Rep. Bryan Shupe

With 60% of U.S. households living paycheck to paycheck, 40% of Americans having less than $300 in savings, 33% of Americans having saved nothing for retirement, 95% of Americans having not saved enough for retirement, and 87% of American teens admitting not understanding their finances, financial literacy education in Delaware high schools is needed. This Act, which may be cited as “The Equity and Inclusion in Financial Literacy for All High School Students in Delaware Act”, requires high schools to provide, at a minimum, a 1/2 credit on financial literacy. And, beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2026 through 2027 school year, successful completion of the credit will be required to obtain a high school diploma. This Act requires the credit to include instruction which meets the financial literacy standards for high school students adopted by the Department of Education. This substitute corrects a reference from "course" to "credit" in the synopsis.

This Act allows Sussex County to apply an impact fee to building permits within the respective school district for the purpose of collecting funding for the local share of school capital construction programs.

Like House Bill No. 15, this Act permits early childhood educators in the public schools to use and encourage play-based learning in their classrooms and in their curriculum. This Act permits local education agencies to provide early childhood professional development in play-based learning, which may include professional development programs developed by the Department of Education. This Act also permits the Department to promulgate regulations for purposes of implementing this Act. This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 15 incorporates the changes from House Amendment 1 to House Bill No. 15 with respect to the definitions of early childhood education and early childhood educators encompassing education from prekindergarten through second grade, adding topics that may be included in materials developed to provide ongoing early childhood professional development in play-based learning, and making technical corrections for clarity. This House Substitute also updates the definition of “play” and “play-based learning” contained in House Bill No. 15 and adds a definition for “guided play”.

Each year, the Department of Education (Department) publishes data regarding all Delaware public schools, currently known as School Performance Data Reports (reports). These reports are available on the Department’s website as the Delaware Report Card. This Act revises current law to correspond with and codify current Department practices regarding these reports as follows: • Changes the term “Education Profile” to “education-related data” to reflect the broad range of data that the Department publishes, in addition to the annual reports required under existing State and federal law. • Requires that there is a link to these reports on the school choice website. • Requires that these reports continue to include proficiency rates. In addition, this Act requires that the Department do all of the following: • Provide a link to these reports on the home page of the Department’s website. • Include a list of a career pathways offered at a high school in these reports. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual which includes revisions to clarify repetitive, confusing, or contradictory language.

This Act provides financial support to owners who adopt a horse that retired from serving with the Department of Correction, State or Capitol police, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, or the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The owners of these retired-law enforcement horses may be reimbursed up to $3,000 annually for veterinary care expenses and farrier services paid by the owner for the care of the retired law-enforcement horse. The Department that the retired law-enforcement horse assisted shall issue veterinary care and farrier services reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement horses. This Act also makes structural changes to incorporate the support for retired law-enforcement animals into a single subchapter. This Act changes subchapter VII of Title 16 from the Retired Law-Enforcement Canine Act into the Retired Law-Enforcement Animals Act. This Act moves all the definitions into their own section, and adds and modifies definitions, as needed, to account for the addition of horses. This Act is effective immediately and shall be implemented 6 months after enactment. This Act does not apply to law-enforcement horses that retire before the implementation date of this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Current law allows pensioners to be employed in a Governor-appointed position or as a temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute employee, including as a substitute teacher, but only after a 6-month separation of service period if the pensioner is under age 65 and limits annual earnings by temporary, casual, seasonal, or substitute employees to $50,000 before an individual’s earnings affect the amount of the individual’s pension. To alleviate staffing shortages in schools and state agencies with 24-hour shifts, this Act removes the earnings limit beginning calendar year 2025, lowers the age when the separation of service period applies to individuals who are under 59 ½ years old, and reduces the required separation of service period to 3 months. This Act also clarifies that the pensioners may be employed as substitute teachers by charter schools under the same requirements as school districts. To comply with federal law, this Act makes the bona fide 3-month separation period applicable to all pensioners employed under § 5502(a) of Title 29. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act adds 2 members, appointed by the Governor, to the Delaware Suicide Prevention Coalition. The 2 new members shall be: 1 member who has experienced suicide ideation or survived a suicide attempt, and 1 member who has lost a loved one to suicide. This change is requested by the Coalition.

This Act establishes a uniform threshold and procedure for a recount after a primary or general election for a statewide office, State Senator, State Representative, county office, the City of Wilmington, or school district elections. Under this Act, a recount will be conducted if the difference in the number of votes is 1% or less. This Act makes the following changes to current law: • Eliminates the need for a candidate to request a recount after a general election for statewide office, State Senator, State Representative, county office, or office in the City of Wilmington. • Eliminates the need for 25 voters to petition for a recount in school district elections. • Establishes a clear threshold for a recount equal to a difference of 1% or less of the votes cast. Changing the recount threshold to 1% or less will likely be a substantive change to existing law only for statewide elections and county-wide offices in New Castle County. Current law allows a recount after a primary or general election for a statewide office, State Senator, State Representative, county office, or office in the City of Wilmington if the number of votes separating 2 candidates is less than 1,000 votes or ½ of 1% of all of the votes cast for the 2 candidates, whichever is less. • Based on the number of votes cast in the most recent elections, ½ of 1% and 1% of the votes cast will almost always be under 1,000 for State Senator, State Representative, county office, or office in the City of Wilmington. • For statewide offices or county-wide offices in New Castle County, ½ of 1% will almost always be more than 1,000 votes so changing the threshold to 1% or less will allow for recounts after more elections for these offices. Similarly, under existing law, a recount may be requested in a school district election if the difference in the election of a school board member or in the outcome of an election regarding taxes, standard school construction, or bonds is less than 10 votes or ½ of 1% of the total vote, whichever is larger. Both 1% and ½ of 1% of the votes cast will almost always be more than 10 votes. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including revisions to align § 1083 of Title 14 with the current responsibilities and practices of the Department of Elections. This Act does not need a super-majority because this Act does not change the City of Wilmington’s authority under its charter because in 1955, the General Assembly enacted 50 Del. Laws. c. 390, § 9, which clearly provides that Chapters 31 and 57 of Title 15 are applicable to the holding of elections in the City of Wilmington.

This Act to Amend the Charter grants the City Council the power to exercise eminent domain for the purpose of property acquisition, with the exception of land to be used solely for recreational purposes. It also grants the City Council the power to make proclamations to recognize achievements, historical events, special days or months for civic and social purposes, and other similar matters. This Act also clarifies that the Mayor may establish committees as they deem necessary with the consent of the City Council. Duration of elected officials’ terms, previously 2 years, shall be increased to a term of 3 years, beginning with the 2026 election for the Mayor, and beginning in 2027 for incoming Councilmembers. This Act prohibits any person in arrears and owing the City funds for taxes and other applicable fees, shall be ineligible to serve as Mayor or Councilperson. If a sitting Mayor or Councilperson becomes more than two months in arrears to the City, they shall be disqualified from their position and the seat shall be declared vacant.

This resolution directs the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Delaware Department of Labor and the Delaware Workforce Development Board, to evaluate and report on opportunities for Delaware Pathways to support the creative economy.