This Act removes the Colonel of the New Castle County Police Department from the Delaware Emergency Medical Services Oversight Council ("DEMSOC") and replaces the Colonel with the Chief of the New Castle County Emergency Medical Services. In 2006, the County restructured the Department of Public Safety so that the Chief of Police is no longer in charge of the paramedics. The Chief of the New Castle County Emergency Medical Services has been designated as the representative by the Colonel; however, any requests for a substitute representative with voting proxy would have to be done by the Colonel. This change thus reflects the current organization of New Castle County Emergency Medical Services but does not change the entity that has a member on DEMSOC.
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An estimated 100,000 people in Delaware participate in some form of fantasy sports, whether it is a football or baseball league with their friends and family, or more recently, a daily or weekly contest against players from across the country. This legislation confirms that those contests are "games of skill" and, therefore, not a form of illegal gambling under Delaware law. It also requires operators to apply for a license and comply with some of the strictest consumer protection safeguards in the nation. Finally, the legislation subjects operators of paid fantasy sports contests to a 15% tax on their net adjusted revenues, as well as a $50,000 annual fee.
This Act provides greater clarity of language, condenses duplicative statutes and deletes statues that are irrelevant to daily operations of the Professional Licensing Section’s regulation of private security, private investigative and armored car agencies.
“Cooking wine” contains alcohol but has been exempted from alcohol regulation by the federal government (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) and many states as long as it contains no more than 20% alcohol by volume and no less than 1.5% salt, thereby making it unfit for beverage consumption. This Act adds cooking wine to the list of exempted liquids from the alcohol regulation. This Act provides that DATE may investigate allegations of misuse of § 725 of this title and refer the matter to the Commissioner for a hearing if the manufacturer or seller disagrees with DATE’s determination.
This bill eliminates the sunset provision on the “at-store” recycling program for plastic bags. The program established in 2009 included a sunset provision until 2014. In 2014, the General Assembly extended that sunset provision to 2017. This bill eliminates the sunset provision permanently to encourage the continued routine for consumers to recycle plastic bags through “at-store” programs. The bill will also require all stores subject to the requirements of this section to register by June 30, 2018, and provide information to DNREC regarding compliance on a form to be provided by DNREC.
This Act extends the Office of Foreclosure Prevention and Automatic Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program an additional two years, from January 18, 2018 until January 18, 2020. The Office of Foreclosure Prevention and the Automatic Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program were originally scheduled to sunset on January 18, 2014, two years after their enactment. The sunset date was extended to January 18, 2018 (six years) in 2013 via 79 Del. Laws c. 27 (House Bill No. 40, as amended by Senate Amendment No. 1, 147th General Assembly).
This legislation amends the Delaware Code to establish the Department of Human Resources by transferring various divisions and other organizational units from the Office of Management and Budget to the newly established Department of Human Resources. The powers and duties of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources are aligned to reflect the transfers of the divisions and other organizational units of the newly established Department of Human Resources. Various sections of the Delaware Code are amended to reflect changes in titles and nomenclature. This bill also establishes Office of Women's Advancement and Advocacy. This bill sets forth that the Office of Women's Advancement and Advocacy will be a unit of the Department of Human Resources. The purpose of this Office is to promote the equality of women in all areas of society. Functions of the Office include fostering and facilitating collaborations between all facets of government and private businesses to eliminate gender-based bias and discriminatory practices, study and report on the status of women in the State, compile and analyze statistics, advise executive and legislative bodies on the effect of proposed legislation, make specific legislative proposals and submit a report to the Governor, Secretary of the Department of Human Resources and the General Assembly at the beginning of every General Assembly of the Office’s activities and recommendations. The bill establishes that the governing body of the Office is the Commission for Women comprised of 9 members. This bill provides that the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy oversees the Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame Committee and the Delaware Women’s Workforce Council. The Delaware Women’s Hall of Fame Committee shall have 7 members and the Delaware Women’s Workforce Council shall be comprised of 11 members. Delaware Women’s Workforce Council shall conduct a study of gender-based inequities in workplaces in Delaware, recommend policies to remove gender-based inequities in the workplace, and develop and publish best practices for employers to achieve gender equality.
This Act is intended to create minimum standards for nonconsensual towing or removing of vehicles from private parking areas. These standards include providing vehicle owners with proper notice that their vehicle may be subject to tow or removal, where their vehicle will be taken, the contact information for the tow or storage company in possession of their vehicle and the maximum rates they can be charged pursuant to the chapter. This Act also extends the amount of time a tower or storage facility must possess a vehicle before selling it.
This bill lowers the current tax rate by .05% for each bracket. The bill creates a new tax bracket at $125,000 with a rate of 7.05% and an additional bracket at $250,000 with a rate of 7.80%. The bill also provides a tiered reduction of the otherwise available itemized deduction based upon the individual's taxable income.