House Bill 31 (151st General Assembly) – This legislation removes outdated portions of Delaware code that criminalized women who chose to have abortions. These provisions in the criminal law date back to the 19th century and have been moot since the landmark U.S. Supreme court decision in Roe v. Wade. It’s vital that arcane laws such as these be stripped from the books so that, in the event Roe is ever overturned or partially overturned, women in Delaware will still have access to safe and legal abortions.
House Bill 258 (150th General Assembly) – This bill would empower the Delaware Department of Correction to establish correctional nursery programs for incarcerated women who give birth while in prison so they can reside with their newborns and raise them until they reach 18 months.
Data from the Department of Correction showed that from 2013 to 2018, 734 women were pregnant while serving time at Baylor Women’s Correctional Facility and 41 women were pregnant while completing treatment
The proposed correctional nursery program would include parenting, health and job-seeking education, strategies for self-care for the inmate and care of the infant and information regarding immunizations, follow-up treatment and community referrals as well supplies and equipment necessary for a new child. at Hazel D. Plant Women’s Treatment Facility. Between both facilities, more than 100 women gave birth in outside hospitals during that time period.
An inmate would be eligible for this voluntary program if she was pregnant at the time she was brought into custody, gives birth on or after the date the program is implemented and is subject to a sentence of no more than three years of incarceration, among other qualifications determined by the Department of Correction.
HB 285 (150th General Assembly) – This bill requires all public and charter schools which have students in grades 6-12 to provide free feminine hygiene products in 50% of the bathrooms used by students who can have a menstrual cycle. This bill also requires schools to publish on its website and post in its common areas the locations of the bathrooms where the hygiene products are provided.
These products should be available in our schools just like toilet paper, paper towels and soap. It’s a basic dignity for young people. This legislation is a great step forward for period equity, building on so many community initiatives that are making a difference.
House Bill 399 (149th General Assembly) – The first Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in the 1920s, but was not passed by the U.S. House and Senate until 1972. In order for it to be added to the U.S. Constitution, it had to be approved by 38 states, but not enough states stepped up to ratify it. Delaware was one of the first states to approve the federal ERA in 1972, and now joins the more than 20 states who are working to add the Equal Rights Amendment to their state constitutions. Delaware’s bill ensures equality for Delaware women. Women have fought tenaciously for fairness and equality in all aspects of their lives. In accordance with the constitutional amendment process, this bill became law after passing in identical form in the 150th General Assembly.
House Bill 3 (149th General Assembly) – This legislation gives state workers 12 weeks of paid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child 6 years or younger. A worker must be employed by the state for one year in order to be eligible. This is an excellent benefit to provide to our state of Delaware workforces that will increase retention and recruitment. This will help parents not have to make a financial decision to leave their child just a couple weeks after they have been brought into the family. It’s hypocritical for us as a state to stress the importance of the family unit and then not back it up with this kind of basic and essential support system. Major Delaware employers such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, DuPont, AstraZeneca, Barclays and Merck already offer paid family leave to their workers.
SS 1 for Senate Bill 5 (149th General Assembly) – Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 5 safeguards a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her well-being and body. The bill does not change Roe v. Wade or expand when an abortion can be performed beyond what Delaware and other states have existed under for the past 44 years. The bill simply removes sections of Delaware law that have been found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court so that women are guaranteed access to a safe and legal abortion.
Senate Bill 166 (149th General Assembly) – The legislation ensures that feminine hygiene products are provided free of charge to inmates housed in the Department of Correction and at facilities operated by the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. Feminine care is a basic necessity – it should not be treated as a luxury. Now women in detention facilities will have access to free tampons.
House Bill 4 (149th General Assembly) – Creates Department of Human Resources; This act establishes the Department of Human Resources, the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy as well as the Delaware Women’s Workforce Council. The Office of Women’s Advancement and Workforce Council promote the equality of women, study the status of women in Delaware in an effort to eliminate gender-based bias and discriminatory practices. The organizations develop best practices to achieve gender equality and make specific legislative proposals related to women.
