Legislative Report: Week of 1/30/23
Delaware’s legislature is out of session until March 7th for budget hearings, so there won’t be any bills up for a vote until then. Some important bills did move forward last week before they went on break.
HB 1 and HB 2, which would legalize and regulate recreational cannabis for those 21 and older, were released from committee in the House. HB 2 creates new taxes, so it must go through the House Appropriations (a.k.a. finance/budget) committee before getting a vote by the full House. These bills were originally introduced last session as one bill, but several legislators said they would not vote for legalization but would vote for taxation around cannabis after it was legalized. The bill was then split into two parts, which enabled legalization to pass with only a simple majority. However, Governor Carney vetoed the bill, and on its return to the House for the vote to overrule Carney’s veto, several legislators changed their vote to No, killing the bill. Rep Osienski, the bill’s sponsor, is trying again this year, as the majority of Delawareans want this bill to pass. The designation of 1 and 2 as the bill numbers can also be indicative of the priority of this bill in this year’s House.
SB 35, which reallocates capital funding for the remainder of this year, passed despite Republican attempts to remove the Community Workforce Agreement pilot program. The CWA pilot program is an attempt by Democratic lawmakers to ensure state contracts are equitably awarded to people who reflect the demographics of the state by stipulating requirements around union employees. Lawmakers recently learned that state contracts are awarded to ~95%+ white-owned businesses and ~97% men-owned businesses. As those percentages do not reflect the population of the state, work is necessary to learn how to solve the problem. The CWA is seen as one piece to improving equal opportunity in state contracts, though is likely not the final piece, and will also allow the gathering of more data to inform future actions.
Two important housing bills were introduced: SB 1, which would guarantee renters' right to representation in court when facing eviction, and HB 55, the bill of rights for individuals experiencing homelessness. Giving renters a “right to representation” has been seen as overwhelmingly positive for the cities where it has been implemented so far, and can reduce unjust evictions significantly. There was pushback last year from legislators who received campaign donations from landlords and property management groups, and the bill failed to gain the necessary support. For the Bill of Rights for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness, the intent is to ensure people experiencing homelessness are still seen and treated as humans worthy of dignity. Significant pushback is expected, as legislators will be afraid this will bar police departments from arresting people due to lack of housing. This bill will require a lot of public education, similar to the campaigns other states and territories have run (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, and Puerto Rico currently have a bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness, a.k.a. homeless bill of rights).
Three bills were introduced around the state’s budget and will be the focus for this month’s Joint Finance Committee hearings. The state’s fiscal year runs from July - June, so these bills’ Fiscal Year will run from July 2023 - June 2024. Here is a helpful diagram of the budgeting process, via Delaware’s Office of Management and Budget.
What’s the difference between the budget bill (HB 75) and the bond bill (SB 40)?
The budget bill stipulates the funding that will go to state agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Education, and covers things like salaries and operating costs that are fairly static and predictable from year to year. The bond bill stipulates the funding that goes to non-state agencies, such as a local community center, or one-time expenses by state agencies that are outside the scope of the yearly budget, such as replacing the roof of a public school.
What are budget hearings?
The four weeks of February are dedicated to the Joint Finance Committee (which has the unfortunate initials JFC) going through each section of the budget bill and holding hearings on them, so there is some room for final discussion and public comment. You can view the schedule here and see if there is a particular part of the budget you want to attend the hearing for. The bond bill will not be discussed at this time; bond bill hearings begin in April.
