Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf

This Act establishes the Delaware Agricultural Production Assistance Program. The Program will provide a subsidy of up to 30% of the premium for eligible producers’ multi-peril crop insurance premium, or whole farm revenue protection premium up to a maximum of $10.00 per acre. The subsidy would be directly paid by the Delaware Department of Agriculture to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation on behalf of Delaware eligible producers. The Department would administer the Program. The Act requires the Department to provide an annual Report to the Chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees.

This Act creates a temporary conversion license for existing medical marijuana compassion centers to operate for recreational marijuana purposes, and sets forth requirements to obtain a conversion license and to operate under such a license. This Act also specifies that conversion licenses may not be issued after November 1, 2024 and expire after 48 months, at which time the license may be renewed as an open license.

This Act creates a background special license plate for the United Way of Delaware Pride Council. A background special license plate supports a cause and is available for purchase by the public at large, including members of the organization. The numbers, letters, or both, assigned will be the same as the license plate assigned to the owner’s vehicle at the time of the application for the plate. This Act requires a greater-than-majority vote for passage because Article VIII, § 11 of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of 3/5 of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when a new tax or license fee is imposed.

This Act creates the Affordable Housing Production Task Force (“Task Force”). The purpose and mission of the Task Force is to investigate and make findings and rcommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on how the State and local governments can increase the production of affordable rental units and homes in Delaware. The Task Force shall consist of 20 members some appointed by the Governor, some appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, some appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and some will serve as a member by virtue of their official position. The Co-Chairs of the Task Force will be (1) the member of the Delaware Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, (2) the member of the Delaware House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and (3) the Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority. The Task Force must create, at a minimum, the following Sub-Committees: (1) Regulating and Permitting, (2) Finance and Development, (3) Construction, (4) Manufactured Housing, (5) Community Focus Groups. The Chairs of the Sub-Committees must be members of the Task Force but the members of the Sub-Committees do not have to be on the Task Force. A Sub-Committee may have a maximum of 9 members. This Act establishes the duties and responsibilities of the Co-Chairs of the Task Force and the requirements that will govern the administration of the Task Force. The first meeting of the Task Force must be held no later than 60 days after enactment of this Act. The Task Force must provide its Final Report by March 1, 2025. This Task Force will expire on the date it submits its Final Report unless its existence is continued by a subsequent act of the General Assembly.

This Act makes technical changes and updates to the Delaware workplace safety program. Under current law, qualifying employers who pay $3,161 or more in annual workers' compensation premiums may be eligible for lower insurance premiums under the workplace safety program. The Act changes that criteria to employers who currently qualify for the uniform experience rating plan as approved by the Insurance Commissioner or who otherwise qualify for the program pursuant to parameters set by the Insurance Commissioner by regulation. In addition, the Act provides that in determining safety credits for a qualified employer that was not experience-rated in the policy period expiring immediately prior to application of the safety credit, the formula for calculating safety credits will incorporate amounts determined by the Insurance Commissioner by regulation.

