Fabio
88 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
88 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EQUAL ACCOMMODATIONS."
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description: "This Act clarifies the scope and protections for individuals with disabilities under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law (DEAL) and further aligns definitions and scope of DEAL with federal law protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination by places of public accommodation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. This Act is consistent with the Superior Court's decision in Ray v. State Human Rels. Comm'n, 2021 Del. Super. LEXIS 668, which held that \"[a]ny interpretation to suggest the legislature made a choice to narrow DEAL's protection ignores both the express mandates and comprehensive guidance under DEAL. It takes away the right of a protected class member to be heard. As interpreted, Delaware law would need to reject what has been universally accepted.\""
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jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
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legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
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session: "151"
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identifier: "HB 311"
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citation: "Delaware HB 311 (151)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Debra Heffernan", "Krista Griffith", "Kyle Evans Gay", "Sarah McBride", "Sherry Dorsey Walker", "Valerie Longhurst"]
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version_count: 2
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action_count: 11
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vote_count: 2
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first_action: "2022-03-03"
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last_action: "2022-10-10"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cdfbc415-6d5f-4cee-a50e-abe1c800693b"
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source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=79173"
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source_hash: "16cfda12ed6ff51908437564e561d91e2a918ffc26882dc7e85427a2429cd8ec"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-de"]
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---
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# Delaware HB 311 (151) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EQUAL ACCOMMODATIONS.
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This Act clarifies the scope and protections for individuals with disabilities under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law (DEAL) and further aligns definitions and scope of DEAL with federal law protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination by places of public accommodation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. This Act is consistent with the Superior Court's decision in Ray v. State Human Rels. Comm'n, 2021 Del. Super. LEXIS 668, which held that "[a]ny interpretation to suggest the legislature made a choice to narrow DEAL's protection ignores both the express mandates and comprehensive guidance under DEAL. It takes away the right of a protected class member to be heard. As interpreted, Delaware law would need to reject what has been universally accepted."
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=79173&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=HB311)
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2. **HA 2 to HB 311** (committee substitute) — [source](http://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GeneratePdfDocument?legislationId=99329&legislationTypeId=5&docTypeId=2)
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## Votes
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- SM — **36–0** (pass) · lower
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- 2/3 — **21–0** (pass) · upper
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## Sponsors
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- Debra Heffernan — primary (person)
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- Krista Griffith — primary (person)
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- Kyle Evans Gay — primary (person)
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- Sarah McBride — primary (person)
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- Sherry Dorsey Walker — primary (person)
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- Valerie Longhurst — primary (person)
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- Bryan Townsend — cosponsor (person)
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- David Bentz — cosponsor (person)
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- Edward S. Osienski — cosponsor (person)
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- Eric Morrison — cosponsor (person)
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- John A. Kowalko — cosponsor (person)
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- John L. Mitchell — cosponsor (person)
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- Kevin S Hensley — cosponsor (person)
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- Larry Lambert — cosponsor (person)
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- Marie Pinkney — cosponsor (person)
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- Paul S. Baumbach — cosponsor (person)
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- Sean M. Lynn — cosponsor (person)
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- Stephanie L. Hansen — cosponsor (person)
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- Trey Paradee — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2022-03-03** Introduced and Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee in House `introduction, referral-committee`
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- **2022-03-22** Reported Out of Committee (Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce) in House with 12 Favorable `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2022-04-04** Amendment HA 1 to HB 311 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
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- **2022-04-06** Amendment HA 2 to HB 311 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
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- **2022-04-07** Amendment HA 1 to HB 311 - Stricken in House
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- **2022-04-07** Amendment HA 2 to HB 311 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
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- **2022-04-07** Passed By House. Votes: 36 YES 5 ABSENT `passage`
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- **2022-04-07** Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
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- **2022-06-08** Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
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- **2022-06-22** Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES `passage`
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- **2022-10-10** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cdfbc415-6d5f-4cee-a50e-abe1c800693b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).
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