Senate Bill 15 (151st General Assembly) – Increases Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025.
House Bill 122 (151st General Assembly) – This bill is titled the Jamie Wolfe Employment Act in recognition of Jamie Wolfe, a powerful disability rights advocate who worked tirelessly on behalf of people with disabilities for equal rights and equal access to education, housing, competitive and integrated employment, transportation and community-based services.
The bill requires that authorization to pay individuals with disabilities less than the minimum wage will be phased out by July 1, 2023. It is consistent with the goals of the Employment First Act enacted by the 146th General Assembly and with national trends. In September 2020, the United States Commission on Civil Rights recommended that 14(c) certificates be phased out. The Employment First Oversight Commission created in the Employment First Act is charged with the responsibility of developing and implementing a plan for the phase-out and insuring that the needs of affected providers and employees with disabilities working at less than minimum wage are considered as the phase-out is implemented.
House Bill 88 (151st General Assembly) – Repeals youth and training wage provisions, which allowed employers to pay workers under 18 and anyone in their first 90 days of employment 50 cents less than the minimum wage.
House Bill 16 (151st General Assembly) – Makes the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) refundable for recipients. The EITC is the nation’s most effective anti-poverty program for working families. The federal EITC was introduced in 1975 and was designed to offset federal income taxes, social security payroll taxes, and supplemental earnings while rewarding work. About 25 states, Delaware included, have state Earned Income Tax Credits.
House Bill 205 (151st General Assembly) – Creates the Delaware EARNS retirement savings program to serve as a vehicle through which eligible employees may, on a voluntary basis, provide for additional retirement security through a State-facilitated retirement savings program in a convenient, cost effective, and portable manner. The EARNS program will be designed to serve small businesses who are unable to offer retirement plans to employees due to the cost and administrative burden. Because there are documented wealth gaps in Delaware, disproportionately impacting women and people of color, a state-facilitated savings plan aims to alleviate barriers small employers face in offering options, close the wealth gap among low to modest wage earners and keep Delaware competitive with neighboring states by attracting talented workers to Delaware.
House Bill 65 (151st General Assembly) – Exempts unemployment payments from state income tax, providing COVID-19 related relief to both claimants receiving unemployment benefits and employers who are assessed unemployment taxes.
House Bill 91 (151st General Assembly) – Protects consumers from unfair business practices.Prohibiting unfair practices will protect honest businesses by enabling them to compete fairly and effectively in the marketplace, in addition to protecting individual consumers harmed by such practices. Prohibiting unfair practices will also protect consumers in situations that may not be readily or easily addressed by current Delaware law, such as the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, price gouging during a state or national emergency, and other situations in which consumers are being unfairly taken advantage of and they are unable to reasonably avoid injury.
House Bill 1 (151st General Assembly) – Extends outdoor restaurant seating and carry-out alcohol sales. Food and drink establishments suffered great losses due to the pandemic including millions of dollars in lost sales and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. This extends provisions from the 150th General Assembly until 2022 with the goal of continuing the efforts to try and mitigate the losses this industry has suffered.
House Bill 380 (149th General Assembly) – First-time home buyers looking to settle in Delaware will receive some financial relief under HB 380. Revenue from Delaware’s realty transfer tax is provided to the county and the state, and the buyer and seller split the cost of both portions. In an effort to close a looming budget deficit, lawmakers increased the state’s portion of the transfer tax by 1 percent in 2017. That 1-percent increase was also split 50-50 between the buyer and seller.
This legislation exempts first-time homebuyers from paying the buyer’s share of the 1-percent increase and create a credit. First-time homebuyers will be exempt from paying 0.5 percent of the first $400,000 of a home’s selling price, or a maximum of $2,000. The legislation is retroactive; so any first-time homebuyer who purchased a home in Delaware on or after August 1, 2017 will be able to apply and receive a refund through the Delaware Division of Revenue. A first-time homebuyer is characterized as a person who has never owned a home in any jurisdiction. Individuals who owned a home in another state, but are looking to buy in Delaware for the first time are not eligible.
House Concurrent Resolution 76 (149th General Assembly) – The General Assembly this year approved an agreement that paves the way for Gulftainer Group – the largest independent port operator in the world – to invest $580 million in our Port of Wilmington. Under the proposal, Gulftainer will construct a new container shipping facility on the Delaware River at DuPont’s former Edgemoor site, make annual royalty payments to the state, which will amount to $13 million over the next decade and establish a training facility for jobs. These would be jobs in the ports and logistics industries, with the ultimate goal of training 1,000 aspiring workers each year. These are good-paying, industry jobs – career jobs – that will help individuals support their families. The port will thrive – and in turn help Delaware thrive. This investment is good for Delaware for the short-term and for decades to come. This exciting venture also would guarantee that the number of jobs held at the port by the International Longshoremen’s Association would not fall below current levels.
House Bill 235 (148th General Assembly) – Removes disincentives for companies to create Delaware jobs and invest in Delaware property that currently exists in how income is apportioned to Delaware for purposes of the corporate income tax, as well as other disincentives regarding property and employees in Delaware.
House Bill 3 (148th General Assembly) – Requires that employers receiving contracts from the State shall certify in that contract that, in addition to already mandated fair business practices, the contractor shall ensure that its employees receive equal pay for equal work without regard to sex.
House Bill 314 (148th General Assembly) – Makes it unlawful for an employer to require an employee to keep his or her wages secret. This allows for employees to discuss their wages without fear of reprisal helping to end the silence around the wage gap.
House Bill 270 (147th General Assembly) – Requires all contractors, subcontractors and independent contractors performing work under a public works contract to have an occupational and/or business license. Furthermore, this bill requires that all contractors verify that its subcontractors and independent contractors have an occupational and/or business licenses.
House Substitute 1 for House Bill 310 (147th General Assembly) – Authorizes the creation of the Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corporation. The Corporation will be assisted by an advisory council comprised in part of individuals having expertise in the land use, historic preservation, economic development, environmental protection, parks and recreation, and tourism.
House Bill 81 (146th General Assembly) – Revamps Delaware’s pension plan for newly hired state workers and makes changes to the state’s healthcare plans, saving taxpayers nearly $500 million over 15 years. It also protects the pensions of the state’s current employees, stabilizes our pension fund and addresses the rising cost of healthcare.