Weekly Report: 4/22/2024
Big news: Earned sick and safety leave made it out of the House Labor Committee last week! It now progresses to the House Appropriations committee for sign-off. This is one of WFP’s key legislative goals for this session, so watch this space for updates and specific things you can do to keep this important bill moving towards passage.
Speaking of WFP’s session goals, a substitute for HB 125 (Free School Breakfast and Lunch for Delaware students) has been filed. If you’d like to learn more about the effort, a virtual planning meeting is taking place on Tuesday night; you can sign up here.
Additionally, a number of bills to update Delaware’s corporate laws are expected to be heard on the House floor this week.
Make Your Voice Heard
See below for some of the most notable bills in committee this week and how to give public comment. For length and clarity, we are only putting bills that need the most public input below. Bills in green are bills we generally support, bills in red are bills we generally oppose, and bills in yellow are neutral or unknown.
You can also check here for the full list of committee meetings and click “view” next to each meeting for the full agenda and additional information.
Bills coming up the week of 4/22/24:
| Bill # | Sponsor | Summary/Description | Committee Meeting Info | Give Public Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HS1/HB 316 | Romer | “Deep Fakes” and elections. This Act creates a new elections crime: “use of deep fake technology to influence an election.” While clearly well intentioned, the language in this bill is unnecessarily broad and advocates are concerned that it could be weaponized to curtail free speech. |
House Admin Wednesday, 4/24 at 12:00 PM |
In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting |
| HB 296 | Shupe, Buckson | Prevailing Wage for school construction costs. This Act grants school districts and charter schools the ability to decide if they want to pay prevailing wage for school construction projects. Obviously anti-labor. | House Admin Wednesday, 4/24 at 12:00 PM |
In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting |
| SB 265 | Hansen, Phillips, Romer | 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, and (ii) increasing options for interconnecting renewable energy resources to the transmission grid. | Senate Environment Wednesday, 4/24 at 1pm |
In person: Senate Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting |
| HB 281 w/HA3 and HB 282 w/HA1, HA2 | Baumbach, Townsend | HB 281 repeals the option of privatizing health care insurance to state retirees under Medicare part C, known as a Medicare Advantage Plan. HB 282adds procedural requirements to meetings of the State Employee Benefits Committee (SEBC), revises the membership of the SEBC, and requires that the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources inform State employees and retired State employees (eligible pensioners) about changes in benefits coverages affecting eligible pensioners who are receiving or eligible to receive retirement benefits under the state employees' pension plan, including proposed changes. Both bills are supported by RISE DE. |
Senate Executive Wednesday, 4/24 at 3pm |
In Person: Senate Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting |
Upcoming Endorsements
As we have mentioned before, we are going to be announcing our first round of endorsements one week from today on Monday, April 29th. You can get a sense below about what sort of races we’re getting involved in.
On May 4th at 11am, we will be having an in-person event in Newark to kick off our coordinated campaign to support all of these working families champions. This will be a great place to learn more about these future legislators, so make sure to sign up below to show up and get involved!