Sen. Bruce C. Ennis

This concurrent resolution proclaims the week of May 15-21, 2022 as Delaware Grown Week. It has been eight years since the General Assembly first partnered with the Delaware Department of Agriculture to establish this annual observation to facilitate better, healthier relationships between Delaware farmers and local consumers. Successful passage of this resolution will continue this worthy collaboration.

This Act 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. For employers with fewer than 10 employees, the time may be unpaid, job-protected time instead of paid time. Accrued earned sick time and safety leave may be used by the employee for time off with pay at the employee’s regular wage and benefit rate to deal with the mental and physical health needs of either the employee or an employee’s family member and other specified purposes. Earned sick time and safety leave may also be used to address the consequences of domestic violence for such things as meeting with lawyers, obtaining services from victim service organizations, temporary relocation and the like. Employers may cap the number of hours earned per year at 40, the carryover from one year to the next at 40 hours, and the maximum earned sick and safety leave at 80 hours. Employers may require employees to have been employed at least 90 days before they may take earned sick leave and safety time. Employers whose benefits packages already meet the minimum requirements of this Act are not required to offer anything additional. The Department of Labor will promulgate regulations governing operation of the Act and will enforce the provisions of the Act. Employers who violate the Act are subject to civil penalty of no less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee who complains to the Department that an employer has violated the Act.

This Act, the Healthy Delaware Families Act, creates a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program. Delaware employees can access up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave through the State's paid leave trust fund for a qualifying event, including for the following: (1) To address a worker's own serious health condition. (2) To care for a family member with a serious health condition. (3) To bond and care for a new child. (4) To address the impact of a family member's military deployment. This Substitute to Senate Bill No. 1 differs from Senate Bill No. 1 with regard to the eligibility determination process, covered relationships, length of leave, forms of leave covered, cumulative leave, eligibility criteria, implementation timeline, appeal process, departmental powers, and not requiring participation from certain smaller businesses. This Substitute differs from Senate Substitute No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 1 by making technical corrections, clarifying intent and providing greater statutory detail with regard to appeals, coordination of benefits, definitions, private plans, and departmental powers, and providing temporary flexibility regarding implementation.

This concurrent resolution designates the month of May 2022 as "Lyme Disease Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware.

This Act allows licensed distributors to apply for a shippers license to provide direct shipments of wine, beer, and spirits to consumers.

This Act seeks to provide consumers with critical information about how their personal information is being used by data brokers. This Act requires data brokers to register with the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice and answer questions regarding their use of personal information that would be published online to inform consumers. A fee schedule is established based on the size of the data broker that would fund the enforcement of the statute. Entities or individuals who collect personal information but do not sell or license that personal data are not required to register. Registration only applies to data brokers who sell or license information. The Act prohibits acquiring or providing brokered personal information where it will be used for certain unlawful purposes, or where it was obtained through fraudulent means. The Act requires data brokers to protect brokered personal information.

This resolution recognizes May 2 to May 7, 2022 as "Auctioneers Week" in the State of Delaware.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes April 18, 2022 as "National Line Worker Appreciation Day" in the State of Delaware.

The Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) is charged with providing transitional and independent living services for youth ages 14 to 21. The Division of Family Services (DFS) contracts for case management services for youth ages 16 to 21, with services designed to promote self-sufficiency and responsible living for young adults who are aging out of foster care. Participants receive life skills training and personal development, mentoring, tuition assistance, and support with transitional housing. Participants may also qualify to receive needs-based stipends through ASSIST (Achieving Self Sufficiency & Independence through Supported Transition) to help with living expenses. DFS recently changed the name of the Independent Living Program to the “Transitional and Independent Living Program” to better reflect the comprehensive nature of services offered to youth. This bill updates references to the program to include “transitional” and independent living services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government provided additional funding to support young adults who were eligible for independent living services until age 27. The intent was to provide additional support for youth and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their housing and employment status. DFS exercised this additional funding authority via a mandatory directive from the DFS Director. While the mandatory directive provision expanding services expired in October 2021, DFS decided it would continue providing independent living services for youth until age 23 because of the success observed on behalf of youth. This mandatory directive provision will expire in September 2022, and this bill will grant DFS the statutory authority to continue providing transitional and independent living services for youth until age 23. Expanding independent and transitional living services from age 21 to age 23 better aligns with case management requirements of housing assistance programs, will support youth with transitioning from post-secondary education programs into the workforce, and will help maintain a longer connection to youth required to complete federal reporting for DFS.

All three counties in Delaware have been plagued with thefts of catalytic converters, which contain precious metals having significant monetary value in the scrap metal industry. This Act adds catalytic converters to the list of items for which scrap metal processors shall create a record and provide information when acquired. Amending Section 24(b)(1) to specifically include catalytic converters as items that the industries regulated by Chapter 23 must report will enhance enforcement of this Chapter and assist law enforcement by providing a mechanism to follow-up on thefts of converters and to obtain solvability factors in the ever-growing trend associated with thefts of converters. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.