Sen. Robert Marshall

This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2018 Bond and Capital Improvements Act.

This Act is intended to implement the recommendations in the December 9, 2015 Report of the Work A Day Earn A Pay Task Force. The Act will create a Work A Day Earn A Pay Public Works Jobs Program in Delaware.

This Resolution recognizes June 27, 2017, as “Staff Appreciation Day” in the Delaware State Senate.

This resolution directs the Delaware Emergency Medical Services Oversight Council and the Office of Emergency Medical Services to establish statewide metrics for emergency room wait times, with such information being publicly reported on a regular basis and available to emergency responders.

This bill would prevent an employer operating a nursing facility or similar facility from employing or continuing to employ a person with an adjudication of delinquency deemed disqualifying by DHSS's regulations.

This bill would prohibit individuals with an adjudication of delinquency involving physical or sexual assault crimes against another child or an adult from being an employee, volunteer, or contractor for a child-serving entity. Such prohibition shall last for 10 years following the date of adjudication. These crimes are: reckless endangering in the first degree; abuse of a pregnant female in the second degree; abuse of a pregnant female in the first degree; strangulation; assault in the second degree; assault in the first degree; vehicular assault in the first degree; vehicular homicide in the second degree; vehicular homicide in the first degree; criminally negligent homicide; manslaughter; murder by abuse or neglect in the second degree; murder by abuse or neglect in the first degree; murder in the second degree; murder in the first degree; promoting suicide; abortion; unlawful sexual contact in the second degree; unlawful sexual contact in the first degree; rape in the fourth degree; rape in the third degree; rape in the second degree; rape in the first degree; sexual extortion; bestiality; continuous sexual abuse of a child; dangerous crime against a child; sex offender unlawful sexual conduct against a child; sexual abuse of a child by a person in a position of trust, authority or supervision in the first degree; sexual abuse of a child by a person in a position of trust, authority or supervision in the second degree; dangerous crime against a child; female genital mutilation; dealing in children; abandonment of child; endangering the welfare of a child; child abuse in the second degree; child abuse in the first degree; crime against a vulnerable adult; sexual exploitation of a child; dealing in child pornography; subsequent convictions of sexual exploitation of a child or dealing in child pornography; possession of child pornography; sexual offenders, prohibitions from school zones; sexual solicitation of a child; and promoting sexual solicitation of a child. Under Title 31, Section 309(b)(4), the term "Child-serving entity" is defined to mean: a. The DSCYF; which includes any employee or volunteer of DSCYF or 1 of its contractors who have regular direct access to children and/or adolescents under the age of 18, but who do not provide child-care services at a facility as referred to in paragraph (b)(4)b. of this section; b. Residential child-care facilities in Delaware which are under contract with or operated directly by DSCYF; c. Public and private schools, including employees of the Department of Education; d. Child-care providers as defined in § 342 of title 31; e. Youth camps or summer schools that are exempt from child-care licensing requirements; and f. Facilities and individuals registered and eligible for Federal Child Care Development Block Grant funds through the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services.

This bill would prohibit a person, who was adjudicated a delinquent for a crime that would otherwise be a felony if the person was not a minor, from being a qualified voter for a period of 10 years.

Delaware's Community College System, operated by Delaware Technical and Community College (“the College”), plays a critical role in the State's economy by providing workforce development and transfer education that connects Delawareans with good paying jobs within the State and region. This Act gives the College’s Board of Trustees the authority to issue bonds to finance the cost of major and minor capital improvements, deferred maintenance, and the acquisition of related equipment and educational technology and establishes the Community College Infrastructure Fund (“the Fund”) to pay the principal and interest on such bonds. This Act adopts the county Vo-Tech structure to finance the Fund by authorizing the College's Board of Trustees to collect a local property tax, subject to a cap. All money raised in a county must be placed in a segregated account and spent exclusively on projects in that county; this eliminates any possibility of applying this Act in an unconstitutional manner. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill requires the Family Court of the State of Delaware to report adjudications of delinquency involving physical or sexual assault crimes, which are defined in this bill as they are in Title 31 of the Delaware Code, section 309, governing background checks for child-serving entities. These crimes include: reckless endangering in the first degree; abuse of a pregnant female in the second degree; abuse of a pregnant female in the first degree; strangulation; assault in the second degree; assault in the first degree; vehicular assault in the first degree; vehicular homicide in the second degree; vehicular homicide in the first degree; criminally negligent homicide; manslaughter; murder by abuse or neglect in the second degree; murder by abuse or neglect in the first degree; and murder in the second degree; murder in the first degree; promoting suicide; abortion; unlawful sexual contact in the second degree; unlawful sexual contact in the first degree.

This Act builds on some of the legislation passed by the 148th General Assembly that addressed the wage gap between men and women. When employers ask prospective employees for their wage or salary history, it perpetuates disparities in pay based on gender from one job into another. This Act prohibits employers from inquiring into an applicant's compensation history. An applicant may voluntarily disclose the information if he or she wishes to do so, and the bill explicitly permits discussion and negation of compensation expectations between an employer and applicants, so long as the employer does not affirmatively seek compensation history in the course of discussion and negotiation. An employer is permitted to seek and confirm such information after an offer, including compensation, has been negotiated, made, and accepted. The effective date of the bill is delayed by 6 months to allow employers to update their policies.