New Bills Introduced
| Bill # | Sponsor | Summary/Description |
|---|---|---|
| HB 55 | Lynn | Bill of Rights for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness. Clarifies a set of rights for people experiencing homelessness and gives the state the ability to take complaints and refer violations to the Department of Justice. Rights include ability to use public space, anti-discrimination, the right to vote, and an expectation of privacy. |
| HB 70 | Lynn | This bill eliminates the death penalty in Delaware. Currently, there is effectively no death penalty in Delaware because the courts ruled the existing statute unconstitutional. Would be good to pass this law to preclude bringing the death penalty back by amending the current statute. |
| HB 75 | Schwartzkopf | This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Act. This is the operating budget for the State of Delaware that the Governor recommends, and is the result of budgetary guidelines and proposals that started in July of 2022. (see the Delaware Budget Cycle above) |
| HB 76 | Schwartzkopf | Governor's Recommended One-Time Supplement to the budget. These supplements can be a way to give one-time funds for a crisis, such as this bill’s grant of funds to the Delaware State Housing Authority, or supplemental funding for items that the state wants to cover without coming out of the typical yearly budget, such as this year’s $2 million appropriated to Residential Lead Remediation. |
| HS1/HB 33 | K. Williams | This Act increases funding for preschool children with disabilities who are not counted in either "intensive" or "complex" special education units by lowering the required student-to-teacher ratios in preschool classes to match the K-3 basic special education ratios that will be in effect July 1, 2023. It also consolidates different grade-based Special Education Units that will have the same ratios as of July 1, 2023. |
| SB 1 | Townsend | Right to legal representation for low-income tenants facing eviction and other landlord-tenant actions. Mostly the same version that was introduced last year but with some exceptions for smaller tenants without lawyers. |
| SB 34 | Lockman | This Act explicitly repeals past Acts from 1875 which sought to protect racial discrimination following the Civil War. This Act also serves to repudiate the State’s past involvement in racial discrimination that occurred in reliance on and under color of laws adopted by this State. |
| SB 40 | Sokola | This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2024 Bond and Capital Improvements Act, which is known colloquially as “the bond bill” and is defined above (see “What’s the difference between the budget bill (HB 75) and the bond bill (SB 40)?”) |
Recap of Last Week
SB 29 (adds retirees and public employees’ unions to those deliberating possible Medicare changes to retirees’ plans)
Notes: while it's good that the legislature is trying to do something to address this issue, RISE Delaware has issues with this bill and is asking for more, saying "We don’t want cosmetic changes in committees, we want the Medical Supplemental plan put back in state code." There are ongoing concerns that the committee composition is still biased towards privatization and needs more oversight and input from state retirees.
Result: Passed. RISE DE again came out in opposition, and asked for amendments that would preserve the Medicare Supplemental plan as an option.
What happens next: We’ll have to see what happens with the subcommittee and what additional actions are needed to protect retiree healthcare.
HB 36 (lowers the real estate transfer tax by 1%)
Notes: This would create a revenue loss of about $115 million/year (2-3% of the Delaware’s operating budget), likely leading to cutting services to those most in need. This mostly benefits developers, wealthy property owners, and those who can afford to buy properties with cash and without a mortgage.
Result: Released from committee. Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton was the only vote against releasing the bill. Members suggested amendments which include:
Have it only apply on the buyer rather than both buyer and seller
Means test it so only lower-cost homes for first-time homebuyers will apply
Exempt commercial property from the decrease
What happens next: because of the fiscal note, this bill has to go through the House Appropriations Committee to authorize funds in the budget.
HB 1 (legalizes recreational cannabis for those 21 and older)
Notes: removes all penalties for use or possession of a personal use quantity of marijuana and marijuana accessories for those 21 and older. When transporting in a vehicle, those items must be in a closed container or otherwise not readily accessible to anyone inside the vehicle. The statute also specifies certain activities which remain unlawful. Finally, the definition of "personal use quantity" of marijuana is updated to include not only 1 ounce or less of leaf marijuana, but also equivalent amounts of marijuana product in other forms.
Result: Released from committee.
What happens next: House floor vote.
HB 2 (regulates and taxes recreational cannabis)
Notes: regulates and taxes marijuana for recreational use in much the same manner as alcohol. It creates a framework for production, manufacture, and sale in a legal recreational marijuana industry. Click here for full synopsis.
Result: Released from committee. All Democrats voted to release; 2 Republicans (Smith and Spiegelman) also voted to release.
What happens next: because of the fiscal note, this bill has to go through the House Appropriations Committee to authorize funds in the budget.
HB 53 (Removes DE residency requirement for Dept. of Justice division heads, assistant heads, and Chief Prosecutors of a particular county)
Notes: The concern with this is that those in leading important DOJ functions and prosecuting Delaware residents should have to live and face those they are prosecuting or serving. If people up for these leadership positions don’t want to live in Delaware, perhaps we should look at why and address those issues before getting rid of the residency requirement.
Result: Released from committee. Concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion were raised in committee. Reps. Phillips and Dorsey Walker voted not to release from committee, so it had to be walked to get the signatures needed to release.
What happens next: House floor vote.