This Act establishes a Public Education Compensation Committee for the purpose of reviewing Delaware's educator compensation structure and its ability to compete with regional school districts, Delaware's private business sector, and other governmental agencies and to develop recommendations to establish a new compensation structure for educators in Delaware. The Committee will consist of 13 members, including the Secretary of the Department of Education, the Controller General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Executive Director of the Delaware State Education Association, the Executive Director of the Delaware Association of School Administrators, an educator, two school financial officers, one school superintendent, a charter school administrator, a representative of the Office of the Governor, and the Chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees. The Act requires the Committee to present its recommendations to the Governor no later than November 15, 2023, so that the recommendations may be included in the Governor's recommended budget for fiscal year 2025.
This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would update the minimum voting age in the Delaware Constitution from twenty-one years to eighteen years.
This Act is named for Keshall “KeKe” Anderson. KeKe was an innocent bystander who was killed in a 2016 shooting involving a firearm purchased through a straw purchase. In 2019, in a lawsuit by KeKe’s family against the dealer of the firearm involved in her death, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court’s decision interpreting § 1448A of Title 11 of the Delaware Code to grant a firearm dealer full immunity from liability, even if the firearm dealer is negligent in selling a firearm to a straw purchaser. See Summers v. Cabela’s Wholesale, Inc., 2019 Del. Super. LEXIS 156 (Del. Super. 2019), aff’d, Summers v. Cabela’s Wholesale, Inc., 2019 Del. LEXIS 524 (Del. 2019). The repeal in Section 2 of this Act means victims and their families may seek relief from courts and juries instead of being denied their day in court. Section 3 of this Act provides a cause of action to enable firearm manufacturers and retail dealers to be held accountable when they knowingly or recklessly take actions that endanger the health and safety of residents of this State through the sale, manufacture, distribution, and marketing of firearm-related products.
This resolution recognizes June 2022 as National Homeownership Month in Delaware.
This Act updates the per diem compensation of any retired justice, judge, chancellor or vice chancellor accepting an active duty designation from $250 per day to 1/365 of the annual salary for such a judicial officer. This is consistent with the per diem compensation provided to retired justices of the peace and commissioners of the Superior Court, the Family Court, and the Court of Common Pleas accepting an active duty designation.
This Resolution commemorates the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX and recognizes the impact it has had on improving equality in educational institutions and the workplace, while committing to build upon its foundation to continue to expand the protection of equal rights.
Chapter 29 of Title 3, which restricts the use of invasive and potentially invasive plants, was enacted by Senate Bill No. 22 in 2021, but does not take effect until July 1, 2022. This Act revises § 2904 of Title 3 so that the Department of Agriculture, through the regulatory process, can both add and remove plants from the initial Invasive Plant List created under this section. In addition, this Act repeals Chapter 27 of Title 3 the same day that Chapter 29 takes effect, because Chapter 27 regulates the same topic, using the term nuisance plants, and Chapter 29 uses current terminology and best practices. This Act also reorganizes the requirements under §§ 2903 and 2904 of Title 3 so that similar requirements are grouped together for clarity and so that the plants in § 2904(b) are listed in alphabetical order.
This Act provides supplementary appropriations to certain Grants-in-Aid recipients for Fiscal Year 2023. Section 1 – Government Units and Senior Centers – $28,201,165 Section 2 – One-Times and Community Agencies – $32,531,876 Section 3 – Fire Companies – $8,162,724 Section 4 – Veterans Organizations – $498,141 GRAND TOTAL – $69,393,906
Federal law permits states to require federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to conduct background checks through a state agency, or point of contact, instead of directly through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). This Act creates the Firearm Transaction Approval Program (FTAP) within the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) of the Delaware State Police and designates the SBI's FTAP as the point of contact between an FFL and the federal databases checked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of conducting background checks for firearm purchases or transfers. By establishing SBI as the point of contact for all firearm purchases or transfers in this State, SBI becomes responsible for determining if a potential buyer or transferee is prohibited from receipt or possession of a firearm under § 1448 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code or federal law. This enables SBI to search other databases in addition to relying on the required NICS check, enhancing background checks conducted in this State. This Act enables firearms dealers who suspect a straw purchase has or is occurring to notify SBI using the same hotline that is established for background checks through FTAP. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act clarifies various aspects of the State’s unclaimed property laws, specifically: (1) Section 1 specifically exempts property owed to non-Delaware government entities and payment or credit arising under the 2022 Delaware Relief Rebate Program, Chapter 290 of Volume 83 of the Laws of Delaware. (2) Section 2 clarifies and confirms current practice that a holder under examination or in the voluntary disclosure program shall retain records from ten years plus the dormancy period to present day until completion of the examination or voluntary disclosure agreement. (3) Section 3 clarifies and confirms current practice regarding the timing of the liquidation of securities and the mailing of written notice to owners to eliminate litigation risk for the State. Under current practice, the State Escheator liquidates securities and mails written notice to owners relatively contemporaneously in weekly batches. Practically, however, at times liquidation may precede the mailing of notice by several days. However, because a claimant’s recovery is determined by the date the claim is filed relative to the date of notice, the claimant’s recovery is not impacted by this change. Because owner addresses reported by holders are often incomplete or have obvious errors, this Section also allows, but does not require, the State Escheator to take reasonable steps to update, correct, or validate owner addresses to make delivery of the written