General Assembly Completes 151st Legislative Session

By Tyler Micik

The General Assembly finished its second leg of the 151st Session in the early morning of July 1. Unlike the last two years, policymakers were able return to Legislative Hall and conduct much of their work in person.

Despite the challenges presented by rising costs and inflation, the House and the Senate overwhelmingly passed the budget (SB 250). The budget allocated $5.1 billion for spending in FY23 (a 6.9% increase from last year) and nearly $379 million in one-time measures and contingency funds (SB 251)—both the largest in history. These budget bills are aimed at spurring economic recovery as Delaware continues to navigate out of the pandemic. In addition, the operating budget also increased the Budget Stabilization Fund from $287 million to $402 million and Delaware’s Rainy Day Fund from $280 million to $316 million. The 2023 Capital Budget (HB 475), the bond bill, allocates $1.18 billion for capital projects. Grants-in-Aid for FY23 (SB252) was approved at just under $70 million.

The State Chamber's mission is to bring the business community and legislators together at the table to solve problems and help shape policy decisions. One such example of this in action was the Healthy Delaware Families Act—or paid family and medical leave. For more than one year, the State Chamber worked alongside Senator McBride and other key stakeholders to amend the original proposal, which resulted in a policy that allows both employers and employees to appropriately deal with life events while recognizing the economic realities of running a business.

An overview of bills that passed are:

• SS 2 for SB 1: The Healthy Delaware Families Act - Creates a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program

• SB 298: Net-Metering - Amends the rules and regulations promulgated by the Public Service Commission, municipal electric companies, and electric cooperatives on the subject of net energy metering
• HB 360: Delaware Relief Rebate Program - Provides a one-time direct payment of $300 per Delaware resident 
• SB 262: E-Notarization - Allows notarial officers to perform remote notarization 

Other bills headed to the Governor include:

• HB 77: Flame Retardants - Prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution of children's products, upholstered furniture used in residences, and mattresses that contain harmful flame retardant chemicals
• HB 205: Delaware EARNS - Establishes a voluntary employee IRA savings program
• HB 299: Cash Payments - Prohibits businesses from refusing to accept cash payment, except in limited circumstances
• HB 449: Elevator Mechanics - Creates a new chapter in Title 24 and establishes a regulatory State Board of Elevator Mechanics consisting of five members appointed by the Governor
• SS 1 for SB 35: Wage Payment Collection Act - Defines specific violations of wage payment and collection laws as wage theft
• SS 1 for SB 208: Failure to Pay Wages - 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
• SB 209: Transportation & Insurance Coverage - Requires public carriers, TNCs and the Delaware Transportation Authority to possess uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage
• SB 280: Labor Peace Agreements & Medical Marijuana - Requires medical marijuana compassion centers and safety compliance facilities that have 20 or more employees to have a labor peace agreement with one or more bona fide labor organizations
• SB 308: Fire Safety Standards - Requires all buildings of public accommodation and shared residential buildings to conform to standards that will ensure life-saving alarms and fire dampening efforts are safe and up to nationally-recognized standards
• ​SB 327: Land Development & Schools - Addresses the relation between land development and schools with regards to planning by allowing school boards into the development approval process

 
​Bills that did not make it through this year:

• HB 220: Green Amendment - Amends Delaware’s Constitution that would “create an inherent and inalienable right for all Delawareans to a clean and healthy environment.”
• HB 257: Natural Minor Fees - Allows for a phased approach to increase natural minor fees in order to fund the natural minor permit program
• HB 262: Data Broker and Consumer Protections - Requires businesses that sell data to pay a fee, register with the Department of Justice and answer a series of questions regarding their privacy policy
• HS 1 for HB 288: PTO to Vote - Requires private and public employers to give any Delaware resident who’s scheduled to work at least 7.5 hours on an election day two hours of paid leave to vote
• HB 371: Recreational Marijuana Legalization - Removes all penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana, except for those who are under 21 years of age
• HB 372: Recreational Marijuana Legalization - Regulates and taxes marijuana in the same manner as alcohol
• HB 409: Sick and Safety Leave - Requires all employers to provide employees with one hour of sick/safety leave for every 30 hours worked up to a maximum of 40 hours per year, which can be carried over from one year to the next and capped at 80 hours
• HB 420: PLUS - Improves efficiency within the permitting process for economic development projects by making the State's Preliminary Land Use System (PLUS) process optional
• HB 435: Community Workforce Agreement Act - Mandates that all public works projects over $3 million be subject to a Community Workforce Agreement (CWA), meaning all contractors and subcontractors would have to sign an agreement with organized labor to perform work on said projects
• HB 448: Accessible Parking Spaces - Requires property owners to have a permit and process to ensure compliance for new or modified accessible parking spaces
• HB 466: Environmental Permits in Overburdened Communities - Requires applicants seeking a permit located in an overburdened community to provide an environmental justice impact report
• HB 484: Temporary Entrance Permits - Expedites the issuance of a temporary entrance permit for commercial and economic development projects
• HB 487: Craft Training Requirements in Public Works Contracts - Undoes a compromise made last year between merit shops and organized labor which allows contractors who are not able to participate in apprenticeship training programs to support apprenticeship programs by paying into the Apprenticeship and Training Fund
• HB 488: Credit Card Surcharges - Prohibits a seller from imposing a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check, or similar means
• SS 1 for SB 134: Polystyrene Ban - Prohibits food establishments from providing consumers with certain plastic items
• SB 305: Climate Change Solutions Act - Puts the Governor's Climate Action plan into law and regulation

​WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
This summer and into the fall, we will be kickstarting our Member-to-Member program again. The program brings policymakers directly to your place of business so that you can show how your company operates, share your praises and concerns, and discuss the impact various policy proposals—like the ones mentioned above—have on you as an employer, your employees, and customers. Like customer relationships, establishing and maintaining relationships with elected officials is important because it helps create a better understanding for all parties and leads to better policy decisions. This off-season is a crucial time for business and community leaders to meet with their representatives and senators—especially with the fall elections around the corner.

These meetings will continue to highlight important pending legislation that will most likely be worked on again next year like:

• SB 305: Climate Change Solutions Act
• HB 262: Data Broker and Consumer Protections
• HB 435: Community Workforce Agreement Act
• HB 409: Sick and Safety Leave
• HB 420: Preliminary Land Use System (PLUS)
• HB 484: Temporary Entrance Permits

All of these bills have a direct impact on Delaware employers and employees. Two in particular that will be priorities of ours next year include the PLUS process and temporary entrance permits. These bills (listed above) are crucial in helping  Delaware compete for economic development projects. They stem from the Ready in 6 initiative—which the State Chamber, Delaware Business Roundtable, and other key business groups have been promoting since 2018 when site selectors said that Delaware could move faster to improve its competitive position.

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The General Assembly will be on recess until January 2023.
By then, there could be many new faces in Dover as every member of the
​House and Senate are up for election due to the newly redrawn district lines. There has never been a more important time to get engaged."

Schedule a Member-to-Member meeting, join a State Chamber committee, reach out to your elected officials who are sponsoring legislation that impacts your organization and employees. These conversations will shape Delaware’s future for years to come.