Teachers’ Compensation, Court Fines, Fees… And Bedbugs: Del. General Assembly Resumes Session

New Delaware legislation is designed to make the teaching profession more attractive by ensuring that compensation for public educators is competitive with other school districts in the region.
The bill (SB 100) would establish the 13-member Public Education Compensation Committee. It would work with educators, school administrators, local school boards and parents to examine current rates of compensation and make recommendations for improving the state’s ability to compete with other Mid-Atlantic States,
“Education is a calling. No one becomes an educator to get rich or to earn an easy paycheck,” State Senator Bryan Townsend, D. Newark / Bear said. “We cannot afford the consequences of allowing educator salaries to remain stagnant while workloads rise. We must reassess educator compensation so that we can retain and strengthen our education workforce and be competitive in recruiting the next generation of educators.  Our students’ futures hinge on us solving this issue.”

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The practice of suspending someone’s driver’s license for non-payment of a fine or a fee could become history in Delaware.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would eliminate numerous fees, prohibit assessing fines or fees against children, and would create a study group to evaluate the impact of financial burdens on defendants.

“A defendant’s debt to society should not become such a financial burden that it creates a vicious cycle that is nearly impossible to overcome. Fines should not pile up to the point that a person trying to repay their debt loses their ability to drive to work to earn wages to pay these fees,” Representative Sean Lynn, D-Dover said. “HB 244 will help break that cycle and make our criminal justice system fairer, more focused on rehabilitation and less punitive. Delawareans deserve a system that works toward these goals in an open and transparent way, and this bill marks a major step to that end.”
The bill (HB 244) goes to the State Senate for consideration.

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Don’t let the bed bugs bite…
The Delaware State Senate has unanimously passed a bill (SS1 for SB240) that prohibits landlords from renting units that are known to be infested with bed bugs. The legislation also details procedures that landlords must follow if a bed bug infestation is discovered.

“This legislation is about tenants’ rights,” State Senator Laura Sturgeon, D-Brandywine Hundred said. “Landlords must ensure that every unit they rent out is safe and livable for tenants, which includes the guarantee that there are no bed bugs on the premises. I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate for passing this legislation today to provide an added layer of safety and security to tenants when these incidents occur.”
Bed bugs are known to travel from place to place, often in luggage or on clothing and often inhabit hard-to-reach places, making it difficult or costly to eradicate them.
The bill goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.