2023-2024 Session Recap

In Delaware, legislative sessions are 2 years long with the General Assembly actively passing bills between January and June 30th. The following report shares the status of some of the legislation DE-WFP supported (green) or opposed (red). 

DE-WFP had three legislative priorities this year:

1. Paid Sick and Safety Leave

2. Address the high cost of rent

3. Universal Free School Meals

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
HS2 for HB 125	Moore	Requires all public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to students who qualify for a reduced-price meal. We are hopeful that passing this bill will be a positive step towards guaranteeing free school meals for all students.	PASSED
HS 1 for HB 17	Morrison	Earned sick & safety leave. This bill would require employers to provide employees with earned sick and safety leave for time worked. Although this legislation was cosponsored by all of Senate Leadership, none of House Leadership (Speaker Longhurst, Majority Leader Minor Brown, Whip Rep. Harris) co-sponsored. This bill was stuck in House Appropriations after it failed to be released by one Democratic vote: Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha.	FAILED
HB 455	Lambert & Lockman	Rent Stabilization Pilot Program. This Act creates a 10-year program to address the lack of affordable housing in Delaware by establishing statewide limitations on the amount that rent can be increased. This was introduced too late for a committee hearing.	FAILED
SS3 for SB 4 & SCR 175	Pinkney & Minor Brown	Probation reform. SS3 for SB 4 would reform Delaware’s broken probation system and help those coming home better reenter. This bill has gone through many changes to mitigate opposition from law enforcement and other groups. SCR 175 would establish the Probation System Task Force to study the probation system and make findings and recommendations. These bills were up for a Senate vote but were pulled from the agenda at the last minute despite the newest version seeming to address all of the publicly stated concerns from stakeholder groups.	FAILED
HB 70	Dorsey Walker & Gay	Eliminates the death penalty from Delaware Code. This bill removes the ability of the state to use the death penalty. This bill was packaged with HB 301, which changed Delaware’s constitution to permanently end the death penalty– which ultimately failed to pass.	PASSED
HB439 & HB440	Phillips & Hoffner	These two bills make unhoused people a protected class. HB439 includes housing status as a protected class under the Fair Housing Act. HB 440 adds “housing status” as a protected class under employment and professional activities. After a decades long fight of trying to pass anti-discrimination protections for individuals experiencing homelessness, advocates, unhoused individuals, and service providers helped secure protections for unhoused peoples across Delaware. Despite these two bills passing, Delaware still needs more protections of the civil rights of the unhoused.	PASSED
SS1 for SB 293	Lockman & Moore	Stop landlords from discriminating against tenants using government assistance to pay their rent. The Delaware Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on source of income, yet allows landlords to deny renters due to receiving government assistance programs. By continuing to let landlords deny housing to people who receive rental assistance, we are creating more barriers for people to access safe and affordable housing. This bill would ban landlords from discriminating against renters using government subsidies to pay their rent.	PASSED

Policing and Criminal Justice Reform

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
SS3 for SB 4 & SCR 175	Pinkney & Minor Brown	Probation reform. SS3 for SB 4 would reform Delaware’s broken probation system and help those coming home better reenter. This bill has gone through many changes to mitigate opposition from law enforcement and other groups. SCR 175 would establish the Probation System Task Force to study the probation system and make findings and recommendations. These bills were up for a Senate vote but were pulled from the agenda at the last minute despite the newest version seeming to address all of the publicly stated concerns from stakeholder groups.	FAILED
HB 445	Wilson-Anton & Gay	Ban law enforcement from using reverse keyword court orders. Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to precisely identify an unspecified and unlimited number of persons who have sought information about a specific word or phrase, such as entering the term into an internet search engine during a specified time of interest, without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. Until further evidence clarifies their guilt or innocence, every person who entered a search term of interest will remain under criminal suspicion. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This Act would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse keyword requests. It also creates a private right of action for an individual whose personal information was obtained in violation of this Act and requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful or reverse-keyword search. This bill was placed on the House Ready list but did not make it on the House agenda for a vote.	FAILED
SB 11 & SB 12	Townsend & Chukwuocha	These are two concerning bail reform bills that have the potential to drastically increase the number of innocent people held in jail before trial. SS1 for SB 11 is a constitutional amendment greatly expanding the list of offenses for which a person can be detained without bail pretrial. While this was originally intended to move from cash bail to a risk-based system, this reform package retains cash bail and has relatively weak restrictions, potentially having harmful consequences when implemented. SB 12 expands pretrial detention for a number of charges. While the idea of moving from cash bail to risk assessment is good, and it’s good that people will have the right to representation at bail hearings, this bill massively expands the list of offenses innocent people can be held without bail for and preserves cash bail at the court’s discretion.	PASSED
HB 264	K. Williams & Poore	Makes the crime of “patronizing a prostitute” a class E felony rather than a misdemeanor where the person from whom prostitution is sought is a minor. While this seems good in theory, a number of international organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the World Health Organization say that these laws actually put victims of trafficking in more danger by driving activity further underground and putting them at the mercy of traffickers and those soliciting sex who make riskier decisions to avoid prosecution. Organizations and experts instead call for decriminalization and increased resources.	PASSED
HB 265	M. Smith & Hocker	Requires a commercial entity that knowingly or intentionally provides pornography and other materials defined as harmful to minors to verify the age of individuals accessing the material. The problem with this bill is that it threatens important privacy concerns by requiring people to submit personal information to third-party, unregulated corporations. Those that use browsing history or facial recognition AI would also put minors at risk for exploitation. Additionally, “material harmful to minors” has a broad definition that could have a chilling effect on access to important health, sexual health, and educational information, especially for LGBTQ+ youth.	FAILED
HB 70	Dorsey Walker & Gay	Eliminates the death penalty from Delaware Code. This bill removes the ability of the state to use the death penalty. This bill was packaged with HB 301, which changed Delaware’s constitution to permanently end the death penalty– which ultimately failed to pass.	PASSED
HB 301	Dorsey Walker & Hoffner	Constitutional amendment to ban the imposition of the death penalty.	FAILED
HS1 for HB 205	Minor-Brown & Lockman	Changes the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights (LEOBOR) to Police Officers Due Process, Accountability, Transparency (PODPAT) This bill changes LEOBOR by requiring that a detailed narrative of an internal investigation must be prepared by an investigating agency and publicly posted in any sustained case involving uses of force. Reports will be aggregated and posted on the Criminal Justice Council website. This falls short of the reforms asked for by impacted families and police reform advocates as it doesn’t include requirements to provide police misconduct records to the public or public defenders. It also does not designate an independent investigator with subpoena power. It still leaves investigations in the hands of the police themselves. This bill passed in summer of 2023 with little community engagement or support.	PASSED

