THIS WEEK IN DOVER

Today wraps up a busy week for the General Assembly! Several bills were acted on or introduced which will impact the business community. Below is a summary of those bills.
 
Bills introduced:

• HB350 (Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board): Establishes a “Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board”. The new board, comprised of five volunteer political appointees, would review and either approve or reject all aspects of every Delaware hospital’s budget on an annual basis. The board would also hold meetings for the public to comment and approve the budgets of Delaware hospitals.
  • Status: Assigned to House Administration | Position: Opposed
• SB237 (County Comprehensive Plans): This act amends the provisions in Title 9 of the Delaware Code relating to the county comprehensive plans for Sussex, Kent, and New Castle Counties, and Title 22 of the Delaware Code relating to municipal comprehensive plans for municipalities with populations greater than 2,000. The act would require that their comprehensive plans increase community resiliency and address the impacts of climate change.
  • Status: Assigned to Senate Elections & Government Affairs | Position: Engaged and gathering feedback
• HS1 for HB149 (Personal Income Taxes): This act requires personal income tax brackets to be annually adjusted for cost-of-living increases.
  • Status: Assigned to House Revenue & Finance | Position: Engaged and gathering feedback

 
Bills acted upon:

• SB233 (Service Worker Protection Act): Establishes employment protections for certain service employees during changes of ownership.
  • Status: Released from Senate Labor Committee and now placed on Senate Ready List | Position: Opposed

• HB327 (Sexual assault, harassment, and discrimination): This act protects victims of sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment from retaliatory lawsuits that arise when a victim of sexual assault discloses information regarding an act of sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment.
  • Status: Tabled in Committee | Position: Opposed
• HB333 (Artificial Intelligence Commission): This act creates the Delaware Artificial Intelligence ("AI") Commission which will be tasked with making recommendations to the General Assembly and Department of Technology and Information on AI utilization and safety within the State.
  • Status: Released from Committee and now placed on House Ready List | Position: Monitoring

 
Please let us know if you have any comments or questions regarding any of these items. The State Chamber will continue to follow these bills along with others.

​One bill of note which is scheduled to be heard in Committee next week is HB17 (paid sick and safety leave). The bill requires all employers in the State to provide employees with a minimum of 1 hour of earned sick time and safety leave for every 30 hours worked. The State Chamber is opposed to the bill and will be testifying at the hearing on Tuesday, March 19 at 12:45pm (Note: the timing of this meeting has changed as of 3/15). You can view the meeting notice and sign up to listen or comment here. If you’re a business owner, please consider signing up to testify how this policy will impact you. 

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