Rep. Ed Osienski

This Act broadens the scope of a special fund administered by the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing that provides telecommunications assistance to Delaware residents who have deafness, hearing loss, or speech disabilities related to deafness or hearing loss. This Act authorizes the office to provide residents with assistive devices that facilitate communication or provide users with information pertaining to emergencies. It also authorizes the Office to employ individuals to administer the program, provide education, and manage program resources. This Act adds restrictions on how money in the Fund may be spent and requires a three-month reserve be maintained to ensure financial solvency of the Fund. This Act also requires the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to file an annual report with the Governor, the Chief Clerk of the House, and the Secretary of the Senate concerning the performance of the fund in the previous fiscal year.

Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) offer efficient tools to increase power grid capacity without the need for new transmission lines. Studies demonstrate that these innovations can double renewable energy integration, create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and significantly expand interzonal transmission capacity. By 2035, GETs and reconductoring could help the U.S. achieve 90% emissions-free electricity. This resolution directs the DNREC State Energy Office (DNREC SEO) and the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU) to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of GETs across all electric utilities in Delaware. The study shall assess ratepayer costs, technical feasibility, and implementation plans. DNREC SEO and DESEU are tasked with collaborating with the electric utilities, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the Division of the Public Advocate, and other interested stakeholders and must submit a detailed preliminary report of its findings to the Governor and all members of the General Assembly by December 31, 2025, and a final report by July 31, 2026.

This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 50 creates the Delaware Energy Fund to provide assistance to consumers whose household income is less than 350% of the federal poverty level. Under 2025 federal guidelines, 350% of the federal poverty level for a single person is $54,775 and for a family of four is $112,525. The Delaware Energy Fund will be administered by the SEU and recipients of assistance from the fund will also be required to participate in energy savings and efficiency programs. Only one assistance payment may be made per application. The Act also directs the Department of Natural Resources Environmental Control to transfer 30% of the funds generated by alternative compliance payments and solar alternative compliance payments to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The Substitute also changes existing code language to require, rather than allow, 5% of CO2 allowance proceeds to be directed to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The Act sunsets 3 years after its enactment.

This Act seeks to update the fine structure for major commercial polluters. In addition, this Act increases the amount of penalty funds directed to communities near facilities with violations. In summary, this Act imposes higher fines for violations of the following chapters: Chapter 22 of Title 3, relating to nutrient management programs; Chapter 60 of Title 7, relating to environmental control; Chapter 62 of Title 7, relating to oil pollution liability; Chapter 63 of Title 7, relating to hazardous waste management; Chapter 71 of Title 7, relating to noise control and abatement; Chapter 79 of Title 7, relating to chronic violator status; Chapter 91 of Title 7, relating to the Hazardous Substances Cleanup Act; and Chapter 13 of Title 16, relating to stream pollution. In addition, 40 percent, rather than 25 percent, of the civil and administrative funds collected under various environmental regulatory chapters will be appropriated to the Community Environmental Project Fund under § 6042 of Title 7. The Fund will give priority to community environmental projects located within a 2-mile radius of the violation or infraction. This Act adds to the fund 40% of the fines collected for oil pollution and noise control and abatement violations, under Chapter 62 and Chapter 71 of Title 7. This Act further allows DNREC to appeal a decision by the Environmental Appeals Board relating to chronic violator status.

This Act strikes the provisions in § 1014 (d) and (e) of Title 26, which allow Commission-regulated electric utilities, municipal electric companies, electric cooperatives, and electric distribution companies not to reimburse, credit, or otherwise remunerate net energy metering customers for any Excess kWh Credits at the end of the annualized billing period. Under the current provisions of § 1014 (d) and (e) of Title 26, Excess kWh Credits revert to the commission-regulated electric utilities, municipal electric companies, electric cooperatives, and electric distribution companies, which denies net metering customers the benefit of the Excess kWh Credits. This Act requires Commission-regulated electric utilities, municipal electric companies, electric cooperatives, and electric distribution companies to credit or carry over any Excess kWh Credits for net energy metering customers so that the customers receive the benefit of the Excess kWh Credits.

This resolution establishes the Delaware Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force to examine the feasibility, economic impact, regulatory considerations, energy reliability, and environmental implications of deploying Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in Delaware.

