This bill authorizes the creation of a Delaware Voluntary Property Assessed Clean Energy (D-PACE) program to establish a clean energy financing program for the installation of energy efficiency technologies and clean energy systems for qualifying commercial real properties statewide. PACE programs are authorized in more than 30 states nationwide. The financing will be secured by and payable from a voluntary assessment imposed on the property benefited by the qualifying energy improvement. The bill calls upon the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) to administer the program and establish a statewide financing program to aid counties in expanding clean energy projects in their jurisdictions. Projects under D-PACE can be financed through the SEU or other participating financial institutions.
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This Act creates Pay for Success contracts. A Pay for Success contract is an agreement between a State agency and either a program intermediary or an investor under which an investor will provide upfront capital to fund a service, program, or economic development initiative. The State agency agrees to repay the program intermediary or investor if the service, program, or economic development initiative meets the performance measures and outcomes agreed to in the contract. An independent evaluator will determine if the performance measures and outcomes are met. If the State agency contracts with a program intermediary, the program intermediary will manage all aspects of the project, including identifying the investor and the entity or entities that will provide the service, program, or economic development initiative. In other situations, a State agency will contract directly with the investor, who will contract directly with the entity or entities that will provide the service, program, or economic development initiative.
This Senate Joint Resolution authorizes and encourages the Delaware Department of Transportation to conduct a Work a Day Earn a Pay Pilot Public Works Jobs Program.
This Act amends the Workers’ Compensation Act to include a provision permitting Industrial Accident Board hearing notices and decisions to be sent by secure email with an electronic receipt in lieu of certified mail. This will save money for the State and time for the parties and their attorneys.
This Act provides that all current employees, prospective employees, contractors and subcontractors of the Department of Labor with access to federal tax information shall be subject to appropriate background checks to ensure that the Department of Labor complies with obligations imposed by § 6103(p)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and by the Internal Revenue Service in Publication 1075.
This Act creates a state mass layoff and plant closing notice requirement law that requires certain larger employers to provide their employees with adequate notice when they plan to go out of business, close a plant, or lay off a large number of employees. This Act requires employers to also notify the Department of planned mass layoffs and plant closings, so the Department can provide dislocated workers with services to assist them in returning to work as soon as possible. This Act imposes greater notice requirements on employers than the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”). This Act authorizes the Department of Labor to investigate violations, conduct administrative hearings for employers who are alleged to have violated this Act, and pursue penalties for failure of an employer to comply with the notice requirements to its employees.
This Act redefines “resident” to mean one who is legally domiciled in the State for 10 years immediately preceding October of the pretax year. This change means that one must be domiciled in the State for 10 years before one who is over the age of 65 can receive the exemption from real estate taxes provided by Subchapter II, Chapter 81, Title 9 of the Delaware Code. This change is consistent with a similar change made to the residency requirements of those who are over the age of 65 and claiming a tax credit against school taxes (See House Bill No. 99, as amended, from the 149th General Assembly; Chapter 71, Volume 81 of the Laws of Delaware). This Act also corrects language in the definition of “income.” This language operates to reference income information that is a year old at the time provided. Removing this language will mean income information for the most recent federal and state income tax years is provided. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill adds to the requirements for licensure as a River Pilot Apprentice that an applicant not have been convicted of a crime substantially related to the practice of river piloting. This bill empowers the Board of Pilot Commissioners to waive such a disqualifier to licensure if it finds that the applicant is otherwise capable of practicing in a safe and competent manner, and the granting of a waiver will not endanger the public health, safety, or welfare. This language tracks that which is already included in most Title 24 boards’ statutes. This bill also empowers the Board of River Pilot Commissioners to discipline any licensee who is convicted of a crime substantially related to the practice of river piloting after obtaining licensure, and to discipline any licensee who has a river pilot license disciplined by another jurisdiction. This language also tracks that which is already included in most Title 24 boards’ statutes.
In 2006, Delaware enacted “Jessica’s Law,” which requires first time offenders convicted of a specified sexual offense against a child under 14 years of age and individuals previously convicted of a Class A or B sexual offense in Title 11 and subsequently convicted of a specified sexual offense sentences be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison, up to life. The specified sexual offenses in “Jessica’s Law” are Rape in the Third Degree (where the defendant engages in sexual penetration with the victim without the victim’s consent or with a victim who is under 16 years of age and causes physical injury or serious mental or emotional injury); Rape in the Second Degree; Rape in the First Degree; Dangerous Crime Against a Child; Sexual Offender Unlawful Sexual Conduct Against a Child; and Sexual Abuse of a Child by a Person in a Position of Trust, Authority, or Supervision in the First Degree (where the defendant engages in sexual penetration or sexual intercourse with a child under 16 years of age). Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Nation Incident-Based Reporting System indicates that 1 of every 7 victims of sexual assaults is under the age of 6. This Act updates “Jessica’s Law,” enhancing penalties for especially vulnerable victims, as follows: (1) Requiring that an individual convicted of one of the specified offenses in “Jessica’s Law” be sentenced to an additional 5 years in prison if the victim is a child under the age of 7. (2) Requiring that an individual convicted of Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First Degree (involving a child under the age of 13) or Kidnapping in the Second Degree (for the purpose of violating or abusing the victim sexually) be sentenced to at least 5 years in jail if the victim is a child under the age of 7. (3) Requiring that an individual convicted of Kidnapping in the First Degree (for the purpose of violating or abusing the victim sexually) be sentenced to at least 10 years in jail if the victim is a child under the age of 7. Additionally, this Act requires the Superior Court to impose these sentences upon the application of the State.