Rep. Kim Williams

This Act provides supplementary appropriations to certain Grants-in-Aid recipients for Fiscal Year 2026. Section 1 – Government Units and Senior Centers $ 37,093,119 Section 2 – One-Times and Community Agencies $ 47,093,493 Section 3 – Fire Companies and Public Service Ambulance Companies $ 13,258,013 Section 4 – Veterans Organizations $ 839,000 GRAND TOTAL $ 98,283,625

Maddy summaryHCR 72 is a ceremonial resolution honoring the students selected as Secretary of Education Scholars for 2025. It formally commends and congratulates these students for their academic achievements, without creating any new laws, allocating funds, or affecting any policies or individuals. This is a symbolic gesture with no concrete policy impact.

This concurrent resolution designates October of each year as “Dyslexia Awareness Month” in Delaware. According to the United States National Institute of Health, dyslexia is a learning disability that can hinder a person’s ability to read, write, spell, and sometimes speak. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children and persists throughout life with 10 percent of the population or one out of every 10 people in the United States suffering from dyslexia. Children with dyslexia who are identified as dyslexic and are provided with effective reading instruction in kindergarten and first grade, will have significantly fewer problems learning to read at grade level than children who are not identified as dyslexic or provided help until third grade or after. Proper diagnosis, early and appropriate treatment, and support from family, teachers, and friends will greatly increase a child’s academic success and self-esteem; however, it is never too late for adults with dyslexia to learn to read, and process and express information more efficiently. October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month, reminding students and their parents that living with dyslexia can be tackled with early intervention. Each year during the month of October, conferences are held around the United States to promote awareness, research, and early identification of dyslexia.

This Act gives a county, upon a county-wide reassessment of real property under § 8306(b) of Title 9, the authority to adopt an ordinance modifying the school property tax exemption amounts that were put in place on or before January 1, 1998. In doing so, this Act protects seniors and individuals with disabilities from significant school tax increases related to county-wide reassessments of property values.

Section 4 of this Act requires a paid elected official or paid appointed official of this State or any political subdivision of this State (“official”) who is also employed by a state agency or a political subdivision of this State to disclose the dual employment to the Public Integrity Commission (“Commission”). This disclosure will assist the Commission and the State Auditor in evaluating if the official is receiving dual public compensation for coincident hours of work and requires the Commission to report to the official’s employer of any finding of dual compensation. Sections 1 through 3 of this Act make technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including by creating definitions to ensure consistent usage of terms and by redrafting existing law to use active voice to ensure clarity of duties and obligations of officials and state agencies or political subdivisions of this State that employ officials. Section 5 of this Act makes clear that an individual serving as an official on the effective date of this Act must disclose any dual employment within 15 days after the enactment of this Act. Section 6 of this Act provides that this Act takes effect 1 year after the Act’s enactment into law.

This Act requires an institution of higher education that receives funding from this State to keep and provide records for an elected or appointed official who is employed by the institution of higher education. The University of Delaware and Delaware State University are to comply with this Act for employees who are paid in whole or in part with State funds. If the State Auditor finds that an institution of higher education is knowingly in violation of this Act, the State Auditor may impose an administrative penalty on the institution of higher education and shall report the violation and amount of administrative penalty imposed to the Public Integrity Commission, Department of Justice, and the Office of the Controller General.

Maddy summaryHCR 41 is a concurrent resolution that commends Shelby Borst of the Colonial School District for being selected as Delaware's State Teacher of the Year for 2025. It also recognizes and commends each school district's Teacher of the Year.

Maddy summaryHouse Concurrent Resolution 46 officially recognizes the week of May 5-9, 2025, as "Teacher Appreciation Week," aiming to formally acknowledge the contributions of teachers.

This Act makes the following changes to human trafficking law: (1) It adds “patronizing a victim of sexual servitude” and “ trafficking of persons for use of body parts” to the offenses that may serve as a predicate for forfeiture of property under the trafficking statute. (2) It removes an obsolete reference to charging a minor with delinquency for engaging in prostitution. The Criminal Code was revised in 2019 to define prostitution as a crime that may be committed only by a person who is 18 years of age or older. (3) It adds conduct constituting a human trafficking offense to the list of conduct that constitutes “abuse” for purposes of obtaining a protective order in Family Court.

Section 1 of this Act allows the Department of Insurance to retain a portion of the licensing fees for insurance professionals in the Regulatory Revolving Fund. Section 1 of this bill also increases the maximum unencumbered balance that the Commissioner shall maintain in the Insurance Commissioner Regulatory Revolving Fund to $5,000,000. The previous balance was set by the General Assembly in 2005. Finally, Section 1 of this Act requires that any unencumbered balance in the Regulatory Revolving Fund in excess of $5,000,000 at the end of each fiscal year be transferred to the General Fund. Section 2 of this Act increases the licensing fees for insurance professionals by $25 and makes certain technical corrections. Sections 3 and 4 of this Act centralize licensing fees within one statutory provision (§ 701). These changes are necessary to reflect the growth of the Department operating budget and to cover further operating expenses realized as a result of additional statutory duties executed by the Insurance Department. The retention of these funds will ensure that the Department continues providing high-level services to the consumers of Delaware, maintains necessary staffing to satisfy NAIC accreditation standards, and avoids federal preemption.