Rep. Cyndie Romer

This Act is a substitute for House Bill No. 224. Like House Bill No. 224, this Act narrows the meaning of “firearm” for purposes of the Delaware Criminal Code by more closely aligning the definition of “firearm” with the definition in the federal criminal background check law. The reference to a BB gun is no longer necessary because a BB gun does not use an explosive force to propel a projectile. “Firearm” was defined in the Criminal Code for the first time in 1983 by Senate Bill No. 13, as amended, 132nd General Assembly, 64 Del. Laws, c. 17 (“Senate Bill No. 13”). Senate Bill No. 13 defined “firearm” to include “any weapon from which a shot, projectile or other object may be discharged by force of combustion, explosive, gas and/or mechanical means, whether operable or inoperable. It does not include a BB gun.” This definition is the same as the definition for “firearm” in the Delaware Criminal Code today. During the Senate floor debate on Senate Bill No. 13, Senator Berndt noted the expansive nature of the definition due to the inclusion of “by . . . mechanical means,” which he noted meant that the definition would include cross bows and slingshots. Because of Senate Bill No. 13’s placement of “firearm” in the general definition section for the Delaware Criminal Code, the definition applies throughout the Delaware Criminal Code. When the Delaware Criminal Code was adopted in 1972 there were 9 uses of “firearm” in the Delaware Criminal Code. Today, there are 194 uses of “firearm” in the Delaware Criminal Code (Part I of Title 11). As the number of uses of “firearm” has increased, it has done so with the definition of “firearm” as a backdrop, meaning that these new uses have intentionally or unintentionally adopted the definition of “firearm.” Research reveals no other state with a similar definition of “firearm” in its laws. While at least 2 states had previously had a similar definition, those definitions were removed by their legislatures in 2015. In 1 of those states, Michigan, legislative history indicates the definition was changed as part of the state’s efforts to align its definitions of firearms with the definition found in federal law governing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the system through which criminal history checks are performed. For purposes of NICS, firearm is defined to mean as follows: “(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; (C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm.” See 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3). This Act differs from House Bill No. 224 in that it makes additional changes to the definition of “firearm” to further align it with the definition of “firearm” used in the federal criminal background check law, by doing the following: (1) Using “means” instead of “includes”. (2) Including that a weapon is a firearm if it may readily be converted to discharge a shot by an explosive force. (3) Adding frame or receiver of a firearm.

This is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to conserve, protect and maintain Delaware's natural resources, including its water, air, soil, flora, fauna, ecosystems and climate. This Amendment would create an inherent and inalienable right for all Delawareans to a clean and healthy environment. The Amendment would also declare the State, including all of its branches, agencies, and political subdivisions, as trustee of the State's natural resources. By enacting this amendment Delaware would join other States which have or are seeking similar provisions, in their respective Constitutions, creating the same inherent and inalienable rights for their citizens.

This Act does all of the following regarding suspected human trafficking of children: 1. Ensures the sharing of information between the Child Protection Accountability Commission (CPAC) and the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council. 2. Expressly requires a multidisciplinary response to these cases, similar to child deaths and serious physical injury. 3. Even though human trafficking of children is child abuse, specifically delineates it throughout the child abuse multidisciplinary investigative response. 4. Codifies a review panel and oversight committee within CPAC for these cases, with the same authority, subpoena power, and immunities provided to the system that reviews child abuse deaths and near deaths. 5. Establishes that the Office of the Child Advocate will staff the review panel and oversight committee. This Act also makes minor technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act revises the membership of the State Employee Benefits Committee by removing the Delaware retiree appointed by the Governor and adding 2 members who are eligible to receive health care insurance under Chapter 52 of Title 29 under a pension or retirement plan. The President Pro Tem of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives each appoint 1 of these members. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act modifies the Public Works’ Bidder Prequalification period and changes from the existing 12-month valid period to a 24-month valid period.

In Chiafalo v. Washington, 140 S.Ct. 2316 (2020), the United States Supreme Court made clear that states have the authority to remove or punish presidential electors who do not adhere to their obligation to vote faithfully for their parties’ candidates. This Act provides Delawareans with confidence that the votes they have cast will be honored when the Electoral College meets to decide the outcome of presidential elections by providing for the orderly operation of Delaware’s Electoral College voting process. This Act adopts the Uniform Faithful Presidential Electors Act, which was approved by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill adopts a key recommendation of the Child Protection Accountability Commission Caseloads and Workloads final report approved on November 20, 2019, that Division of Family Services (DFS) caseload standards be reduced from 18 to 12 families per worker. Due to the volume of work generated by a caseload of 18 families, workers are significantly restricted in the time they can spend on critical case activities such as family engagement, assessment of safety, and face-to-face contact with children and families.

House Bill No. 66 adds required information to annual reports issued by the Department of Education (Department), currently known as School Performance Data Reports, and which are available on the Department’s website as the Delaware Report Card. Like House Bill No. 66, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 66 adds the following requirements: 1. That there is a link to these reports on both the home page of the Department’s website and the school choice website. 2. That these reports include a list of career pathways offered at a high school and must continue to include proficiency rates. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 66 reflects that the Department provides more education-related data than the annual reports required under existing law and that the Department has already made changes to their website in response to House Bill No. 66. The changes the Department has made makes education-related data more user friendly for the public, including links to the reports from more webpages and instructional videos to help people use the data. Specifically, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 66 differs from House Bill No. 66 as follows: 1. Does not require the ability to generate side-by-side comparisons of the Education Profiles for multiple schools or school districts so that data for multiple entities can be reviewed at the same time. This requirement is being removed because changes have been made to make these comparisons more accessible and because of the cost required to generate the side-by-side comparisons. 2. Changes the term “Education Profile” to “education-related data” to reflect the broad range of data that the Department publishes, in addition to the annual reports required under existing State and federal law. 3. Does not delay implementation of the new requirements. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual which includes revisions to clarify repetitive, confusing, or contradictory language.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution designates June 9, 2023, as "Freshwater Wetlands Day" in the State of Delaware.

This Concurrent Resolution acknowledges June 2023 as LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the State of Delaware.