House Bill 84: "captive audience" meetings
A bill barring employers from requiring employees to sit through meetings with political or religious content heads to the governor. It passed the Senate 18-1 with 2 not voting.
The legislation seeks to keep employers from forcing employees to attend meetings regarding personal opinions or beliefs, including an employer's religion and politics, or unionization.
State Senator Eric Buckson asked what this will look like in practice for employers.
"I call an employee meeting...This bill restricts what I can and can't say, if it has any political undertones or directions?" he said.
The bill’s Senate sponsor Jack Walsh responded:
"It can't be mandatory. That employer can still hold meetings, they just can't force their employees to attend."
Exemptions:
The bill exempts religious employers– which can communicate religious stances. Political employers can also communicate political views and information.
It also exempts public entities that need to communicate about laws or policies it is responsible for administering. Tax exempt organizations can communicate to employees about policy and religious issues relevant to its mission or the people it serves, but that must be done in a non partisan way.
HB 301: voting protections
Delaware law prohibits the use of any violence or threats of violence at or near a polling place.
It was somewhat vague, according to the bill’s Senate sponsor Sen. Tizzy Lockman. So legislation now heads to Gov. Matt Meyer’s desk that more clearly defines that as violence directed at anyone at – or near –a polling place. It includes campaign volunteers, voters, anyone at the Department of Elections Office, any meeting of the Board of Canvas when an election is occurring, or when ballots are being counted or certified.
If these actions have a clear intent to interfere with election processes, it’s a class G felony.
Lockman said that was already the case by law, but "is poorly worded and unclear in code." And the legislation, "clarifies that the offense is in fact a class G felony, which it is already."
A class G felony is the least severe of Delaware’s felony levels, with a fine of up to $2,300.
Lockman said to reach a Class G level, a prosecutor would need to prove more than just frustration for an action– like tearing up an election sign. Evidence of intent to hinder election processes needs to be proven.
It passed in the State Senate with bipartisan support.
HB 348: EV rebates through DNREC
A bill updating Delaware’s electric vehicle rebate program passes the State Senate, mostly along party lines.
HB 348 comes to the statehouse from DNREC, which administers the state EV rebate program. The program offers a cash rebate for the purchase or lease of a new or used hybrid or battery EV.
DNREC’s Doug Denison said it wants more flexibility to offer rebates based on household income, vehicle cost, or type.
"It's an incentive to make the price of electric vehicles more attractive, so that more electric vehicles can continue to be deployed and reduce greenhouse gas," Denison said.
The money for rebates comes from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Under HB 348 DNREC plans to expand the rebate program so that it's available not only to residents – but to businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, and local or state government entities operating within the State.
Denison noted EV sales have fluctuated recently. The loss of federal tax incentives caused them to dip before the rise in gas prices caused a bump in sales.
SB 249: harm reduction
Delaware House lawmakers debate a bill that shifts the state's approach to overdose prevention and drug use.
The house sponsor for SB 249, Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha, said work around harm reduction in Delaware is traced back to state Sen. Margaret Rose Henry in 2006, when she helped establish the state's needle exchange program to reduce HIV transmission among injection drug users.
"That program worked," Chukwuocha said. "It reduced the spread of HIV and connected individuals to treatment and became a model for our state."
In 2023 Delaware passed SB 52, which moved Delaware's syringe program away from the 'one exchange' model to a needs-based approach.
Chukwuocha called SB 249 the "next chapter" by putting Delaware’s Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health at the head of a framework to license and regulate harm reduction programs that partner with the state.
The bill decriminalizes possession of drug paraphernalia.
It asks service providers working with the state on overdose prevention to provide sterile supplies to people. It defines supplies as: objects used for injecting, or otherwise introducing substances into the human body.
The bill passed 22-16 with 2 not voting and 1 absent.
Members on both sides of the aisle said they’ve lost family to overdose– and cited that as a reason they support or oppose the legislation.
Republican State Representative Mike Smith said both his mom and uncle died of overdoses.
"I can understand the emotion behind wanting to support it because it’s the right thing to do," Smith said. "But sometimes thinking the right thing to do, how it’s operationalized, and how we get people well are totally different things."
Democratic State Rep. Melanie Ross Levin said her brother died of an overdose two years ago. She argued there’s extensive research that backs this bill’s efforts.
"They are associated with 50% reduction in STD and Hepatitis C reduction," Ross Levin said. "And this is based on medical evidence, not ideology. We may all wish addiction didn’t exist. I wish my brother was here."
Democratic supporters said expanding harm reduction is to, "keep people alive to get them to rehab." And people can contract diseases from shared paraphernalia other than needles.
Republican reps said SB 249 expands Delaware's programs on harm reduction to a level where outcomes will be hard to predict.
Joe Aronson, chief of government relations for the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, said DSAHM will require its partners to collect anonymized data on participants.
It heads to Gov. Matt Meyer.
Senate Bill 23: Housing For Every Delawarean Act
The bill increases local government's obligation to affordable housing. It passed in the house and heads to the governor.
Dubbed The Housing for Every Delawarean Act, it will require towns to rezone within 12 months to match their plans and creates a benchmark– that 20% of housing qualifies as affordable.
The legislation also asks localities to include at least five of 11 strategies outlined in the bill for increasing housing stock, listing options like creating incentives for developers to include affordable housing units in building plans, and creation of transit-oriented developments.
The bill's House sponsor Rep. Kendra Johnson said the legislation's undergone two substitutes to incorporate feedback from housing and community stakeholder. One of these gives local governments credit for affordable housing measures adopted since July 2024.
John Horner, president of the Home Voters Association of Delaware, said the state invests money into local comprehensive plans to support infrastructure plans but "they're not typically well implemented."
Horner said the bill helps bridge a disconnect he sees between comprehensive plans and "what is actually on the ground with the zoning."
If the bill makes its final step to becoming law, DSHA and the State Office of Planning will publish an annual report each May starting in 2028, showing each towns’ progress towards meeting affordable housing plan goals.
This post has been updated.
