For purposes of this chapter:

(1) “Board” means the Delaware EARNS Program Board established under § 3803 of this title.

(2) “Covered employee” means an individual who is employed by a covered employer, and who has wages or other compensation allocable to the State. The Board may limit through regulation eligibility for specific categories of employees in order to avoid creating accounts that could increase administrative or management fees associated with available investment options. “Covered employee” does not include:

a. Any individual who is an employee of the federal government, the State or any other state, any county or municipal corporation, or any of the State’s or any other state’s agencies or instrumentalities.

b. Any employee covered under the federal Railway Labor Act [45 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.].

c. Any employee on whose behalf an employer makes contributions to a Taft-Hartley multiemployer pension plan [29 U.S.C. § 1002(37)].

d. Any employee who is ineligible for covered employee status under regulations promulgated by the Board.

e. Any employee under the age of 18.

(3) “Covered employer” means any person, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity engaged in a business, industry, profession, trade, or other enterprise in the State, including a nonprofit entity, that employs, and during the previous calendar year employed, at least 5 covered employees, and that has been in business in this State for at least 6 months in the immediately preceding calendar year. “Covered employer” does not include:

a. The federal government, the State, any other state, any county, any municipal corporation, or any of the State’s or another state’s agencies or instrumentalities.

b. Any employer that maintains a specified tax-favored retirement plan.

(4) “ERISA” means the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.], as amended.

(5) “Internal Revenue Code” means the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.], as amended, or any successor law, in effect for the calendar year.

(6) “IRA” means a traditional or Roth individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity described in § 408(a), § 408(b), or § 408A of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. § 408(a), § 408(b) or § 408A].

(7) “Participant” means any individual who is contributing to, or has a balance credited to, an IRA under the Program.

(8) “Participating employer” means a covered employer that makes the Program available to its employees through payroll deduction IRA arrangements under this chapter.

(9) “Payroll deduction IRA arrangement” means an arrangement by which a participating employer makes payroll deductions authorized by this chapter and remits the amounts deducted as contributions to IRAs on behalf of participants.

(10) “Plans Management Board” means the Board established by § 2722 of Title 29 to manage specified plans and programs created under the laws of this State.

(11) “Program” means the EARNS Program established by this chapter. Except as otherwise specified, references to the Program throughout this chapter also mean the trust, including trust assets, facilities, costs and expenses, receipts, expenditures, activities, operations, administration, and management.

(12) “Program expenses” means all fees, costs, and expenses of the State related to the Program, including administrative expenses, investment expenses, consulting fees, accounting costs, auditing costs, legal fees and costs, marketing expenses, education expenses, and other miscellaneous costs incurred in the implementation and continuation of the Program.

(13) “Roth IRA” means an IRA described in § 408A of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. § 408A].

(14) “Specified tax-favored retirement plan” means a retirement plan that is an automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA applicable to all covered employees and meeting all other qualifications that may be established by the Board, or a retirement plan qualified under, or described in, and in compliance with § 401(a), § 401(k), § 403(b), § 408(k), or § 408(p) of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. § 401(a), § 401(k), § 403(b), § 408(k), or § 408(p)].

(15) “Traditional IRA” means an IRA described in § 408(a) or (b) of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. § 408(a)].

(16) “Trust” means the trust in which assets of the Program are to be held, including contributions and investment earnings.

(17) “Wages” means any commission, compensation, salary or other remuneration, as defined by § 219(f)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. § 219(f)(1)] received by a participant from a participating employer.

83 Del. Laws, c. 405, § 1;