This Act improves the enforcement mechanisms related to Delaware’s campaign finance disclosure laws in four ways. First, this Act amends § 8040, Title 15 to require that the Superior Court may not grant a certificate of election to a successful candidate for office until the candidate has paid all fines assessed by the Commissioner of Elections (“Commissioner”) for the candidate’s wilful failure to file a required campaign finance report. And, this Act specifically requires the Commissioner to provide the Superior Court with the information necessary for the Court to perform its function. Second, this Act further amends § 8040, Title 15 to prohibit an individual from being a candidate in a future election until all previous campaign finance reports are filed and all previously assessed fines assessed by the Commissioner are paid. Third, this Act clarifies the timeframe in which the Commissioner must notify a candidate that a report is incomplete or tardy and decreases the time in which a candidate may appeal the Commissioner’s decision to issue a fine for a tardy or incomplete report. Fourth, this Act amends § 8044, Title 15 to require the Commissioner to publish, on the Department of Elections website, the name of any candidate who has (1) wilfully neglected to file a campaign finance report, (2) been assessed a fine by the Commissioner for wilfully neglecting to file a campaign finance report, or (3) been reported to the Office of the Attorney General by the Commissioner.
Sponsored bills
Since its adoption in 2003, the Manufactured Home Owners and Community owners Act has proven to be an effective tool to protect the rights of tenants in manufactured home communities. After 13+ years, a number of issues and concerns have been identified y tenants, community owners, and the courts. This Concurrent Resolution establishes a Task Force to review the manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act in order to determine what changes, if any, are needed in order to "fine tune" this Act and support a balance of protections and rights for all parties involved.
This bill authorizes the use of “prize-linked” savings accounts in the State of Delaware. These accounts have been used in a number of countries and several U.S. states to promote savings, especially among persons with low-income and first-time savers. A deposit into the program makes the entrant eligible for a prize. The principal in the account remains untouched. The first large-scale program of this nature in the U.S. was launched in Michigan about 6 years ago, and the program has subsequently expanded to Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington. At the end of 2014, federal legislation was passed allowing federally charted banks and credit unions to offer this type of savings account in any state that does not prohibit it. This bill explicitly authorizes such programs in Delaware and clarifies that such programs do not constitute prohibited gambling or lottery practices.
This Act creates the Complete Your Degree Grant Program. Under this program, state funds may be provided to help eligible students who have completed at least 30 credit hours return to school and complete an associate degree.
This legislation promotes transparency and integrity at the highest levels of our democracy, by requiring that all candidates for President and Vice President of the United States file copies of their federal tax returns with the Delaware Department of Elections as a prerequisite for appearing on the ballot in the general election in Delaware.
This bill provides for research or transplantation of organs and other anatomical gifts as authorized under federal law among donors who have tested positive for exposure to HIV and intended recipients who have also tested positive for exposure to HIV. Delaware is currently the only state that has laws prohibiting the use of HIV positive organs for HIV positive recipients entirely, including the use of organs as part of a research protocol.
To establish more transparency in government, and to strengthen citizens' faith in the election and redistricting processes that serve as the foundation of democracy in Delaware, this bill establishes an Independent Redistricting Commission for the State of Delaware. The Commission will be responsible for drawing the boundaries of Delaware's legislative districts every ten years, following each decennial census. A pool of twenty-four potential Commission members shall be selected by a bipartisan judicial panel from applications filed with the Commissioner of Elections. The pool will consist of eight current or former Delaware attorneys or former Delaware judges and sixteen other citizens of Delaware. The pool must include eight candidates from each of the State’s two largest political parties and eight candidates that are not a member of either of the State’s two largest parties. Prior to selection of Commission members, the following individuals shall each have the opportunity to strike one candidate from the pool: the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Senate Minority Leader. From the pool of remaining candidates, the Secretary of State will draw by lot until the following conditions are satisfied: 1) The Commission will have nine members, three of whom must be current or former attorneys or former Delaware judges, and six of whom must be other Delaware citizens. 2) Three members of the Commission shall be members of the State’s largest political party, three shall be members of the State’s second largest political party, and the remaining three shall not be a member of either of the State’s two largest political parties. Eligible candidates may not be, and may not have in the five years prior to appointment been, a federal or state lobbyist, an officer of a federal or state political party, an officer of a campaign committee, or an elected federal or state official. Commissioners are also prohibited from running for the General Assembly in the election following the redistricting, and from registering as a federal or state lobbyist for five years following the term as a Commissioner. A preliminary plan must be prepared by the Commission for public distribution, and four public hearings must be held before a Final Redistricting Plan and Report is approved by the Commission. The Delaware Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to resolve challenges to the Final Redistricting Plan adopted by the Commission.
This Resolution recognizes April, 2017 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Delaware.
Civil forfeiture laws represent one of the most serious assaults on private property rights in the nation today. Under civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets—often without so much as charging you with a crime. This Act protects individual liberty and property rights by standardizing forfeitures across all crimes, simplifying procedures, and addressing counterproductive incentives in the law that distort policing priorities. Importantly, this Act does not change the authority of law enforcement to seize property suspected of being associated with crime or limit in any way prosecutors’ ability to charge and prosecute suspected criminals. Moreover, it ensures that those individuals proven guilty of a crime do not keep the fruits of their crime. In doing so, it strikes the right balance between the individual property rights and public safety.
This Act ensures victims of crime are afforded as much information as is available to assist them through the trial, sentencing, and post-conviction phases of a criminal case.