Delaware Bills

signed · Delaware · Senate Jun 30, 2020

SJR 2: THE OFFICIAL GENERAL FUND REVENUE ESTIMATE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020.

This Resolution provides the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for Fiscal Year 2020.

Quinton Johnson (D) Harris B. McDowell (D) · 8 co-sponsors

signed · Delaware · House Jun 22, 2020

HB 301: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STATE EMPLOYEES' PENSION PLAN.

This Act repeals a provision in the State Employees’ Pension Plan that included participants in the Division for the Visually Impaired’s (“DVI”) Business Enterprise Program (“BEP”) in the State pension plan. BEP participants are meant to be independent blind entrepreneurs operating their own vending facilities in federal and state properties, as authorized by the Randolph-Sheppard Act (20 U.S.C. § 107 et seq.). DVI recruits, trains, licenses, and places individuals who are blind as BEP vending facility operators on state or federal properties. Participation in BEP is under permit or contract. Participants are not State employees; including them in the State Pension Plan or payroll system does not comply with the Randolph-Sheppard Act. This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's 2019 review of and task force on the Division for the Visually Impaired. The Rehabilitation Services Administration, the federal agency that monitors BEP, recommended removing blind vendors from all state pension and payroll systems. Once enacted, this Act takes effect as of January 1, 2020. DVI removed BEP vendors from the State’s payroll system as of January 1, 2020. New applications for BEP are not pending as of the date this legislation is released.

signed · Delaware · House May 1, 2020

HB 202: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE RED CLAY CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT BUS SAFETY CAMERA PILOT PROGRAM.

This bill creates a pilot program for the Red Clay School District to utilize external camera systems on their school buses to catch motorists that illegally pass school buses and to punish these motorists by issuing them a civil penalty. The purpose of this bill is to protect children as they are in the process of boarding and exiting the school bus and to spread awareness of school bus traffic safety. At least 16 states have implemented similar legislation, including Pennsylvania in 2018. As Red Clay School District already has these cameras in operation, this program grants the authority to begin issuing violations to motorist that illegally pass school buses in their district.

signed · Delaware · Senate Apr 8, 2020

SB 96: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

In January of 2015, the Office of Civil Rights & Public Trust was created by the Attorney General to establish a centralized office within the Department of Justice for the investigation of matters concerning civil rights enforcement and the prosecution of matters concerning violations of the public trust. This office must remain an independent entity within the Department of Justice to avoid conflicts with other Department of Justice duties and thus effectively enforce laws protecting the public trust and civil rights. Thus, this Act creates the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust within the Department of Justice which will be separate from the other Divisions within the Department of Justice and have a Director who reports directly to the Chief Deputy Attorney General, to avoid conflicts of interest with the work of the other Divisions. This Act also clarifies the current scope of the Department of Justice’s ability to investigate and bring civil rights actions to protect the civil rights of all Delawareans.

signed · Delaware · Senate Mar 11, 2020

SB 139: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 AND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRUELTY TO DOGS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR HUMANE HANDLING, CARE AND TREATMENT OF DOGS.

In an effort to ensure the safety and wellbeing of dogs, this legislation improves shelter and tether standards in hazardous weather conditions, including clarifying restrictions on outdoor housing and tethering for dogs during hazardous weather conditions that pose a serious adverse risk to the health and safety of dogs. This bill also aims to improve public safety by prohibiting dogs from running at-large without a leash in public outdoor settings, with the exception of working dogs and permits dogs off leash on private property or where property owner has given the dog owner permission.

signed · Delaware · House Mar 3, 2020

HB 275: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEPARMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES.

This bill permits the owner of a beer garden or food establishment to permit leashed dogs on licensed outdoor patios of food establishments and in beer gardens.

signed · Delaware · Senate Feb 25, 2020

SB 195: AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF GREENWOOD.

