by James DeChene

The JFC completed work on a $4.3 billion budget this week, leaving roughly $61 million in additional spending between now and June 30th. Restoration of Grant in Aid funding from last year’s cuts are expected (about $8 million), but there will still be a hefty amount left to distribute, which may be sent to the Capital Improvement Committee for an increase in one-time infrastructure spending this year.
 
Next week, the General Assembly is back in session, and starting the countdown of 13 legislative days left until June 30. They will have their hands full with pending gun legislation, finalizing spending, and working on the remaining bills relevant to the business community including making changes to the WARN Act, Sexual Harassment Training, Minimum Wage, and Biometric Data Privacy. The Chamber hopes the General Assembly will introduce and pass the first leg of a constitutional amendment related to budget smoothing. We will keep you informed on all these issues, and others as they come up.

by James DeChene

This was another week where the primary focus was firearm legislation, but a few bills of note related to business have been either acted on or introduced.

Of note, a new minimum wage bill was introduced this week, SB170.  This would raise the minimum wage $.50 a year, starting in 2018, for 4 years, bringing the wage to $10.25 in 2021.  Also, rumor has it a bill raising the rate to $15 will be introduced later in session.

A bill offering a tax credit to businesses that supply a defibrillator in the workplace made it through the Senate and out of House Committee. It sits on the House ready list awaiting action. The bill offers a one-time $100 tax credit for companies that purchase a machine.

The General Assembly is on Easter Break for two weeks and will return on April 17.

by James DeChene

This week in Dover the focus was on legislation related to firearms. There was little of note for the business community this week, except the final meeting of the taskforce charged with researching the impact of legalizing recreational marijuana. The taskforce narrowly voted to release their report to the members of the General Assembly, and the co-chairs, Rep. Keeley and Sen. Henry, have pledged to modify their legalization bill, HB110, and continue down the path towards legalization.

Also of note are a few bills beginning to circulate, including HB321 related to “evergreen” contract clauses.  Companies that provide merchandise (in this case the definition is very broad), and have contracts that auto renew, would have to proactively notify their customers of a pending contract ending, and then the customer would have to respond back affirmatively in writing they wish to renew the contract. This would apply for services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, cable, and perhaps even other services like EZ-Pass and legal representation on retainer.

There is also a bill to be submitted on predictive scheduling, that focuses on food service industry and retail workers employed by a chain. The bill would mandate employers post employee schedules 14 days in advance, and puts in punitive measures for noncompliance, limits how and when employees can be called in, or sent home, and would drastically change how these companies operate.

The minimum wage bill was once again removed from the Senate agenda as work remains to be completed related to casino relief, which isn’t expected to happen until later in the spring.