This Resolution recognizes March 19th as Celebrating Women in Public Office Day in Delaware.
This Bill modifies the impact of criminal history on an applicant's eligibility for licensure. It gives the Board discretion to grant waivers for a felony convictions for crimes committed against a person where more than 3 years have elapsed, and more than 2 years have elapsed for other felonies. The Board is precluded from considering a conviction where more than 10 years have elapsed since date of conviction. The Bill authorizes the Delaware Department of Correction to establish prison barbering training programs. These programs will provide a means for inmates to satisfy licensure requirements while incarcerated and help with employment opportunities upon release.
This Act requires that consumer contracts which contain automatic renewal provisions, also known as “evergreen clauses”, must clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms of the automatic renewal and procedures for cancelling the renewal. In contracts that renew after 12 months or more, the provider of goods or services must provide an additional written notice to the consumer no less than 60 and no more than 30 days before the time for cancellation expires, along with information on how to cancel. This provision allows businesses to continue the practice of using automatic renewals, while seeking to ensure consumers are fully aware of the terms of the contract and are not caught off guard by a renewal buried somewhere in the fine print. Violation of the terms of this Act can result in an award to the consumer of treble damages plus attorneys fees and may also be addressed through the authority of the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice pursuant to provisions in subchapter IV. A business will not be held liable if it can show that it has put in place policies and procedures to comply with this Act, and that any violation of the renewal provisions was the result of an error, and that any funds collected from a consumer in violation of the Act have been refunded.
This bill updates Title 26 relating to the requirements for obtaining a certificate to operate in Delaware as a new electric transmission utility. This bill uses language similar to certificate requirements for water, wastewater, and other utility services under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission (“Commission”). Due to recent changes in federal law, certain projects will now be available to entities both in and out of state. In order to perform this type of work in Delaware, a company will need to obtain a certificate from the Commission. Currently, there are no qualifications defined for the Commission to assess the impact a project of this nature will have on Delaware and its citizens. This bill will provide the Commission with the necessary authority to assess that impact and revoke a certificate in the future for good cause.
Enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act amended the Individuals with Disability Education Act (“IDEA”) by mandating that special education teachers must have obtained full certification and may not be working under emergency certifications. The Delaware Department of Education must stop issuing emergency certifications in special education in order for for the State to continue receiving $36 million in federal IDEA funding for our schools. This Act creates a mechanism that is in compliance with federal requirements to enable educators to obtain a certificate of eligibility in the areas of special education. Educators will be able to meet federal requirements while being enrolled in an approved, alternative routes to certification program. This Act will allow local education agencies to staff special education classrooms while ensuring the educators are receiving high quality training working toward their standard certificate in the appropriate area of special education. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill creates a new tax bracket at $125,000 with a rate of 7.10%, and an additional bracket of $250,000 with a rate of 7.85%.
This bill increases the maximum annual corporation franchise tax in the amount of $60,000, from $180,000 to $240,000.
This Act restores the Delaware Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Program which was eliminated in the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Appropriations Act.
This Act requires that if a home owner association has made an offer under this section and 2 years have passed since the community owner first provided notice of the decision to sell, transfer, or convey the manufactured home community, the notice and right of first offer process in this section must start again before an ownership interest in the community can be sold, transferred, or conveyed. This Act also allows the home owner association to make a counter offer any time a third party makes an offer higher than the alternative price offered by the home owner association.
This bill allows judicial discretion when juveniles are charged with any of the five specific offenses carved out in state code that say a juvenile of 16 or older, or 15 in the case of § 1447A, must be prosecuted as an adult. The bill simply changes the language from ‘shall’ to ‘may’ to allow judges to weigh the possibility that the juvenile may be better served in Delaware’s Family Court system via the amenability process already enumerated in Title 10 § 1010 and § 1011. Four of the five statutes date back to 1972. The most recent change pertaining to the ages of juveniles affected was in 1996 when lawmakers dropped the age requirement on Section 1447A from 16 to 15. This bill also raises the age in § 1447A to 16, as well.
