Issues and Legislation
Representative Ed Osienski is working every day in Legislative Hall on legislation that will protect workers, make our community safer, move our state towards sustainability, and reflect our values. Past legislative highlights for Rep. Osienski include:
- Raising the minimum wage
- Increasing Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards
- Common-sense gun safety legislation
- Fought to protect women’s reproductive healthcare
- And more
Legislative Highlights: 2025-26 session
INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY
- Rep. Osienski fought for $600,000 for school wellness centers, funding the continued operation of the Brookside Elementary School Wellness Center.
- Funded infrastructure investment and road paving projects in: Breezewood, Scottfield, Old Mill Manor, Newkirk Estates, Chestnut Hill Estates, Brookside Park, Birchwood Park, Windy Hills, Greenbridge, Stafford II, Red Mill Farms, Newark Oaks, Kimberton, and Christinas Brace
Marijuana Regulation
- SB 75 – Limits the restrictions a County may impose on the operation of marijuana establishments.
- HB 110 – Marijuana background check updates.
WORKERS RIGHTS AND investment in jobs
- HB 63 – Established additional protections against improper classification of employees.
- HB 130 – Addresses information and access rights for bargaining units.
- SB 24 – Makes improvements to the Public School Employment Relations Act.
- HCR 131 – Requesting that the Department of Labor evaluate the feasibility of apprenticeship programs for school-based mental health professionals.
- SB 102 – Streamlined the electrical apprenticeship process.
- SB 164 and SB 145 – Made crucial changes to the workers’ compensation payment and medical reimbursement process.
Government Transparency and public safety
- HB 6 – Allows the State Auditor to directly issue and serve subpoenas for audits.
- HB 19 and HB 323 – Allows the Department of Finance to access FBI criminal history information and participate in the rap-back background check program for employees.
- HB 20 – Expanded the Department of Labor’s ability to conduct employee background checks.
- HB 268 – Elevates the charge for assaulting a postal worker to Assault in the 2nd degree.
Legislative Highlights: 2023-24 session
Marijuana Regulation
- The Delaware Marijuana Control Act (HB 2, 2023) – The historic DMCA created a legal framework to regulate the cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana, provide opportunities for small businesses to be licensed, and ensure people living in areas disproportionately affected by the prohibition of marijuana have equal access to this new market. The bill also contained a new framework for directing some of the state proceeds from sales and licensing to justice reform efforts. The DMCA was passed with a companion bill (HB 1, 2023), which legalized marijuana for personal use.
- Easing Access for Medical Marijuana Patients and Ensuring a Timely Start to the Marijuana Industry (HB 285, HB 334, HB 355, HB 408, HB 425) – This collection of bills, passed after the DMCA, continues to regulate Delaware’s recreational and medical marijuana industries to make them work better, be safer for patients and consumers, and keep our state on track to begin recreational sales.
Infrastructure Investment
- Bond Bill (HB 475, 2024) – Rep. Osienski is a member of the Joint Capital Improvements Committee, which in 2024 invested $1.1 Billion in infrastructure and other projects, including building roads, school construction, state building improvements, economic development initiatives, and natural resource protections.
Traffic Safety
- Everyone Gets Home Act (HS 1 for HB 247, 2024) – The “Everyone Gets Home Act” makes changes to the Delaware Code to sharpen the Department of Transportation’s focus on the three most common types of fatal crashes: intersection (including driveway); roadway departure; and mid-block pedestrian. This important and bipartisan traffic safety bill will help save lives in our state.
- Electronic Speed Enforcement (HA-1 for HB 94, 2023) – Allows the State to deploy electronic speed enforcement in work zones or residential areas where traffic studies have demonstrated high speeds.
Worker Protections
- Service Worker Protection Act (SB 233, 2024) – Establishes strong protections for service workers when their place of employment changes ownership.
- Increasing Unemployment Benefits (HB 49, 2023) – Increases Delaware’s unemployment insurance benefits to up to $450 a week.
- Updating the Boiler Safety Program (HS 1 for HB 255, 2024) – Updates the Boiler Safety Program, including adding enforcement mechanisms.
- Updating Board of Elevator Mechanics (HB 358, 2024) – Makes important updates and changes to the law creating the Board of Elevator Mechanics.
Protecting Student Mental Health
- Mental Health Services Unit (HB 200, 2023) – Establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware high schools. HB 3 ensures that students facing mental health crises are seen and supported by allowing excused absences for mental or behavioral health reasons.
- Nolan’s Law (HB 4, 2023) – Provides more behavioral health supports to school districts and charter schools in the aftermath of a school-connected traumatic event. It is vital that our students’ mental health is considered just as much as their physical health and with these bills, we can ensure that it is.