The House of Representatives convened for the first time since June and swore in 37th District State Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner (R-Georgetown) — who won a special election last month.
House Speaker Valerie Longhurst (D-Bear) welcomed Jones Giltner into the position after State Rep. Tim Dukes (R-Delmar) administered her oath of office.
“We are looking forward and excited to working alongside you as you continue the tradition of tackling challenges head on and fostering positive change for the people we are privileged to represent. Welcome aboard Representative Valerie Jones Giltner," Longhurst said.
The House also joined the Senate in passing two resolutions, the first being a concurrent resolution to establish the Delaware Aquaculture Taskforce.
House Sponsor State Rep. Sophie Philips (D-Bear) says the task force will help manage the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the inland bays, promote biodiversity, job creation, food sourcing and the development of a new industry throughout the state.
The second resolution passed was House Concurrent Resolution 80, expressing concern for the loss of life in the Israel-Hamas war, sponsored by State Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown (D-New Castle).
“As lawmakers, we are first and foremost concerned about the well-being of our state and everybody in it, but we cannot overlook the fact that what happens outside of Delaware can profoundly impact the emotions and lives of those who live here," Minor-Brown said.
State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-Newark) raised her frustrations with the lack of reference to Palestinians in the legislation and introduced her own resolution calling on the Biden Administration and Delaware Congressional delegation to call for a permanent ceasefire.
While Minor-Brown’s resolution sought to recognize common humanity, Wilson-Anton’s House Resolution 26 calls for recognizing the genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
"Because this is a situation of Palestinians and Israelis, it's extremely important that if we're going to talk about uniting, that we have Palestinian representation, which was severely lacking from this presentation. The word Palestinian is not even mentioned in this resolution, the word genocide is not mentioned...," Wilson-Anton said.
She added there is "nothing to object to" in Minor-Brown's resolution and voted to pass it, but argued HCR 80 only calls for the legislative body to "continue to do [their] jobs, which is to recognize all Delawareans."
State Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf (D-Rehoboth) argued HR 26 and calling for a ceasefire goes against standing House policy to not "entertain resolutions directing the president or congress to do something."
After floor debate on the resolution’s intentions concluded, the resolution was tabled — it must be lifted from table within 6 legislative days, or it will be returned to the Ready list.
The Senate passed two education bills, focusing on helping to retain and recruit qualified candidates into Delaware teaching positions.
Senate Bill 187 ensures salary calculations for future Delaware educators are based on all of the advanced degrees they have earned prior to their initial date of hire — this law would only apply to teachers hired after the date the legislation is passed.
Previously, graduate and doctoral degrees are only applied to salary calculations for new hires if those advanced degrees directly relate to an educator’s professional responsibilities.
Senate Bill 188 makes Delaware the 12th state to join the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC).
ITMC is an occupational licensing agreement that will allow teachers to use an eligible license held in a compact member state to be granted an equivalent license in another compact member state, lowering barriers to teacher mobility.
States that have enacted ITMC legislation include: Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
States with pending legislation besides Delaware include: California, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.
Both bills will now move to the House for consideration.
