This Act allows Civic Associations in unincorporated areas of New Castle County to create garbage collection districts for units in their subdivision or housing development and contract for garbage collection.
This Act reaffirms the Constitutional requirement that the General Assembly appropriate money belonging to the General Fund by making clear that funds received by the State or a State agency from settlements or other final orders or judgments, other than those funds awarded specifically to a party or consumer or as attorneys' fees, or explicitly directed otherwise by law, are to be deposited to the General Fund and may not be transferred or expended until the funds are appropriated by the General Assembly. Included in the exclusion, are all funds that exist in the Delaware Code where the law provides for the money that must go to the specific fund and how the money in that fund may be spent.
This Act authorizes the Family Court to interview children who are involved in Protection From Abuse proceedings.
This bill changes the earned income tax credit from nonrefundable to refundable. This bill creates a table for the percentage of earned income credit for tax years 2018 and after. Currently, if spouses file a joint federal return but separate State returns, only the spouse with the higher taxes due can use the State earned income tax credit. This bill eliminates that limitation starting with tax year 2018 and provides that the credit shall be divided equally between such spouses.
The continued existence and dissemination of a juvenile criminal record hampers an individual’s ability to become a successful and productive member of society. These criminal records are a hindrance to employment, education, housing, credit, and military service. This Act streamlines Delaware’s juvenile expungement code by providing the Delaware Family Court the option to immediately order an expungement in the event that a felony case was terminated in favor of the juvenile (i.e. a juvenile was found not guilty, or the charges were dropped). Delaware law currently allows the Court to do this for misdemeanor and violation cases.
This Act expands the Juvenile Civil Citation Program to provide law enforcement officers with the discretion to refer any first-time juvenile offender engaged in any misdemeanor-level behavior to the civil citation program, where the juvenile can be required to participate in counseling, treatment, community service, or any other appropriate intervention. A juvenile who successfully completes the requirements of the civil citation program will not have an arrest or prosecution indicated on their record. Under the current law, officers may make referrals to the civil citation program for only very limited types of misdemeanor offenses. The Act will also allow a second referral to the civil citation program if 1 year has passed since the first referral and the second offense is not for the same misdemeanor. Under current law, a juvenile is not eligible for a second referral until 18 months have passed since the first referral. This Act will also provide access to the Delaware Criminal Justice information System to the civil citation community provider to enable the provider to properly assess referred juveniles. This program provides an alternative to arrest and adjudication, thus avoiding the collateral consequences associated with a criminal record while still allowing the system to compel the juvenile and the juvenile’s family to seek and participate in appropriate services to address root causes of delinquent behavior. The expansion of the civil citation program under this Act is consistent with the mission of the juvenile justice system, which is the rehabilitation and treatment of juveniles, not punishment. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill appoints the Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security as Chair of the DPAC and removes the President Pro Tem and the Speaker of the House from the Commission. This bill also makes technical corrections in conformance with the Legislative Drafting Manual and clarifies that members may appoint a designee to serve in their place and at their pleasure.
Currently there are 17 "check-boxes" on the Delaware personal income tax return where taxpayers may designate a portion of their refund or send additional money with their payment due to be credited as a charitable donation to various organizations. The number of organizations has continued to grow over the years without any charities being removed. As a result, a relatively stable total amount of donations is being spread across a larger number of causes, reducing the utility for any single charity and increasing the administrative burden on the Division of Revenue. This bill eliminates the two lowest grossing charitable funds - for the US Olympic Committee and for the Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund, and replaces them with Funds for the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children and the United Way of Delaware. It also adds a provision to the code capping the number of permissible charity check-offs on the return at 21.
This Substitute Act does all of the following: (1) Expresses the General Assembly's and Governor's opposition to the 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program ("Draft Proposed Program"). (2) Requests the Department of Justice review the Draft Proposed Program, and any other actions taken by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior targeted at approving an oil and gas leasing program, and take any appropriate legal steps to prevent the sale of oil and gas leases off the coast of the State of Delaware. (3) Directs the Department and the Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board to enforce compliance with the Coastal Zone Act. (4) Directs the Department to review Delaware law to ensure these laws properly reflect Delaware's environmental policy objectives for purposes of their use in the consistency review process under the Coastal Zone Management Act. (5) Directs the Department to report to the Chair of the Senate Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee and the Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee any legislative changes that are identified as necessary. This Substitute Act differs from the original Act in that it replaces Section 2 and 3 of the original Act with a new Section 2 that provides the Department of Justice with more flexibility to prevent the sale of oil and gas leases off Delaware’s coast.
This Act prohibits drilling for oil or natural gas in Delaware’s coastal zone and territorial waters and precludes DNREC from issuing any permits in connection with the development of offshore drilling infrastructure, whether proposed for Delaware territorial waters or waters outside of the State.