This Act revises the Charter of Greenwood as follows: Section 1. Revises the procedures used by the Town to annex property. Section 2. Authorizes the Town to cancel Town Council meetings and authorizes the use of electronic communication methods to notify council members of special meetings. Section 3. Clarifies that a majority vote is needed for the Town Council to take action. Quorum is calculated based on a majority of all the sitting council members, exclusive of any vacant council seats. Section 4. Clarifies that the Town documents its proceedings via meeting minutes. Section 5. Sets $50,000 as the maximum contract amount that the Town can enter into without public bidding and clarifies the Town’s procedures for evaluating bids and awarding contracts. Section 6. Specifies that the Mayor may vote on all matters, not just when there is a tie vote, revises the Mayor’s duties, and establishes procedures for appointing individuals to committees. Section 7. Updates the duties of the Town Council Secretary. Section 8. Revises the terms of employment for the Town Manager and other employees. This section clarifies that town employees, except for the town manager and police department employees, are at will employees that are hired for an indefinite employment term. This section also eliminates duties of the Town Manager that are obsolete and clarifies that the Town Manager does not have to serve as the Town Treasurer. Section 9. Eliminates the need of the town solicitor to have an office in Sussex County. Section 10. Revises the terms of employment for the Chief of Police, including the possibility of the Chief of Police having an employment contact. Section 11. Updates the Town’s debt collection procedures to clarify the outstanding charges that can be added to tax bills and collected. This section also limits the maximum interest rate on delinquent amounts to 1.5% per month. Section 12. Eliminates duplicate language and requires the Town Council to adopt a resolution approving the final assessment list, including all additions to tax bills. This section also clarifies that the annual tax list includes additions to tax bills incorporated into the annual assessment list. Section 13. Authorizes the amount of outstanding debts to remain a lien against a property beyond the 10 year time limit if the property is still owned by the same owner against whom the charges were originally assessed. The section enlarges the time for paying taxes to 60 days and reduces the penalty for unpaid taxes to 1.5% per month. This section also clarifies the collection costs that can be recovered by the Town and eliminates obsolete collection procedures. Section 14. Eliminates the Town’s ability to regulate activities on the Sabbath Day and clarifies the Town’s ability to establish fines and penalties for outstanding water and sewer accounts. Section 15. Repeals existing procedures for opening and closing streets and enacts simpler procedures for the Town to follow. Section 16. Clarifies the Town’s ability to install new sidewalks. Section 17. Adds additional purposes for which the Town may borrow money and requires public hearing details to be included in a resolution proposing to borrow the money. This section also provides more detail on the procedures to follow when holding a special election to vote on the town borrowing money and creates procedures and authority for the Town to borrow up to $100,000 without going through the public hearing process. It also authorizes the Town to publish a notice of the borrowing that gives members of the public 60 days to challenge the borrowing. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Feb 25, 2020

HB 152: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICE REQUIREMENTS.

In 2014, the General Assembly created an ignition interlock device program under §§ 4177C and 4177G of Title 21 of the Delaware Code (“IID program”). The IID program provides individuals whose license or driving privileges have been revoked following a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs the ability to drive during their revocation period while putting measures in place to protect the public. This Act closes a loophole in the IID program that allows a person to avoid installing an IID in certain circumstance and makes changes to §§ 4177C and 4177G to ensure the provisions are consistent and operate in harmony with each other. This Act also adds a provision clarifying the process for the reinstatement of an individual’s license or driving privileges after the individual has been disqualified from the IID program. Finally, this Act makes numerous technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislation Drafting Manual, including to ensure consistency of language throughout the provisions included in this Act.

signed · Delaware · House Feb 20, 2020

HB 264: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NEW CASTLE COUNTY PROPERTY TAX RATES AND MUNICIPALITIES.

This Act represents one of the recommendations of the Local Service Functions Task Force created by House Concurrent Resolution No. 54. This Act revises the process by which the New Castle County tax rate for owners of real property in municipalities is calculated to reflect fire company contributions made by the municipality. This process does not consider as an in-kind contribution from New Castle County or a municipality the property tax that a fire company does not pay because real property owned by fire companies is exempt from taxation. Because no property tax is due, it is not an amount that either New Castle County or a municipality is waiving. This Act is effective immediately for New Castle County’s fiscal year 2021.

signed · Delaware · House Feb 20, 2020

HB 212: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL.

This bill defines “industrial landfill” in conformity with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Regulations Governing Solid Waste. This bill also establishes a height restriction, or vertical limit, for an industrial landfill at 130 feet above the mean sea level of the area.

signed · Delaware · House Feb 10, 2020

HJR 7: VACATING DEDICATED PARKLAND IDENTIFIED AS TAX PARCEL NO. 19-009.00-015.

This Joint Resolution vacates the parkland dedication for ± .22 acres of Tax Parcel No. 19-009.00-015, as depicted in the exhibit that accompanies this Joint Resolution, thereby removing the restrictions on permitted uses for public parks, held in public trust as provided in the common law, including the restrictions under Anderson v. Mayor and Council of Wilmington, 137 A.2d 521 (Del. Ch. 1958) and Lord v. City of Wilmington, 332 A.2d 414 (Del. Ch. 1975), aff'd, 378 A.3d 635 (Del. 1977). The removal of the parkland dedication allows New Castle County to transfer the Property in accordance with § 1521(e) of Title 9. Due to the Property’s unique location, there are no known current or future public needs or benefits in continuing to restrict the use of this Property as dedicated parkland. A significant amount of illegal dumping occurs on the Property, negatively impacting the surrounding community.

signed · Delaware · Senate Feb 10, 2020

SB 85: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 11 AND 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TRANSFER OF CASES BETWEEN ALDERMAN'S OR MAYOR'S COURTS AND THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT.

This bill permits the administrative transfer of cases from an alderman’s court or mayor’s court to the Justice of the Peace Court when such a transfer is in the interests of justice. This transferability may be used in cases where an alderman must recuse themselves pursuant to the Code of Judicial Conduct or where it is impracticable for the case to be heard in alderman’s court. A transfer to the Justice of the Peace Court ensures that the receiving court is well prepared to handle the case due to the similarities in jurisdiction.

Bill results