This act authorizes the application of funds from the Delaware School Safety and Security Fund, which is subject to available appropriations, for the retention of constables to be utilized by the LEAs.
This Act adopts the Uniform Law Commission’s (“ULC”) Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (“Revised Uniform Law”). As our State continues to recover from COVID-19, chief among the changes in the Revised Uniform Law relevant to our State’s current situation are those that permit notarial acts to be performed for a remotely located individual, an individual who is not in the physical presence of the individual performing the notarial act. These revisions include recent amendments made by the ULC to respond to areas the law needed to address that were discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the need to have tangible documents ink-signed and notarized and the administration of oaths taken by remotely located individuals. Adoption of this Act will expand on Governor Carney’s authorization for remote notarization to be performed by licensed Delaware attorneys, codified in § 3156 of Title 20, by allowing all notarial officers authority to perform remote notarization. In addition to retaining provisions that provide integrity in the process of performing notarial acts, the Revised Uniform Law does the following: (1) Provides the authority to notarize electronic documents on par with notarization of tangible documents, including authority for the Secretary of State to regulate notarization of electronic documents. (2) Requires a notary public to maintain a journal of all notarial acts the notary public performs. (3) Adopts new licensing procedures for notaries public, including minimum requirements for commissioning and grounds to deny, suspend, or revoke commissions. (4) Prohibits a notary public from acting in a deceptive or fraudulent manner. Current Delaware law on notarial acts is an adoption of the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, approved by the Uniform Law Commission in 1982. This Act’s adoption of the Revised Uniform Law would bring Delaware law on notarial acts into conformity with at least 20 other states, including all of the states bordering Delaware (Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey), which currently allow remote notarization and notarization of electronic records and include the updated provisions that enhance the integrity of the process of performing notarial acts. This Act’s adoption of the Revised Uniform Law is delayed until January 1, 2023, to provide the Secretary of State and notaries public time to implement the Revised Uniform Law. In the interim, this Act continues the authority for Delaware attorneys to conduct remote notarization, codified in § 3156 of Title 20, until the Revised Uniform Law takes effect. Then, Delaware attorneys will be authorized to conduct remote notarization under the Revised Uniform Law, like attorneys in other states that have adopted the Revised Uniform Law.
This Act increases the civil penalty for violating the parking regulations in § 4180 from not less than $10 nor more than $25 to not less than $100 nor more than $500. This Act also increases the minimum fine for violating the requirements of Chapter 41 relating to size or weight of a vehicle or a combination of vehicles or restrictions regarding parking in residence districts from not less than $28.75 nor more than $230 for a first offense to not less than $100 and not more than $500 for a first offense. For a subsequent offense the penalty is increased from to not less than $115 nor more than $575 to not less than $400 and not more than $2,000. This Act allows the Secretary to prohibit or restrict the stopping, standing, or parking of any trailer, semi-trailer, or recreational trailer on roadways or sections of roadways. The Act requires the Department to provide a list of roadways or sections of roadways for which it has prohibited or restricted standing or parking to DSHS and law enforcement agencies across the state. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act amends the Charter of the City of Dover, including by doing the following: (1) Making technical corrections to ensure consistent capitalization of City officers and agencies, ensure consistent usage of terms throughout the Charter, (2) Moving the City’s authority to impose a realty transfer tax from Section 3 (relating to employee pension, benefit, and retirement systems) to a new Section 49B within Article IV of the City’s Charter (relating to financial affairs). (3) Removing provisions from Section 5 of the City’s Charter that are out-of-date. (4) Requiring that to be eligible to be elected mayor or a member of council a person must be a registered voter of the City as of the date of the election. (5) Requiring that nominating petitions for mayor and members of council be submitted between the first working day of January and the last working day of January in the year of an election. (6) Requiring election board members to voluntarily remove themselves from the election board before participating in a campaign to elect a candidate. (7) Authorizing a majority of council to remove an election board member if a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest exists between the member and a candidate. (8) Removing the specific time for the meeting of council on the second Monday in May. (9) Providing that council shall hold an election for a council president pro tempore if there the council president is unavailable for 30 days. The council president pro tempore serves until the council president returns. (10) Providing that the salary for mayor, councilmembers, and other elected or appointed officials is to be adopted annually with the adoption of the fiscal year budget ordinance and that pay raises for mayor and council are to be tied to increases for non-bargaining employees of the City. (11) Providing that if a vacancy in the office of mayor or a member of council is for 6 months or less before the next regular or special election, the vacancy will be filled at the next regular or special election if there is sufficient time to meet the requirements of City and State law. (13) Clarifying that the city clerk is to be appointed by a majority vote of the council, hold office until the clerk’s successor is chosen, and be subject to removal by council at any time. (14) Clarifying that the controller/treasurer is to be appointed by a majority vote of the council. (15) Requiring the city manager to be a resident of Kent County within 180 days of hire. (16) Changing dates for when a draft budget is due to be presented to council and when council must adopt a budget. (17) Changing the amount of taxable assessed value of real property of aggregate principal amount of general obligation bonds issued to finance capital projects that may be authorized by council at any one time to 1% from .25%. (18) Authorizing the mayor and council to authorize and issue, without a referendum vote, tax exempt or taxable municipal conduit bonds. (19) Requiring a two-thirds vote of the members of council to confirm the mayor’s appointee to be chief of police or to confirm the mayor’s removal of the chief of police. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter.
