This bill provides a mechanism to grant pension increases to retired State Employees, retired Judges, and retired “New” State police. This bill dedicates a minimum of 2.33% of payroll to be deposited annually to the Post Retirement Fund. This bill also provides for a pension increase as determined by the Board of Pension Trustees.
This bill brings Delaware into conformity with national standards on fire safety dampers and smoke dampers. It requires all buildings of public accommodation and shared residential buildings to conform to standards that will ensure life-saving alarms and fire dampening efforts are safe and up to nationally recognized standards.
This Act amends the Charter of the Town of Ellendale in the following ways: 1. Replaces the legal description in the Charter, instead referring to the legal description found in the Sussex County Recorder of Deeds. 2. Some technical corrections and updates to antiquated language. 3. Clarifies if a municipal election falls on January 1st, the election will be held on the Second Saturday of January. 4. Clarifies public notice requirements for Special Meetings of the Town Council. 5. Clarifies that in the absence of an ordinance regarding Quorum requirements, Mason’s Rules of Order shall apply. 6. Clarifies that for a Councilmember to lose their seat, the crime being committed must be a felony 7. Public Notice of Council Meetings is to be posted at least one hour prior to the start of the meeting. 8. Removes from the Collection of Town Taxes from the Clerk’s duties, and assigns those duties instead to a Collector of Taxes, as an alternative to the Town Treasurer. 9. In determining late fees, the Town will rely on a fee schedule, rather than 1% per centum per month. 10. Removes certain powers given to the Town by the Charter, such as the prevention of vice, prohibition of gaming, regulating the observance of the Sabbath, and the ability to levy a per capita tax on all eligible voters 11. Removes a $50,000 limit on real estate taxes. 12. The town is now permitted to borrow $100,000 on behalf of the town, as opposed to the previous limit of $60,000. 13. In the Town Budget, it will no longer be required to include the value of supplies and materials on hand. 14. Raises the amount from $5,000 to $10,000 for contracts in which competitive bidding is not required. 15. Annexation requirements now are applicable when the proposed annexation exceeds 10 acres. 16. Exercise the powers given other municipalities as set out in the Municipal Tax Increment Financing Act and the Special Development District Act. 17. Enter into certain contracts without competitive bidding in connection with municipal tax increment financing and special development districts. 18. Collect special ad valorem taxes and special taxes related to the municipal development districts. 19. Levy special ad valorem taxes, special taxes, and ad valorem taxes in amounts it deems necessary for any municipal tax increment financing and any municipal development districts
House Bill No. 302 clarifies that the creation or possession of an altered or fake vaccination document is forgery in the second degree. This crime includes electronic vaccination documents because the existing definition of "written instrument" under § 863 of Title 11 includes electronic equivalents. This Act does not address electronic vaccination records because the existing crime of misusing computer system information, § 935 of Title 11, clearly covers tampering with computer records, which includes vaccination records. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 302 revises the language describing the altered or fake vaccination document so it cannot be read as requiring each of the details listed. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Delaware’s Motor Vehicle Statutes contemplate for vehicle obstructing traffic enforcement by law enforcement agencies. It is not always possible for law enforcement officers to enforce the right-of-way regulations in areas effectively due to a number of considerations, including officer availability and safety. This bill would enable the state and municipal authorities to enforce right-of-way regulations in identified areas more effectively. This bill only imposes civil penalties for violations and does not impose points on an individual’s driver’s license.
This Act would add designation that the holder is a veteran to the Delaware Driver License or Identification Card upon request. Adding designation that the holder is a veteran to a Driver License or Identification Card would eliminate the need for a veteran to carry a separate card or official discharge forms in order to prove their service.
This bill requires criminal background checks for any current or prospective employee, contractor, and volunteer of the Division of Health and Social Services (DHSS) who visits children in their homes and in the community and has regular, direct access to children or adolescents under the age of 18. The background check includes fingerprinting for Delaware and national background checks as well as a check of the Child Protection Registry. An individual who has a disqualifying criminal conviction or is on the Child Protection Registry at Level III or IV may not be an employee, contractor, or volunteer in any capacity that involves visiting children in their homes or the community or having regular, direct access to children. DHSS, if it chooses, may use its Background Check Center, which processes background checks for individuals working in home-care and long-term care facilities. It differs from the original bill in that it permits DHSS to use its Background Check Center to accomplish these additional background checks, specifies Child Protection Registry status that is disqualifying, and makes other minor technical changes.
This Act amends the Millsboro Charter to require the town auditor to make and deliver the annual audit report to the Town Council by the date of the Council's regular meeting in January after the end of the fiscal year. If the Town receives 100% principal loan forgiveness from a federal, state, or local government, a special election is not required for the project. Additionally any portion of principal forgiveness value granted shall not count toward the Town's aggregate limit of any borrowing authorization previously approved by a special election vote for the proposed loan.
This Act establishes certification and continuing education requirements for central service technicians working in hospitals and freestanding surgical centers. Central service technicians are an important part of the healthcare team responsible for decontaminating, inspecting, assembling, disassembling, packaging, and sterilizing reusable surgical instruments and equipment. This Act requires individuals who perform the tasks of a central service technician to pass a nationally accredited examination and to hold either a certified registered central service technician credential or certified sterile processing and distribution technician credential within 18 months of hire. This Act grandfathers anyone working as a central service technician in a health care facility on or before January 1, 2023.
This bill permits health-care providers who are licensed in a state other than Delaware to deliver health-care services by telehealth and telemedicine only if a health-care provider-patient relationship has been established in accordance with § 6003 of Title 24.
This Act revises the property tax exemption process for New Castle County by updating the application process to reflect the current organization of New Castle County government and by doing all of the following: 1. Repealing the existing deadline to file an application for an exemption. 2. Establishing an effective date for approved exemptions that is the later of the date the property owner met the criteria for the exemption or 3 years before the date of the application. 3. Establishing how New Castle County determines and processes property tax refunds, including proration for situations when the property was owned by a nonexempt transferor for part of a tax year and clarifying that school taxes cannot be refunded through this process. 4. Requires New Castle County to review all applications for exemption from taxation that were decided on or after January 1, 2017, under the law as revised by this Act, and process any refunds. Owners of real property that are entitled to exemptions include religious, educational, or charitable entities often have limited resources and limited knowledge of the laws regarding exemption from property taxation. Missing the deadline to submit an application for exemption from property taxes causes serious economic harm to these entities. Repealing the application deadline has minimal impact on certainty for New Castle County’s budget, particularly in contrast to the heavy strain that an unanticipated tax bill places on these entities whose services are beneficial to the residents in New Castle County. In addition, limiting the effective date for exemptions to 3 years before the date an application was submitted further minimizes the potential impact on certainty for New Castle County’s budget.
This Act vacates the parkland dedication for approximately .204 acres of Tax Parcel No. 10-023.00-001 (Parkland Property). The removal of the parkland dedication allows for New Castle County to transfer that portion of the Parkland Property under § 1521(e) of Title 9 and as set forth in the Settlement Agreement between the Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and a private property owner, Dash In, to resolve a condemnation action filed by DelDOT. 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 the .204 acre portion of the Parkland Property as parkland and under the Settlement Agreement, New Castle County will receive approximately .204 acres of land in close proximity to the Parkland Property.
