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Bill to ban colleges asking about criminal history sparks debate

Jarek RutzEducation, Delaware Live, Headlines

    A bill that would prohibit higher education institutions from asking about an applicant’s criminal history is headed to the Delaware House. It drew a lot of comment during a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Education Committee and ultimately passed with one yay and three on its merits. It was approved Thursday by the Senate, sending it to the …

Ultrasound

Bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks fails in committee

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

A bill to ban abortions that occur 20 or more weeks after fertilization failed in a Delaware Senate committee Tuesday.  Senate Bill 235, dubbed the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” asserts that fetuses are capable of experiencing pain around 20 weeks after fertilization.  Advancements in medical science and technology have moved the point of viability forward necessitating additional protections for …

GOP senators to state: Don’t follow Philly’s mask mandate

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

Delaware’s seven Republican senators have asked the state’s top doctor not to reinstitute a statewide indoor mask mandate. The letter came after the City of Philadelphia last week announced its mandate would be coming back due to a rise in cases there.  Restaurants, museums, businesses, offices, government buildings and arenas in Philadelphia began requiring masks Monday morning.  Dr. Karryl Rattay, …

Senate committee hears Fairness in Women’s Sports Act

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines, Sports

  A bill to require Delaware student-athletes to compete on athletic teams or in sports associated with their biological sex was the subject of a raucous Senate committee hearing Wednesday.  Senate Bill 227 specifically aims to prohibit transgender girls — or girls who were born as boys — from playing on girls’ sports teams.  Under the bill, cisgender female athletes, …

GOP legislators file bill to ban transgender girls on women’s teams

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines, Sports

Two Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to prohibit Delaware students from playing on sports teams that do not correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth. Senate Bill 227, sponsored by Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Seaford, and Rep. Tim Dukes, R-Laurel, would require students to play according to the biological gender indicated on their birth certificate or other government record …

GOP bill to change civics curriculum stalls in committee

Charlie MegginsonEducation, Government, Headlines

A Republican-backed measure that would require Delaware schools to teach that communism and totalitarianism conflict with freedom and democracy was shot down by the Senate Education Committee Tuesday. Senate Bill 206, sponsored by Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Seaford, would have required school districts and charter schools to provide instruction in comparative political ideology for students in tenth grade. The bill specifically …