Bill Commons

DE HB 438

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SERVICE LETTERS, CHILD-CARE FACILITIES, AND HEALTH-CARE FACILITIES.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · lower

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 438 pass?

Yes. DE HB 438 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-08-31): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 438 about?

This Act adds the definition of child-serving entity for the purpose of requiring a service letter verification from any child-serving entity where an employee may have worked. “Child-serving entity” is already defined in § 309 of Title 31 and includes DSCYF, residential child-care facilities, public and private schools, youth camps, summer schools, and other entities. If a previous employer fails to respond to a service letter, this Act also requires that the prospective employee report the failure to respond to the DOL.

Who sponsors DE HB 438?

Claire Snyder-Hall, Kerri Evelyn Harris, Mara Gorman and 2 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 438.

Description

This Act adds the definition of child-serving entity for the purpose of requiring a service letter verification from any child-serving entity where an employee may have worked. “Child-serving entity” is already defined in § 309 of Title 31 and includes DSCYF, residential child-care facilities, public and private schools, youth camps, summer schools, and other entities. If a previous employer fails to respond to a service letter, this Act also requires that the prospective employee report the failure to respond to the DOL.

Introduced
2026-05-21
Latest action
2026-08-31 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Kerri Evelyn Harrisprimary
  • Mara Gormanprimary
  • Josue O Ortegaprimary
  • Cyndie Romerprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-08-31

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-06-30

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

    passage

  3. 2026-06-24

    Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 4 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  4. 2026-06-19

    Re-Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-06-18

    Assigned to Labor Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  6. 2026-06-18

    Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES

    passage

  7. 2026-06-17

    Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 5 On Its Merits

    committee-passage

  8. 2026-06-11

    Re-Assigned to Administration Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

  9. 2026-05-21

    Introduced and Assigned to Labor Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • 3/4

    2026-06-18 · pass · 41-0

    Member-level votes (41)
    • Alonna Berry: yes
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: yes
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
    • Richard G. Collins: yes
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: yes
    • Timothy D. Dukes: yes
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: yes
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: yes
    • Jeff Hilovsky: yes
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: yes
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: yes
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: yes
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes
  • SM

    2026-06-30 · pass · 21-0

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: yes
    • Eric Buckson: yes
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: yes
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: yes
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: yes
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: yes
    • Bryant L. Richardson: yes
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: yes
    • David L. Wilson: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-09-03T00:07:28.248386Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:

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Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.

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