Bill Commons

DE SB 26

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION.

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

Follow this bill’s action updates (Atom)

Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.

Quick answers

Did DE SB 26 pass?

Yes. DE SB 26 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-30): Signed by Governor

What is DE SB 26 about?

Under current Delaware law, if a labor dispute constitutes a lockout, employees who meet all other eligibility requirements qualify for unemployment benefits from the date they file their claim. However, if a labor dispute does not constitute a lockout, employees do not qualify for (i.e. are disqualified from receiving) unemployment benefits. This Act changes the law to allow an employee who is subject to a labor dispute, other than a lockout, to collect unemployment benefits after a 2-week waiting period, if the employee meets all the eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits, including being able and available for work and completing weekly job requirements. This Act provides that the 2-week waiting period established by this Act is waived if one or both of the following apply: (1) The labor dispute is caused by the failure or refusal of the employer to comply with an agreement or contract between the employer and the individual, including a collective bargaining agreement with a union representing the individual, or a State or federal law pertaining to hours, wages, or other conditions of work. (2) The employer hires a permanent replacement worker for the individual's position. The Department of Labor may impose a penalty on an employer who fraudulently certifies the ability of an employee to return to the employee’s prior position on conclusion of the labor dispute. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Who sponsors DE SB 26?

Edward S. Osienski, Spiros Mantzavinos, John "Jack" Walsh and 4 others are the primary sponsors of DE SB 26.

Description

Under current Delaware law, if a labor dispute constitutes a lockout, employees who meet all other eligibility requirements qualify for unemployment benefits from the date they file their claim. However, if a labor dispute does not constitute a lockout, employees do not qualify for (i.e. are disqualified from receiving) unemployment benefits. This Act changes the law to allow an employee who is subject to a labor dispute, other than a lockout, to collect unemployment benefits after a 2-week waiting period, if the employee meets all the eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits, including being able and available for work and completing weekly job requirements. This Act provides that the 2-week waiting period established by this Act is waived if one or both of the following apply: (1) The labor dispute is caused by the failure or refusal of the employer to comply with an agreement or contract between the employer and the individual, including a collective bargaining agreement with a union representing the individual, or a State or federal law pertaining to hours, wages, or other conditions of work. (2) The employer hires a permanent replacement worker for the individual's position. The Department of Labor may impose a penalty on an employer who fraudulently certifies the ability of an employee to return to the employee’s prior position on conclusion of the labor dispute. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Introduced
2025-01-03
Latest action
2026-09-30 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Edward S. Osienskiprimary
  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
  • John "Jack" Walshprimary
  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Bryant L. Richardsonprimary
  • Darius J. Brownprimary
  • David L. Wilsonprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-30

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-05-05

    Passed By House. Votes: 26 YES 9 NO 6 ABSENT

    passage

  3. 2026-03-10

    Reported Out of Committee (Labor) in House with 2 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  4. 2026-01-14

    Assigned to Labor Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-01-13

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO

    passage

  6. 2025-04-09

    Reported Out of Committee (Labor) in Senate with 5 Favorable

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  7. 2025-01-03

    Introduced and Assigned to Labor Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2026-01-13 · pass · 16-5

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: yes
    • Eric Buckson: yes
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: no
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: no
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: no
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: yes
    • Bryant L. Richardson: no
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: yes
    • David L. Wilson: no

  • SM

    2026-05-05 · pass · 26-9

    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: no
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: other
    • Timothy D. Dukes: no
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: no
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: other
    • Jeff Hilovsky: no
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: no
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: other
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: no
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: no
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: other
    • Bryan W. Shupe: other
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: no
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: other
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=141739

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-01T23:04:44.345163Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:

Bulk imports for this sessionSession dates and activity

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=DE&identifier=SB 26. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

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

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.