-minority or class vote for the opt-in. This means that the opt-in can be adopted by the same process as any other amendment to the company’s certificate of incorporation. Under Section 242(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, amendments to the certificate of incorporation require (1) board approval and (2) a majority vote of all stockholders. Section 266 of the DGCL provides exactly the same process for reincorporation. It requires (1) board approval and (2) a majority vote of all stockholders.
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| HA 6 to SS 1 for SB 21 | Stricken | Wilson-Anton | This amendment changes the provision relating to the effective date so that the safe harbor provisions of Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 21 apply only to acts and transactions occurring after the Act’s date of enactment and the books and records provisions apply only to demands made after the Act’s date of enactment. | |
| HA 3 to SS 1 for SB 21 | Defeated | Burns | This amendment changes the provision relating to the effective date so that the safe harbor provisions of Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 21 apply only to acts and transactions occurring after the Act's date of enactment and the books and records provisions apply only to demands made after the Act's date of enactment. | |
| HB 105 | Committee | Ross Levin | Pay range transparency empowers job applicants with crucial information to negotiate salaries and make informed career decisions. It also encourages businesses to proactively review compensation practices, address unjustified pay disparities, and strengthen their ability to attract and retain top talent.
This Act requires that employers include salary or wage range information in all postings for job opportunities, both internally and externally. Employers are required to maintain records relating to job descriptions and wage rates for current employees and for 3 years after the departure of an employee. The Department of Labor may bring an administrative action to enforce the pay transparency provision. The requirements of this Act do not apply to employers with 10 or fewer employees.
The Act takes effect 1 year after its enactment.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES. |
| HA 4 to SS 1 for SB 21 | Defeated | Wilson-Anton | This Amendment amends SS1 to SB21 by excluding from the safe harbor rules of § 144(a) "an act or transaction that involves a sale, breakup, or change in control of the corporation or that otherwise gives rise to appraisal rights under § 262 of this title." This is intended to conform the statute with Kahn v. Stern, 183 A.3d 715 (Del. 2018) and the line of Delaware case law that follows Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc., 506 A.2d 173 (Del. 1986) and Corwin v. KKR Fin. Holdings LLC, 125 A.3d 304 (Del. 2015), to apply enhanced scrutiny review to such transactions unless approved by a fully informed vote of disinterested stockholders. This amendment is intended to preserve the ability of transaction planners to obtain common-law cleansing under Corwin. This Amendment further amends SS1 to SB21 to define an additional category of transaction, called an "extraordinary transaction" under § 144(e) that requires the use of dual cleansing devices to avoid fairness review by the Court. It further amends SS1 to SB21 by amending the definition of "going private transaction" to include any other transaction wherein minority stockholders lose control of their shares. | |
| HB 89 | Committee | Morrison | This Act directs the Division of Consumer Protection to establish a Home Improvement Dispute Resolution process through which a person who purchases home improvement services or materials from a contractor can initiate a dispute resolution process with the assistance of the Division. To be eligible for the dispute resolution process, the buyer must first send the contractor a written request to resolve the dispute and allow the contractor 20 days to respond. If the dispute is not resolved or the contractor fails to respond, the buyer may submit an application to the Division for assistance. Upon receiving notice from the Division that the buyer has initiated the dispute resolution process, a contractor must participate in good faith in the process. If the contractor fails to respond to the notice or fails to participate in good faith, it is deemed a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act and a notice will also be sent to the Department of Labor. A contractor who fails to participate in good faith in the dispute resolution process may also have their certificate of registration denied, suspended, or revoked.
This Act also establishes that a buyer who initiates a civil action for damages incurred as a result of a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act related to a home improvement contract may be awarded actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorneys fees. A buyer who initiates a civil action may also obtain up to treble damages if the buyer completed the steps to be eligible for the dispute resolution process, if the buyer made an offer of settlement at least 10 days prior to filing the civil suit and the contractor rejected the offer, if the offer was for less than the buyer is ultimately awarded by the court, and if the court holds that the contractor’s violation was wilful.
This Act takes effect immediately and is to be implemented 6 months from the date of enactment. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 19 AND 29 RELATING TO HOME IMPROVEMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION. |
| HA 5 to SS 1 for SB 21 | Defeated | Wilson-Anton | This Amendment to SS 1 for Senate Bill 21 clarifies that a corporation may require, as a condition to producing books and records to a stockholder under a Section 220 demand, that the stockholder agree that any information included in the corporation’s books and records produced to that stockholder is deemed incorporated by reference in any complaint filed by or at the direction of the stockholder in relation to the subject matter referenced in the demand.
This Amendment to SS 1 for Senate Bill 21 also changes the standard in a proceeding brought by a stockholder under subsection (c) of Section 220 of Title 8 to compel the inspection of additional records to (1) reasonably identifying the documents the stockholder needs and making a showing such records exist (instead of a compelling need); and (2) demonstrating by a preponderance of the evidence, or more likely than not, rather than the higher standard of clear and convincing evidence that such specific records are necessary and essential to the proceeding. This is intended to codify the standard for production of books and records set forth in the Supreme Court’s decision in KT4 Partners LLC v. Palantir Techs. Inc., 203 A.3d 738 (Del. 2019). | |
| HA 7 to SS 1 for SB 21 | Defeated | Wilson-Anton | This amendment clarifies that approval by a disinterested board or committee may have cleansing effect only if the board or committee's approval is uncoerced. This codifies the approach in, among other cases, In re Dell Techs. Inc. Class V Stockholders Litig., 2020 WL 3096748, at *34 (Del. Ch. June 11, 2020), Sciabacucchi v. Liberty Broadband Corp., 2018 WL 3599997, at *16 (Del. Ch. July 26, 2018), and Kahn v. Lynch Commc'n Sys., Inc., 638 A.2d 1110, 1120 (Del. 1994).
Second, the amendment clarifies that for a committee's approval to have cleansing effect when a majority of the board is conflicted or the transaction is a controlling stockholder transaction, the Court must determine that each member of the committee is disinterested.
Third, the amendment clarifies that in order for a disinterested committee to cleanse a controlling stockholder transaction, the committee must negotiate on behalf of the company or minority stockholders, not merely oversee negotiations run by another person or entity (who might themselves be conflicted).
Fourth, the amendment deletes vague and undefined phrasing in SS1 to SB21 regarding a "heightened" presumption and a requirement that facts rebutting such presumption be "substantial" as these terms are unknown to current Delaware case law and would heighten uncertainty and unpredictability. As modified, the bill would still impose a rebuttable presumption of disinterestedness for directors who satisfy the exchange listing standards and would require particularized facts to rebut that presumption.
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| SB 80 | Committee | Mantzavinos | This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 10 states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and is currently pending in 10 states.
The Act protects the public’s right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment without abusive, expensive legal retaliation. Specifically, the Act combats the problem of strategic lawsuits against public participation, also called “SLAPPs.” A SLAPP may come in the form of a defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, or other claim, but its real goal is to entangle the defendant of a SLAPP in expensive litigation and stifle the ability to engage in constitutionally protected activities. While Delaware has an “anti-SLAPP” law (see §§ 8136 through 8138 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the law received a score of “D-” from the Institute for Free Speech due to limited types of speech it protects and lack of basic protections provided by the Act. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE UNIFORM PUBLIC EXPRESSION PROTECTION ACT. |