House Substitute 1 for House Bill 1 (149th General Assembly)– Employers often ask prospective employees to share their salary history before the offer employment. According to U.S. Census Bureau Statistics for 2014, women in Delaware working full-time year-round earned on average only 82% of the earnings of men working full-time year-round. The statistics for African American women and Latina women are even more disturbing earning 70% and 64% respectively. Often employers use salary history as the basis for a salary offer and given the reality of pay inequity can reinforce existing pay inequality. This legislation bars employers from asking prospective employees for their salary history until after a salary negotiation is completed to prevent wage discrimination.
House Concurrent Resolution 72 & 16 (149th General Assembly)– Annual event to raise awareness about the gender pay gap in partnership with AAUW.
House Substitute 1 for House Bill 1 (148th General Assembly) – Ensures that victims of sexual violence on college campuses have full knowledge of the options available to them, including criminal justice resources available in addition to the internal administrative processes led by their schools.
House Bill 2 (148th General Assembly) – Requires new police officers to receive victim-centered, trauma-informed and offender-focused sexual assault training. Current officers will receive the training in a window of time after enactment of the bill, and all officers will be required to retrain periodically. Prosecutors also will receive training. This bill aims to improve interactions between victims of sexual violence and law enforcement.
House Bill 3 (148th General Assembly) – Ensured equal pay in state contracting by mandating that any company awarded a state contract certify that it engages in fair wage practices and will provide its employees with equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender.
House Bill 4 (148th General Assembly) – Protects employees by guaranteeing them the right to take leave based on circumstances of domestic violence, stalking or sexual assault and specifying that taking such leave is not grounds for termination or discrimination, known as safety leave.
House Bill 81 (148th General Assembly) – Added the name and contact information for a federal Title IX coordinator for every public school, including public institutions of higher learning, to the existing Education Profile reports compiled by the state Department of Education. The Title IX coordinator’s responsibilities include hearing reports of sexual discrimination and misconduct and advising students of their rights and courses of action.
House Bill 314 (148th General Assembly) – Makes it unlawful for an employer to require an employee to keep his or her wages secret.
House Bill 316 (148th General Assembly) – Dubbed the “Not My Boss’ Business” bill, this law reinforces the right to privacy when it comes to health and reproductive care decisions made by employees.
House Bill 317 (148th General Assembly) – Prohibits employers from engaging in discrimination based on an individual’s family caregiver obligations.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 (148th General Assembly) – Mandated an audit of all untested and un-submitted sexual assault kits in Delaware. This resolution also established a work group tasked with creating systemic changes to ensure proper testing of all sexual assault kits in the future.
Senate Bill 51 (148th General Assembly) – Allows, at a judge’s discretion, for a victim or witness of abuse to appear at required court proceedings and give testimony via secured video connection from a separate location.
Senate Bill 84 (148th General Assembly) – Allows mothers who are currently breastfeeding their children to have their jury service postponed by the courts.
Senate Bill 197 (148th General Assembly) – Requires physicians to educate prenatal patients and families on the warning signs and symptoms of postpartum depression.
Senate Bill 213 (148th General Assembly) – Requires the implementation of a curriculum to be used by all of Delaware’s public schools to educate public school employees and students grades K-6 about personal body safety and child sexual abuse. This legislation is named Erin’s Law in honor of Erin Merryn, a victim of child sexual abuse, who is working to enact legislation on this subject throughout the country.
Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 83 (148th General Assembly) – This bill expanded protections for victims of domestic violence and improved the procedures related to the temporary relinquishment of firearms in the possession of a respondent.
House Bill 275 (145th General Assembly) – Ends a discriminatory practice by the Colonial School District in which teachers who have gone on maternity leave as prescribed in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) were not permitted to return to their classrooms. Instead, the teachers were shuffled around and assigned to different classes throughout the district.