Rep. Jeff Spiegelman

The constitutional requirement to create new legislative districts following the U.S. Census was intended to ensure equal representation at all levels of government. However, Delaware’s current process of redistricting is deeply flawed. It allows the majority party in each legislative chamber to gerrymander state legislative maps in a self-serving attempt to preserve and expand partisan political power. All other considerations have become secondary in this process. This defect is common to many states and some have tried to address the issue by creating election commissions charged with redrawing legislative lines. The challenge in such a system is ensuring that these commissions can conduct their function in a balanced, objective, and non-partisan fashion. This bill proposes a new method that avoids this significant hurdle by leveraging partisan self-interest to create a protocol that results in an equitable outcome. This fresh approach to reapportionment is described in a paper by 3 Carnegie Mellon University professors entitled: “A Partisan Districting Protocol with Provably Nonpartisan Outcomes.” It utilizes a system analogous to a proven, prudent method for instructing 2 children to fairly divide a piece of cake between themselves. The first child cuts the cake, while the second has the option of selecting which piece he or she wishes to consume. In the protocol outlined in this bill, the two competing parties are the partisan caucuses of each General Assembly chamber. The first caucus will initially draw all the legislative districts, observing established legal redistricting standards. The second caucus will have the ability to “freeze” a set number of the districts, locking their boundaries into place. They will then be able to redraw the remaining districts as they wish, delivering the new maps back to the first caucus. This group will then also engage in the freeze and redraw process, with the cycles continuing until all the districts have been defined. With both sides getting equal “bites of the apple,” each has a practical ability to affect the outcome and a reason to work together to achieve a mutually acceptable conclusion. The bill also includes safeguards to ensure public notification and participation in the process, as well as a contingency to allow the judicial branch to draw the new legislative maps should the General Assembly be unable to achieve the task. This legislation assumes calling the General Assembly into special session to approve the finalized maps, providing enough time for the process to be conducted in a deliberative manner.

This concurrent resolution proposes the formation of the Registered Voter List Improvement Task Force. This 10-member group will review current laws and practices associated with compiling and maintaining Delaware’s registered voter list. The main objective of the task force will be to suggest methods for improving the accuracy of the list. The task force shall deliver a report containing its findings and recommendations to every member of the General Assembly no later than March 15, 2022. In instances where improvement recommendations will require legislation to implement, the task force shall draft bills that will be included as part of its report.

This Act expands the eligibility for Line-of-Duty disability benefits to all firefighters or emergency medical technicians (EMT) who are a member of a volunteer or municipal fire department in this State or a designated first responder, including firefighters and EMTs who are volunteers, partly paid or full-time employees, plus all fire service instructors or fire marshals employed by this State. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

In 2009, New Hampshire was the first state to develop a statewide "Gun Shop Project," reaching out to gun shops regarding the role they can play in suicide prevention. In the years since, at least 21 other states have implemented similar campaigns. This Act establishes the Delaware Gun Shop Project. The Gun Shop Project's primary purpose is to develop, create, and provide suicide prevention education materials and training, to be made available for dealers and consumers of licensed deadly weapons in Delaware. The Delaware Suicide Prevention Coalition will oversee the Gun Shop Project and include the Project's annual report in the Coalition's annual report. The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, which staff the Coalition, will staff the Gun Shop Project. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Currently the Delaware Code does not permit alcoholic beverage license holders to brew hard seltzers or other non-malt based products that they are otherwise allowed to brew as a result of obtaining a Federal Brewer’s Notice. This Act permits Delaware brewery-pub and microbrewery license holders to brew, bottle and sell hard seltzers and other fermented beverages made from malt substitutes and includes specific tax on fermented beverages. The language of the Act also mirrors the federal definition of a malt-substitute product.

The National League of Families POW/MIA flag is a “symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoners, missing, or unaccounted for in all U.S. wars” 36. U.S.C. § 902. In 1989, the United States required the National League of Families POW/MIA flag be flown on Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and Veterans Day. In 1991, Delaware enacted Senate Bill No. 87, Chapter 88 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware, which required certain state buildings to fly the POW/MIA flag each day. Senate Bill No. 87 was not drafted as an amendment to the Delaware Code and so was not included in the Delaware Code. This Act codifies Senate Bill No. 87 into § 408 of Title 29 to conform § 408 with existing Delaware and federal law in recognition of this State's commitment to our Veterans. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act confirms that nursery stock as defined in Title 3, Chapter 13, Nurseries and Nursery Stock, includes clones and seedlings. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act proposes to limit the Governor’s abilities during a State of Emergency in regard to the Delaware Freedom of Information Act, exempting it from Title 20, Chapter 31. This Act also ensures that the reasons outlined in Title 29, §10003 for the public body requesting an extension to a FOIA request is an exhaustive list. This Act also adds Title 29, Chapter §10008, which states that the Governor may not suspend FOIA during a state of emergency without a showing that FOIA prevents, hinders, or delays the State’s necessary actions in coping with the crisis at hand.

This Act specifies the duty of election officers to establish the identity of a voter by requesting explicit forms of identification. Any citizen presenting themselves as a voter at a polling place, but who is unable to provide an acceptable form of identification, or whose eligibility to vote cannot be determined, may cast a provisional ballot. The number of provisional ballots initially available at each polling place is tripled under this Act. Provisional ballots will be processed under existing state law, as modified by this Act, allowing state election officials to determine the validity of the ballot by matching the data provided by the voter against the state’s voter records. This measure will maintain a citizen’s right to vote, while establishing clear procedures for ensuring the integrity of the voting process and facilitating greater public trust in election results.

This Act codifies what valid forms of identification are to be included with the statement an elector must prepare to request an absentee ballot. It also allows for an elector submitting the statement by mail to include a clear photocopy of one of the valid identification forms with the statement. This Act also calls for the Department of Elections to make an additional attempt to verify the elector’s identity if such identification is not included with the statement. If the elector does not provide the verifying information, the Department of Elections will not provide an absentee ballot to the elector.