notice more likely, and limits liability for the State Escheator for any such actions or lack of actions. (4) Section 4 clarifies and confirms current practice regarding the timing of the liquidation of securities and the mailing of written notice to owners. (5) Section 5 clarifies how to determine the value of claims for securities property by clarifying a date certain for the statutory 558-day period to begin when the date of notice cannot otherwise be determined or when notice is not required or sent. (6) Section 6 clarifies and confirms current practice that the time for a claimant appeal to the Tax Appeal Board, where the State Escheator has paid the claim, begins to run on the initial issuance of payment, and is not reset or tolled by the re-issuance of a check. This Section also expressly permits the State Escheator to pay claims on a pro rata basis for property received before August 1, 2022, or resulting from a bankruptcy proceeding, when the reported amount of property exceeds the remitted amount, and expressly prohibits holders from relying on this Section to engage in this practice prospectively. (7) Section 7 clarifies and confirms current practice that the time for a claimant appeal to the Tax Appeal Board, where the State Escheator has paid the claim, begins to run on the initial issuance of payment, and is not reset or tolled by the re-issuance of a check. (8) Section 8 makes changes to allow the State Escheator to issue a notice of examination to any holder who has failed to respond to requests made pursuant to a verified report or compliance review or to complete a verified report or compliance review. This Section also makes changes to clarify and confirm current practice that a “reason to believe” standard does not apply to inquiries under § 1170 of Title 12. (9) Section 9 allows the State Escheator to issue a notice of examination to any holder who has failed to respond to requests made pursuant to a verified report or compliance review or to complete a verified report or compliance review under § 1170 of Title 12. (10) Section 10 responds to feedback received from the professional finder industry and clarifies and confirms current practice that the State will not disclose the exact amount of claimable property until a claimant’s rightful ownership of the property has been established and permits finder agreements to reflect this fraud prevention measure. (11) Section 11 states that Sections 1, 8, 9, and 10 of this Act take effect on enactment. (12) Section 12 states that it is the intent of the General Assembly that Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of this Act apply retroactively to any claims, examinations, voluntary disclosure agreements, or litigation pending as of the effective date of this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Resolution requests the Attorney General’s Office, the Director of the Delaware Justice Information System (“DELJIS”), and the Secretary of Health and Social Services to provide reports to the General Assembly that will provide information regarding the effectiveness of the current “Red Flag Laws”, as well as other statistics that may provide more insight so that in the future, the General Assembly might refine said laws, further protecting Delaware citizens from violence due to firearms.
This Act modernizes Delaware’s probation system by doing the following: (1) Ending incarceration of probationers for technical violations. (2) Enabling the customization of conditions of probation to meet individual needs. (3) Requiring the collection and publication of data on probation. (4) Investing in community-based re-entry programs. (5) Limiting probation terms to 1 year. Specifically, the Act does all of the following Section 1 of this Act adds a definition for “willful”, as used throughout the Act. Section 2 of this Act does the following: (1) Requires probation officers to use the least liberty-restrictive means to enhance compliance to conditions. (2) Requires the probation officers not impose special conditions with which a person cannot in good faith comply. Probation officers must also assess whether the person has the necessary resources to comply with the condition. (3) Changes that any proceeds gained from seizures in conducting business with federal authorities must go to contracting with community-based re-entry programs providing evidence-based services. Section 3 of this Act does the following: (1) Removes the prohibition on an incarcerated person receiving access to the Department of Correction’s (“Department”) policy & procedure manuals. (2) Removes prohibition on the disclosure of Department policies and procedures except on the written authority of the Commissioner. Section 4 of this Act does the following: (1) Requires that a condition of probation established by Department may not involve a greater deprivation of liberty than is necessary to meet the goals of deterrence, protection of the public, and rehabilitation of the person on probation. (2) Prohibits the imposition of a condition of supervision that requires paying court fines, fees, supervision-related fees, and supervision-mandated programs. (3) Authorizes the Department to use alternate methods of reporting such as audiovisual communications. (4) Requires the Department to not pursue sanctions for use of drugs or alcohol, failure to complete a program when the costs were unable to be met, failure to follow conditions when mental health conditions prevent compliance, and failure to comply with broad conditions that are impossible to follow. (5) Requires the Department to bear the cost of house arrest programs. (6) Sets criteria for the use of house arrest. Section 5 of this Act reduces the maximum length of the period of probation. Section 6 of this Act does the following: (1) Outlines the process for revoking probation, including the timing of revocation and requirements of revocation proceedings. (2) Requires that incarceration cannot be used for any technical violation and sets a limit on period of incarceration for other violations. Section 7 of this Act repeals the fee for a person applying for an interstate transfer of probation under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. Section 8 of this Act does the following: (1) Replaces the forfeiture of earned compliance credit with a process for withholding or revoking earned credits. (2) Repeals certain offenses being excluded from being able to gain earn compliance credit. (3) Requires the Department to provide those on probation with a supervision report with credit earned and time remaining on probation every 90 days. Section 9 of this Act repeals the required $200 probation fee. Section 10 through 13 of this Act requires the Statistical Analysis Center to publish data related to the probation system. Sections 14 through 17 of this Act removes the requirement that individuals on probation or parole have to have permission before getting married. Section 18 repeals the restriction on the disclosure of public records in the Department’s possession when these records are sought by an inmate in the Department’s custody.
