Rep. Kim Williams

A disability pension for Delaware State Police officer and County and Municipal police officers and firefighters is only for those first responders who suffer injuries on the job such as being shot or assaulted while effecting an arrest or getting burned while putting out a fire. Many who suffer these injuries while doing their job protecting the citizens of this State are unable to return to their jobs as police officers or firefighters. Under the current law, these officers and firefighters who receive a disability pension and have not reached normal retirement date must report total earnings from any gainful employment or business each year. If the officer or firefighter receives earnings over the current base pay of the officer’s or firefighter’s rank at the time of the disability, such excess must be deducted from the disability pension. However, such provision does not apply to officers and firefighters who have reached normal retirement date. This bill treats officers and firefighters who have not reached normal retirement date the same as those who have by removing the provision that requires a deduction in disability benefits if the officer or firefighter earns more than what the officer’s or firefighter’s base pay was at the time of disability.

This bill prohibits the use of gender, gender identity, or sex as a rating factor in personal automobile insurance policies. The Gender Disparities in Auto Insurance Pricing Report issued by the Delaware Department of Insurance and Consumer Federation of America shows that many insured Delaware women are charged more than men even when all other factors, including drivers’ history, are the same. Six states have similar existing laws: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

This Act pauses the granting of new school charters and modifications to charters in New Castle County and creates a New Castle County Charter School Reform Advisory Group (Advisory Group), to review the process and criteria for granting new charter schools and modifications to charters, and to recommend process improvements and new criteria that will improve equity and better integrate charter schools into the overall public school system for children in kindergarten through grade 12 in New Castle County. The Advisory Group's final report is due by December 1, 2022. In addition, under this Act, effective March 1, 2022, the Department of Education may not, for a school in New Castle County, grant a new school charter or a modification to a charter until January 1, 2024. This moratorium provides an opportunity to review how the current process and criteria for granting charters can be improved for New Castle County and for decisions on future charter applications to be based upon changes implemented based on the recommendations of the Advisory Group.

This Act makes patronizing a prostitute a Class G felony with a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 unless the actor has been convicted of the same offense in the last 5 years, in which case it is a Class F felony with a mandatory minimum fine of $2,000. This Act makes patronizing a prostitute by agreeing to engage in sexual contact with a person younger than 18 years of age, regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the person at the time of the offense, a class D Felony. This Act also makes patronizing a prostitute within 1,000 feet of any school, residence, church, synagogue, or other place of worship a class F Felony with a minimum mandatory fine of $2,000.

This Resolution designates March 24th as Delaware Women and Girls STEM Day to celebrate and empower women and girls in STEM fields and promote STEM literacy and education in Delaware.

This bill criminalizes the possession, sale, transfer, purchase, or receipt of a short-barreled shotgun and short-barreled rifle which is not registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. While it is currently illegal under federal law to possess or build such weapons without registration and payment of the tax, it is not illegal under Delaware law. This bill makes the possession, purchase, receipt or sale or such weapons a Class E violent felony punishable by up to 5 years in jail.

House Bill No. 96 prohibits multiple service charges for residential trash collection service except if the charge is for any of the following: 1. Late or nonpayment of an amount due. 2. Replacement of a container. 3. Collecting waste that cannot be collected using the container. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 96 differs from House Bill No. 96 as follows: 1. It clarifies that a bill may include multiple charges if the charges in addition to basic rate if each additional charge is in compliance with § 2737 of Title 6. 2. Requires that a contract list the basic rate and each additional charge and the amount of the charge. 3. Requires that all charges in a bill that includes a fee allowed under § 2737 of Title 6 be itemized. 4. Requires 90 days notice before a new fee is added, the amount of a fee increases, or the base rate increases and allows a consumer to terminate or not renew the contract with no penalty or additional fee. 5. Clarifies the applicability of this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill increases the penalties for a second offense of a firearm owner’s failure to report the loss of theft of a firearm pursuant to the statute from just a civil penalty to a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $2,300 and incarceration of up to 1 year.

This Act would permit a new charter school application or expansion to be denied by the Department of Education and the State Board based solely on impact.

This Act amends Chapter 27 and Chapter 31 of Title 21 of the Delaware Code. First, it amends Chapter 27 by amending the requirement that a felon identified as a sex offender on their Drivers License identify themselves with a “Y”. This Act changes the requirement to an “SO”, instead of a “Y”. Next, this Act amends Chapter 31 by adding a requirement that the Court also take possession of their nondriver identification card, and issue a temporary identification card. It also requires the Division of Motor Vehicles issue Nondriver Identification Cards, where no such prior obligation existed, with “SO” on the front of such cards, as well as the phrase “sex offender” on the back of the Identification Card. This Act also establishes the fees applicable to sex offenders applying for a replacement identification card.