This Act prohibits employers from requesting or requiring that an applicant for employment disclose the applicant’s age, date of birth, or dates of attendance or graduation from an educational institution in an initial application for employment, unless the employer is requesting the information because of a bona fide occupational qualification or to comply with state or federal law.
The Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline and the Board of Nursing are responsible for establishing continuing education requirements for medical professionals licensed by these Boards. This Act adds a requirement that practitioners licensed by these Boards who treat adults must complete one hour of continuing education in each reporting period on the topic of diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. This bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This substitute bill makes a technical correction to the bill.
This Act increases opportunities for federally qualified health centers (“FQHC”) and government-operated dental clinics to serve the indigent and other underserved communities with dental care and improves flexibility with updated provisional licensing processes for FQHC and government-operated dental clinic applicants. This Act assists FQHCs and government-operated dental clinics in recruiting dentists to serve those most in need. This Act adds FQHCs to the Delaware Institute for Dental Education and Research Board. This Act creates the Dental Care Access Task Force (“Task Force”) to examine and recommend a course of action to address all of the following: (1) Dental care access, including for underserved populations and communities. (2) Dental licensure practices and requirements. (3) Dental provider type and scope of practice. (4) Dental provider recruitment and retention strategies. (5) Dental insurance networks and coverage, including for the uninsured and underinsured. The Task Force must submit its report no later than February 1, 2023. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act establishes the Racial Equity Consortium (“Consortium”) for the purposes of studying and making recommendations to address the disparities and inequities faced by persons of color in this State. The African American Task Force, established by Senate Bill No. 260 of the 150th General Assembly (§ 39 of Chapter 243 of Volume 82 of the Laws of Delaware), recommended that the Consortium be established. The Consortium is charged, in part, with working to implement and continuing to study the findings of the Task Force. The Consortium’s membership includes representatives of organizations that are currently working on issues of racial justice to leverage existing resources and efforts, and to promote collaboration.
This Act implements some of the recommendations of the African American Task Force's Safety and Justice Subcommittee. Specifically, it requires that cases or charges that are more than 7 years old be treated as “resolved in favor of” a child or adult if there is no disposition available for the case and no outstanding warrants. This clarification will prevent errors in record-keeping in the criminal justice system from stopping an otherwise qualified petitioner from obtaining an expungement that may otherwise be available. It will also require old cases for which no outcome is listed to be removed from a person's record if they are more than 7 years old. In addition, this Act allow an individual with multiple violations or misdemeanors in different cases that would be eligible for a mandatory expungement if they had occurred in a single case, and the individual has no other convictions on their record, to apply directly for a discretionary expungement after 5 years have passed from the most recent conviction. The court would then consider the application under its usual “interest of justice” rubric in determining whether to grant the expungement. This saves applications to the pardon board for multiple minor misdemeanors and increases parity between applicants with similar records.
This Act recognizes advancements in the science of reading and literacy instruction by requiring that all public school students in kindergarten through grade 3 participate in a universal reading screening 3 times each year to identify potential reading deficiencies, including dyslexia, and allow for early intervention and prevention. The Department is tasked with compiling a list of reading screeners as well as literacy intervention approaches that are aligned with the science of reading that charter schools and districts may use. The Department will take into account the science of reading and evidence-based research in creating the list as well as the alignment of screeners and interventions with a multi-tiered system of support. The Department is also required to consider the burden on schools to administer screeners and the amenability of the screener to being incorporated into ongoing instruction. Charter schools and districts are additionally required to provide the results of each screening to a student’s parent – which may be done by adding it to existing communications such as report cards or progress reports. Finally, charter schools and districts must report, by grade, the number of students in kindergarten through grade 3 determined to have potential reading deficiencies and what intervention approach is being used, as well as the number of students receiving dyslexia specific interventions. The Department of Education is tasked with compiling this information into a report for the General Assembly, the State Board of Education, and the Governor.
The societal implications of technological developments are pervasive, and the reach and influence of digital media platforms continue to expand. Media literacy skills are necessary for citizens to safely, responsibly, and critically consume and use social media and other forms of media. In addition, media literacy education prepares students to make informed civic decisions that affect them, their families, their communities, and the world. This Act requires the Department of Education to develop and maintain evidence-based media literacy standards for use by school districts and charter schools serving students in grades kindergarten through 12. The standards and materials must be age-appropriate and must address appropriate, responsible, and healthy online behavior. This Act is known as "The Digital Citizenship Education Act".