This Act makes several technical and logistical corrections to the Delaware Marijuana Control Act. Section 1 of this Act authorizes the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement to conduct administrative inspections of premises licensed under Title 4 for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the provisions of Title 4, the rules and regulations of the Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner, or the rules and regulations of the Marijuana Commissioner. Section 2 of this Act creates definitions for the terms “conditional license” and “flowering plants.” Section 3 of this Act changes the permissible hours of operation of a marijuana facility from 9 a.m. through 1 a.m. to 9 a.m. through 10 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays. Section 4 of this Act gives enforcement powers to the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement and permits administrative inspections of premises licensed under Chapter 13 of Title 4. Section 5 of this Act removes the power of the Commissioner to create rules and regulations to gather consumer data to track compliance with possession limits. Section 6 of this Act makes the following changes to the application selection process: (1) it removes the requirement that the process be varied to account for geographic distribution or population density; (2) it removes a requirement for an applicant to provide information as to the suitability of the proposed location for the facilities; (3) it removes the requirement for an attestation signed by a bona fide labor organization that the applicant has entered a labor peace agreement with the organization (this requirement is instead moved to the criteria for conditional licensure in Section 13 of this Act); (4) it moves the requirement for the creation of identification badges from marijuana establishments to the Commissioner and permits the Commissioner to require a fee for each badge; (5) requires that employees complete training approved by the Commissioner in recognizing valid identification cards; and (6) specifies that agents of a marijuana establishment are subject to all standards and requirements of regulations adopted by the Commissioner. Section 7 of this Act removes a provision for retail store licenses that specifies that a properly registered compassion center that is issued a retail marijuana store license is considered a business registration separate and distinct from the compassion center registration. It also removes the ability for a licensee or employee of a retail marijuana store to detain and question an individual that the employee believes is under 21 years old and is believed to be exhibiting fraudulent identification to attempt to obtain retail marijuana or a retail marijuana product. Section 8 of this Act corrects a typographical error and clarifies the definition of a cannabis plant grow canopy area. Section 9 of this Act changes the criteria for social equity applicants to remove a Delaware residency requirement and add that a marijuana-related conviction or adjudication of delinquency must have been under the laws of Delaware. Section 10 adds a source of funding that the Commissioner is to investigate that may support social equity applicants. Section 11 of this Act removes a prohibition on microbusiness applicants from possessing more than 1,000 marijuana plants each month and a Delaware residency requirement. Section 12 of this Act repeals a provision allowing for the grant of a conditional license to microbusiness applicants, as in Section 13 of this Act, a new section 1345 of Title 4 authorizes the grant of conditional licenses to applicants who meet specified criteria for licensure. Section 13 of this Act makes technical corrections to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, prohibits the grant of multiple licenses of any type where the grant would result in the applicant or other person with a financial interest in the application owning more than one business entity of the license type, authorizes the Commissioner to grant a conditional license to any applicant, specifies criteria that must be met for the Commissioner to grant an active license, details requirements for background checks, and makes information received by the Commissioner during the application or background check process confidential and exempt from the Delaware Freedom of Information Act. Section 14 of this Act limits the prohibition on the transfer of social equity licenses to people who would not meet the criteria for the issuance of a social equity license so that licensees may transfer such licenses after three years. Section 15 of this Act adds support for social equity applicants with select business-related expenses to the list of areas for which funding from the Justice Reinvestment Fund is to be appropriated to administer grants, contracts, services, or initiatives. Section 16 of this Act makes changes to Title 30 relating to taxes on retail marijuana establishments. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires passage by a 3/5 majority because it authorizes the Commissioner to charge a fee for identification badges.

This Act creates the Delaware Artificial Intelligence ("AI") Commission. This Commission shall be tasked with making recommendations to the General Assembly and Department of Technology and Information on AI utilization and safety within the State of Delaware. The Commission shall additionally conduct an inventory of all Generative AI usage within Delaware's executive, legislative, and judicial agencies and identify high risk areas for the implementation of Generative AI. The Commission will terminate 10 years from enactment unless extended by the General Assembly.

This bill: (a) extends the expiration date for any new issuance or renewal of an ADA placard from 3 years to 8 years for a specific person with a diagnosis of a permanent disability and changing the minimum age from 85 to 80 years or older, (b) extends the validity for a temporary disability from 5 weeks to 180 days, and (c) defines additional medical professionals acceptable to certify a disability application.

This bill will extend the timeframe for a customer to apply for a document fee credit refund from 15 days to 30 days. This change will improve customer service by allowing a customer more time to submit the applicable paperwork.

This Act allows a licensed brewery-pub located within the premises of a public golf courses to apply to the Commissioner for a license to sell alcoholic beverages to patrons of the golf course if the brewery-pub and public golf course share common ownership.