In December 2024, the Code Revisors provided the General Assembly with a list of potential technical corrections that they identified as they revised the Delaware Code to reflect legislation that was enacted by the 152nd General Assembly in 2024 or as they reviewed titles of the Code. While technical in nature, these changes are beyond the authority of the Code Revisors to make and can only be done by the General Assembly through legislation. This Act also includes technical corrections identified outside of the list provided by the Code Revisors. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage to err on the side of caution because some of the sections of the Delaware Code being revised may require a super-majority vote under the Delaware Constitution. This Act also makes also makes basic technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 1. This section corrects errors in § 1202 of Title 3 from Senate Bill No. 191 from the 135th General Assembly by renumbering the defined terms to appear in correct alphabetical order and by making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Sections 2 through 12. These sections correct errors throughout Chapter 13 of Title 3 as enacted in Senate Bill No. 307 from the 138th General Assembly, and later amended, by making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 13. This section corrects grouping and phrasing errors in § 2103(b) of Title 6 from Senate Bill No. 296 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 14. This section inserts use of the Oxford comma and the word “or” in § 4504(b)(1) of Title 6 as both had been missing in Senate Bill No. 315 of the 138th General Assembly and in order to adhere to Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 15. This section inserts use of the Oxford comma in § 1405(b) of Title 9 to correct errors in House Bill No. 55 from the 143rd General Assembly in order to adhere to Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 16. This section removes a reference to medical malpractice review panels in § 566(b) of Title 10, as those panels were discontinued by Senate Bill No. 208 of the 152nd General Assembly. Sections 17 and 18. These sections correct errors by removing the stray phrase “or projectile weapon” in the future contingent versions of §§ 2105(b)(3) and 2107(c) of Title 11. These errors were created when House Bill No. 357 of the 152nd General Assembly did not take into account changes contained in Senate Bill No. 12 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 19. This section corrects an error in § 1716E(h) of Title 14, from House Bill No. 100 of the 151st General Assembly, by inserting utilization of the Oxford comma. Section 20. This section substitutes “subsection” for and erroneous reference to “paragraph” in § 3001(e)(4) of Title 14 as inserted by Senate Bill No. 305 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 21. This section removes an unnecessary “et seq.” following a finite reference to “the federal Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-134)” in § 3004 of Title 14 as inserted by Senate Bill No. 305 of the 152nd General Assembly. Sections 22 through 24. These sections complete the substitution of “perinatal” for “maternal” throughout Chapter 8D of Title 16, begun in Senate Substitute No. 1 of Senate Bill No. 106 of the 152nd General Assembly, in order to remove gender-specific language as directed by § 211(c)(1) of Title 1 and the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Sections 25 and 26. These sections substitute the indefinite “et seq.” for “through 1396w-7” in § 1304(b) and (c)(1) and § 1045(d)(2)f. and (e)(1) of Title 16 in order to acknowledge the need to comply with all of Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act which has grown since enactment of Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 13 of the 152nd General Assembly which had created the more finite reference to what was then the final section of the title. Section 27. This section properly substitutes penalty amounts in § 1109(e) of Title 16 which had been improperly substituted by Senate Bill No. 216 of the 152nd General Assembly without appropriate striking of present language and underlining of new insertions. Section 28. This section corrects an error in § 2503B(c) of Title 16, from Senate Bill No. 309 from the 152nd General Assembly, by substituting “or” for “and” to make it clear that any of among a health-care institution, health-care professional, or certified peer recovery specialist may assist an individual with creating an advance mental health-care directive. Section 29. This section corrects an error in § 2704 of Title 16 created by House Bill No. 134 of the 152nd General Assembly having previously changed language included in House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill 162 of the 152nd General Assembly by enacting the intent of the latter bill, giving county medical examiner offices authority previously given to the Division of Forensic Science. Section 30 through 34. These sections correct stylistic errors in Chapter 102 of Title 16, from House Bill No. 57 of the 144th General Assembly, by conforming all “2-1-1 Helpline” references to accepted style without hyphenation as approved by the Federal Communications Commission and by making adjustments in line with proper Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 35. This section corrects an error in § 2379(g) of Title 19 by properly striking “an” which was removed without appropriate striking in Senate Bill No. 306 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 36. This section properly enacts the specific intent of Senate Bill No. 206 of the 152nd General Assembly by substituting “cold weather operations” for “winter weather operations” in § 4356A(b)(3) of Title 21. Section 37. This section corrects an error in § 4402(d) of Title 21, created by House Bill No. 352 of the 152nd General Assembly, by properly inserting “county code enforcement or municipal police” using appropriate underlining of the new insertion. Section 38. This section corrects an error in the introductory paragraph of § 5302 of Title 24, from House Bill No. 386 of the 152nd General Assembly, by making clear that the defined terms in the section apply to all of Chapter 53 of Title 24 and not just to § 5302 of that title. Section 39. This section corrects errors in § 363(b) of Title 26 by deleting words which were removed by Senate Bill No. 265 of the 152nd General without appropriate striking of the present language. Section 40. This section corrects errors in § 108(b)(2) of Title 29, created by House Substitute No. 1 of House Bill No. 356 of the 152nd General Assembly, by adjusting paragraph designations and an internal reference as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 41. This section corrects an error in § 1132 of Title 29, first appearing in House Bill No. 209 of the 137th General Assembly, by inserting an introductory paragraph to this defined terms statute as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 42. This section corrects an error in § 2909(b)(3) of Title 29, from Senate Bill No. 287 of the 152nd General Assembly, by substituting “or” for “and” with regard to documentation of illegal or unbusinesslike practices included in State Auditor reports. Section 43. This section corrects errors in § 6981(l) of Title 29, from House Bill No. 428 of the 152nd General Assembly, by adjusting language of list inclusion as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 44. This section makes grammar and capitalization corrections throughout § 8011 of Title 29, from House Bill No. 439 of the 151st General Assembly, as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 45. This section corrects an error in § 8723(g) of Title 29, from House Bill No. 437 of the 152nd General Assembly, by making clear that the Delaware Commission of Veterans’ Affairs Executive Director’s designee may act in the Executive Director’s stead in performance of certain duties. Sections 46 and 47. These sections make grammar and capitalization corrections throughout the present and future versions of § 8905 of Title 29, from House Bill No. 439 of the 151st General Assembly, as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Sections 48 and 49. These sections correct errors in §§ 573(d) and 574(b) of Title 30, from House Bill No. 324 of the 152nd General Assembly, by making clear that the statutes do not apply if a person is required to pay a tax under any of § 3002 of Title 30 or Chapter 51 or 52 of Title 30, rather than under all of those provisions. Section 50. This section corrects errors in § 4071 of Title 31, from Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill 22 of the 152nd General Assembly, by inserting an introductory paragraph to this defined terms statute and redesignating the terms as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Sections 51 through 56. These sections correct errors in the Charter of the Town of Newport from Senate Bill No. 298 of the 152nd General Assembly by implementing changes which had been included without proper underlining of insertions and striking of deletions and by making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style.

