Legislative Newsletter – September 2024

Republican Candidate for Governor Mike Ramone spoke to the membership this month about his campaign.

“We appreciate Mike joining us and discussing his campaign,” said Brian Martinenza, 2024 ABC Chair. “It is important for our members to understand the issues and where both candidates stand before they vote on November 5th.”

Mike’s campaigns centers around the following issues: Empowering Delaware Students, Promoting Good Governance, Expanding Veteran Benefits, Improving Healthcare, keeping communities safe, protecting our Environment and Investing in our Infrastructure.

For more information on Mike Ramone’s campaign, please click here.

Mike Ramone won the Republican Governor primary and Matt Meyer won the Democrat primary and will now face off in the General Election on November 5th.

Over 120,000 Delawareans voted in the primary this month for a 22% turnout.

Other races included: Kyle Evans Gay winning the Democratic Primary for Lieutenant Governor. She will now face off against Republican Ruth Briggs King.

One upset that occurred was State Representative and Speaker of the House Val Longhurst lost her primary in the 15th district to Kamela Smith. This will also bring about a leadership change in the House of Representatives.

For a full list of results statewide, please click here.

For a full list of candidates running in the general election, please click here.

We encourage all of our members and their employees to vote on November 8th. For more information, click here.

The Board Members of Utilities Service Protection Center of Delmarva (USPCD), also known as, Delmarva811, formerly Miss Utility of Delmarva propose revisions to Delaware Law, Title 26, Chapter 8, Underground Utility Damage Prevention and Safety. The proposed revised law is available for review and comment by clicking here.

They welcome comments to be directed to jlyon@dover.de.us . The genesis of this proposed law change is to bring certain definitions up to national standards and align certain requirements to industry standards. Below is a general list of proposed changes:

• Section 802, definitions have been overhauled to align with national standards. It should be noted that some definitions have been removed, because they are no longer applicable in today’s construction environment.

• A ‘Positive Response’ will now be required prior to an excavator starting their work. This will require the excavator to receive a specific code from the excavation ticket.

• The Facility Owner / Operator shall provide the approximate location and type of the facility in the proposed construction scope not more than 3 business days after receipt of such requests.

• The Facility Owner / Operator shall respond to requests from Designers within fifteen (15) business days of receipt of the request.

• The ticket life will expire after 12 business days after submission of the ticket request.

• The location of an excavation ticket shall have a maximum length of 1,320 continuous feet.

• If visible and obvious evidence of the presence of an unmarked facility does exist, the excavator shall contact the approved notification center to alert the utility that there is a facility present.

• Civil penalties have increased from the maximum of $500 to $1,000 on the first offense. Subsequent offense penalties have increased from maximum of $1,000 to $5,000.

ABC is scheduled to meet with members of Delmarva 811 in the next week to discuss these changes.

ABC Delaware is working on legislation that would mandate all cities, towns, municipalities an counties recognize the State of Delaware Master Plumbing and HVAC license. The license is issues by the State Plumbing HVACR board. Currently the only city that does not recognize the license is Wilmington who still requires testing even though you have received a state license.

ABC believes the following with regards to this issue:

• We want to make the licensing throughout the entire State of Delaware streamlined and equitable to all who wish to be licensed. ·
• State of Delaware does extensive background checks and vetting to make sure all applicants for testing meet experience requirements. A member of the Attorney General’s office sits on the State of Delaware Plumbing & HVAC Board to make sure the board follows the law.
• State of Delaware just passed a regulation for continuing education for both Plumbing and HVAC. This is the first time this has been used throughout the State. This will help the City of Wilmington with keeping the licensed contractors up to speed with all code and industry changes. The City of Wilmington does not have this.
• All other municipalities in Delaware recognize the State of Delaware license as the only requirement for getting a license in the respective municipalities. They do not require additional testing.

ABC will be introducing legislation in January to correct this issue. We will have more information once it has been filed.

ABC Joins White House Roundtable on Addiction Recovery-Ready Workplaces

ABC recently participated in a White House-sponsored roundtable discussion, “Recovery in the Workplace: Investing to Build the Workforce of Tomorrow,” which convened a dozen leading corporations and business groups to highlight the importance of recovery-ready and recovery-friendly workplaces and share best practices. Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development, discussed ABC’s Total Human Health Initiative and more at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s National Recovery Month Roundtable.

At the roundtable, ABC committed to a Recovery Friendly Workplace Certification, explored incorporating it into ABC’s industry-leading STEP Safety Management System® and encouraged its 67 chapters and more than 23,000 member companies to also become certified as recovery-friendly workplaces.

“The construction industry has long been influenced by the outdated mentality that workers should simply ‘suck it up,’ creating a barrier for employees to discuss personal challenges while on the job,” said Sizemore. “Additionally, many older construction workers turn to both legal and illegal substances as a means of coping with pain or musculoskeletal injuries accumulated over their careers.

The Biden-Harris administration also released new guidance for employers, through its Recovery-Ready Workplace Toolkit: Guidance and Resources for Private and Public Sector Employers.