1. This year's session began last week with a virtual swearing in of several new legislators in Delaware's General Assembly, which is both the State Senate and House of Representatives, 62 Legislators in total. Use this link to watch committee and floor hearings virtually. They run from Tuesday to Thursday, and typically start at or after 11am.
2. New Legislators who were sworn in are the youngest and -- unfortunately -- the furthest left of the worldview and political spectrum in Delaware's history. Many freshmen legislators were political activists before running for office. They have a clear policy agenda and a clear path to implement it. This agenda will affect you and your kids.
3. When Christians are not informed and/or not involved, the entire community is impacted. We engage in this process out of love for our neighbors. If you plan to remain in Delaware, then we urge you to engage in the legislative process, and amplify your voice by joining in it with others when it is time to take specific action.
4. We strongly encourage you to get to know your legislators and begin discussing these issues with them. Click here and look for the red box in the upper right corner to find out who your state Senator and Rep is, then add them to your contacts.
5. The following summary are bills we've highlighted that are specific to our focus, expertise, and interests, or made it to our watch list. To view the actual bill language or see who is sponsoring it, the bill title is linked for your convenience. Green means we support the bill, red means we oppose it. Specific action required will be in red.
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SUPPORT! 🙌 Representative Rich Collins is working to lead this bill in the House. This Act would require a woman who is seeking an abortion to be offered the opportunity to view and ask questions about an imaging ultrasound and hear the heartbeat of the baby before proceeding with an abortion procedure. The woman would be able to refuse the ultrasound and fetal heart tone services, but the bill requires the physician to offer it. Just like any procedure where something is removed from the body, providing this service would ensure that women are informed before making such a life altering decision.
If you are a woman who has experienced regret or harm from an abortion and would be willing to give a 3 minute testimony in support of this bill, please contact me immediately at Nandi@DelawareFamilies.org. We need your help and will counsel you every step of the way.
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SB 17 is the senate version of HB 40, The Women's Right to Know Act. It is being worked in the senate by Senator Bryant Richardson 🙌. This bill was filed in both chambers, which is unusual, to avoid efforts to expire or bury the legislation. If it gets tabled in one chamber then it can still proceed in the other.
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This bill only affects state employees. It extends the existing unpaid parental leave benefits of most state employees to include school district employees.
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Governor Carney declared a state of emergency on March 12, 2020. This declaration, which was initially a two week period, has extended to many months, causing both emotional and financial struggle within our state. This bill led by Rep. Rich Collins seeks to limit a Governor's state of emergency declaration to 30 days, and to require Legislative approval to extend it.
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To ensure that each ballot cast is valid and not a duplicate, there are currently limitations/restrictions in Delaware for receiving absentee ballots. These restrictions were temporarily lifted during the COVID lockdowns, but this created issues such as individuals receiving duplicate ballots, the wrong ballot, or none at all. HB 15 would permanently lift the current restrictions on absentee voting from the Delaware Constitution.
Because HB 15 is an amendment to the Delaware Constitution, it must be passed in two successive sessions. It successfully passed the first session in 2020.
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This bill would allow Delawareans to register to vote on election day and obtain their ballot directly at the polls. This does not allow for sufficient verification or authentication of voter identity.
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Currently, there are 21 members of the Senate who each serve 4 year terms; their elections are staggered so that they are not due for re-election all at once. This bill would change the term of the Senate so that 10 Senators serve 2 year terms and the other 11 serve for 4 years. This bill also requires that redistricting, currently done by the Governor and a chair from each party, be completed by the Legislature. This new structure manipulation will easily allow the majority party to take complete control and obtain a super-majority in the Legislature.
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Be on the lookout for regular legislative updates from me and be prepared to take action. Now, more than ever, we must be vigilant and engage in this process.
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For Christ and His Kingdom,
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P.S. If you've researched a bill or have information that could be helpful to us from news articles or posts, please email me directly at Nandi@DelawareFamilies.org.
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