This Act requires the permitting of an electric substation as an allowed conditional use in a heavy industrial zone under certain conditions set forth in the Act, including that the electrical substation is being constructed to support the operation of a proposed renewable energy generation project of 250 MW or greater. This Act is being given retroactive effect such that, if a county has previously denied an application for an electrical substation that would meet the requirements of this Act, then the application shall be deemed granted provided that the electrical substation meets the requirements of this Act.

This Act requires that a school board candidate and member be an “inhabitant” of the district, or designated portion of a district, that member represents. “Inhabitant” is defined for this purpose as “a person who both claims legal residence and physically resides in a designated area or school district.” Further, the bill provides that if a school board member is not physically present in their district for more than 75% of the days in any yearlong period of that member’s term, the member ceases to qualify as an inhabitant. Absence required by military service is not counted as absence for purposes of this statute. This Act provides that a resident of a school district may bring an action in Superior Court asking the Court to declare a vacancy if the resident has cause to believe a member is no longer an inhabitant of that member’s district. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform to the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act allows the Auditor of Accounts to issue subpoenas directly, removing a requirement that the Auditor first file a praecipe with the Superior Court prothonotary. It also allows the Auditor to effect service of such a subpoena, and to apply for a court order if a recipient fails to respond to a subpoena. Failure to comply with such a court order may be punished as contempt of court. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.