Health Justice

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
HB 346	Neal & Gay	Protections for medical providers of gender-affirming health care. Provides the same legal protections afforded providers of contraceptive and abortion services to providers of gender-affirming health care. This clarifies that medical professionals who provide gender-affirming health care cannot be disciplined for such services even if such services are illegal or considered to be unprofessional conduct or the unauthorized practice of medicine in another state, so long as such services are lawful in this State. It would also protect the records of patients by making it illegal to disclose communications and records concerning gender-affirming care without the patient's authorization.	FAILED
SS1 for SB 301	Gay & Romer	Ensure access to emergency contraception and abortion medication on public universities. Requires public universities in this state to provide access to medication for the termination of pregnancy and emergency contraception. The medication and contraception must be provided on-site, but consultation to provide them may be performed by a provider at the student health center or by a provider who is associated with a university-contracted external agency.	PASSED
HB 362	Minor-Brown & Lockman	Requires coverage of doula services under private health insurance plans.	PASSED
HS2 for HB 110	Minor-Brown & Gay	Requires Medicaid to cover abortion services.	PASSED

Housing Justice

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
HB 415	Phillips & Hoffner	Anti-Discrimination Provisions for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness. Formerly known as the Bill of Rights for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness, this legislation would prohibit discrimination on the sole basis that one is experiencing homelessness. It would also create a process by which the State Human and Civil Rights Commission and the Division of Human and Civil Rights may accept and investigate complaints of discriminatory treatment, attempt conciliation, and refer enforcement actions to law enforcement Internal Affairs if necessary. Over the past decade, several versions of this bill have been proposed. Despite massive support from service providers, advocates, and unhoused people, this bill failed to get released from the House Judiciary Committee. Big business, realty groups, and landlord associations opposed this bill.	FAILED
HB439 & HB440	Phillips & Hoffner	These two bills make unhoused people a protected class. HB439 includes housing status as a protected class under the Fair Housing Act. HB 440 adds “housing status” as a protected class under employment and professional activities. After a decades-long fight of trying to pass anti-discrimination protections for individuals experiencing homelessness, advocates, unhoused individuals, and service providers helped secure protections for unhoused peoples across Delaware. Despite these two bills passing, Delaware still needs more protections of the civil rights of the unhoused.	PASSED
HB 455	Lambert & Lockman	Rent Stabilization Pilot Program. This Act creates a 10-year program to address the lack of affordable housing in Delaware by establishing statewide limitations on the amount that rent can be increased. This was introduced too late for a committee hearing.	FAILED
SS1 for SB 293	Lockman & Moore	Ban discrimination based on source of income. The Delaware Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on source of income, yet allows landlords to deny renters due to receiving government assistance programs. By continuing to let landlords deny housing to people who receive rental assistance, we are creating more barriers for people to access safe and affordable housing. This bill would ban landlords from discriminating against renters using government subsidies to pay their rent.	PASSED
HS 2 FOR HB 212	Longhurst & Pinkney	Rent Stabilization for manufactured housing. Prevents manufactured home community owners from increasing rent if the rent was increased by 5 percent or more the previous year or rental period, instead permitting an increase capped at 3 percent.	PASSED
HS1 for HB 191	Dorsey Walker & Pinkney	Rent escrow and withholding. Creates a process for tenants to withhold rent in a Justice of the Peace Court escrow account. Also provides renters with the option to terminate a lease if the conditions of the rental unit threaten the life, health or safety of their household. A last minute Senate amendment was placed on the bill, with several members of the House expressing concern on the last day of session. The bill was tabled on the House floor.	FAILED

