As we approach the end of Delaware’s 152^nd General Assembly, all involved in the state’s public policy work have had to assess an unprecedented number of pieces of legislation. There have been 445 bills filed in the House of Representatives and 330 bills filed in the Senate. In the House there are 41 members making the number of bills introduced about 11 per Representative. With the Senate’s 21 members, that Chamber is running at 16 bills per member. Of course that’s not really how it really works. Some members introduce far more than the average while others may introduce very few bills. That doesn’t take away from the fact that DCA has to look at the vast majority of the bills to ensure something tangential to our industry doesn’t end up in a bill that is not normally in our lane.

Although I consistently watch bills in the General Assembly’s Labor Committee, Transportation Committee, Capital Improvement Committee, Natural Resources Committee, Business Committee, and Administration Committee, legislation can end up in odd committees particularly toward the end of session. A bill that seems innocuous can have an unintentional impact buried somewhere deep within the legislation. Just as in our industry, the workforce, the agencies and the General Assembly have to ensure bills are written correctly and introduced in a timely manner is stretched thin. I’ve spent about two months trying to get a state agency to reply to concerns I had regarding a piece of legislation. It wasn’t until the last minute that the agency took a real look at the issues I was raising and said “oh, yeah, you’re right, things got left out of the draft.” Fortunately, this resulted in a substitute bill being introduced the day before it received a committee hearing.

Often, I am pointing out serious concerns of the construction industry when testifying before House and Senate Committees. This week, however, I had the opportunity to testify in support of three bills which were heard in two different committees. The first bill was HB 433 (Rep. Osienski) which will change the Unemployment Insurance formula for Delaware’s employers as part of the Division of Unemployment Insurance’s software update. Prior to taking a position on this bill, I organized a meeting last Thursday between Delaware’s DOL and our members’ comptrollers to get their expert input. The second bill was HB 438 (Rep. Heffernan) which makes some changes to the Paid Family Medical Leave Act law. I think for our members the most important change this bill makes is shifting more of the administrative burden of the law from our members’ staff to the Division of Paid Family Medical Leave. The third bill I testified on this week was HS 1 for HB 387 (Rep. Walker) which seeks to allow agencies the option to elect to use DBE participation in a best value approach to bid awards. HS 1 to HB 387 is the result of a positive early assessment of the Hodgson Vo-Tech School DBE pilot project.

As I write this, I just received a prefile notice from the General Assembly clerks sharing legislation that has just been filed (so the count above is already out of date). With six days left in session, it’s a busy and critical time requiring a lot of vigilance. Thank you to all our members for sharing their expertise when I reach out so DCA can ensure the construction industry’s voice is heard.