Environmental Justice

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
HB 422	Johnson & Townsend	The People’s Anti-Pollution Bill. Many low-income and Black and Brown communities are overburdened with pollution. When a new industry comes into a neighborhood it can add to existing pollution, causing even more negative health outcomes. This is called cumulative impacts. HB 422 would improve transparency on the impact a facility could have on the environment and help stop more pollution from accumulating in overburdened communities. This bill would: Require facilities seeking a new permit, expansion, or renewal of a permit to provide an environmental justice impact report. Establish the Environmental Justice board to make recommendations and hold public hearings based on the environmental justice impact reports Identify the types of facilities that require greater scrutiny and mandatory public hearing Require more targeted and robust communication of the permitting process within overburdened communities Give the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) the power to deny or give conditions to a permit that would harm an overburdened community	FAILED
HB 220	Wilson-Anton & Hansen	Green Amendment. This constitutional amendment would create an inherent and inalienable right for all Delawareans to a clean and healthy environment. The Amendment would also declare the State, including all of its branches, agencies, and political subdivisions, as trustee of the State's natural resources. By enacting this amendment Delaware would join other States which have or are seeking similar provisions, in their respective Constitutions, creating the same inherent and inalienable rights for their citizens.	FAILED
HB 265	Hansen & Heffernan	Delaware Energy Solutions Act The Delaware Energy Solutions Act of 2024 authorizes processes necessary to help meet the net zero goals of the Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023. The bill facilitates a transition to carbon-free energy sources by (i) preparing for offshore wind to be a significant element of Delaware’s energy future, if cost is competitive with other potential sources, and (ii) increasing options for interconnecting renewable energy resources to the transmission grid.	PASSED

Good Government

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
SS1 for SB 21	Sturgeon & Williams	Creating an independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The OIG would be an independent, nonpartisan office with the authority to investigate state agencies and state-funded entities for fraud, waste, mismanagement, and corruption. The state estimates that the OIG will cost around $1.5 million each year, which represents around 0.025% of the state's $6 billion budget for next year. There are 35 states with an OIG at the state or local level, and these offices have recovered billions of dollars, far exceeding the cost to fund them. In addition, a Delaware OIG would provide a critical mechanism to ensure public trust in how our government operates. This bill failed to pass the Senate Finance Committee.	FAILED

Elections and Voting

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
SS1 for SB 180	Gay	This bill would restore voting rights to many people convicted of felonies who are currently disenfranchised. Currently, there are still disqualifying felonies for which a convicted individual permanently loses the right to vote. For other felonies, individuals are eligible to re-register to vote only after completing their sentence (including probation, parole, and suspension). This bill: Limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of voting rights as a punishment for a crime. Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. This bill was up for a Senate vote, but got pulled from the agenda at the last minute. Because this is a constitutional amendment, it must pass two consecutive general assemblies - that means since this bill did not pass this year, the earliest it could go into effect would be 2027.	FAILED
SB 3	Brown & Moore	Expand access to absentee voting. This constitutional amendment would eliminate the limitations on when an individual may vote absentee. This Act is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Albence v. Higgins, 2022 Del. LEXIS 377 (Del. 2022). This bill was defeated in the House.	FAILED
HB 400	Bolden & Pettyjohn	Moves the date of primary elections for statewide and local office to the fourth Tuesday in April, which is the date of the presidential primary (in presidential election years). A similar bill was introduced and failed early in this legislative session (HB 215).	FAILED

Education

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
HS2 for HB 125	Moore	Requires all public schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to students who qualify for a reduced-price meal. We are hopeful that passing this bill will be a positive step towards guaranteeing free school meals for all students.	PASSED
HB 263	Dorsey Walker & Pettyjohn	Stops schools from prohibiting a student from participating in a school sponsored extracurricular activity because of unpaid school meal debt.	PASSED
HS1 for HB 174	Moore & Pinkney	Requires that schools refer students to a school-based mental or behavioral health specialist after two unduplicated disciplinary violations in a semester that result in an out of school suspension.	PASSED

Jobs & Economic Justice

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Status
HS 1 for HB 17	Morrison	Earned sick & safety leave. This bill would require employers to provide employees with earned sick and safety leave for time worked. Although this legislation was cosponsored by all of Senate Leadership, none of House Leadership (Speaker Longhurst, Majority Leader Minor Brown, Whip Rep. Harris) co-sponsored. This bill was stuck in House Appropriations after it failed to be released by one Democratic vote: Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha.	FAILED
SB 313	Townsend & Griffith	This bill shifts the balance of power in corporations by making the board responsive to the desires of a favored few– as opposed to the needs of pension funds or the whole shareholder base. This could have negative impacts on pension and retirement funds, institutions whose endowments are tied into the stock market (colleges, universities, nonprofit foundations), and small individual shareholders.	PASSED