This bill lowers the tax rate by .05%. Also, it creates a new tax bracket at $125,000 with a rate of 7.05%, and an additional bracket at $250,000 with a rate of 7.80%.
This Bill enables the use of roof or ground mounted solar systems on privately owned residential dwellings by making covenants or other restrictions that effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the installation of solar photovoltaic systems in Delaware void and unenforceable, regardless of the date recorded. This Bill also explains that it is the policy of the State of Delaware to protect the public health, safety, and welfare by encouraging the development and use of renewable resources and to remove obstacles thereto. This Bill further provides for costs and reasonable attorneys' fees to be awarded to the prevailing party in any litigation arising under the provisions of this Section. This Bill does not render void and unenforceable reasonable restrictions on roof or ground mounted solar systems.
This Joint Resolution opposes the cost allocation of the Artificial Island Transmission Project as unfair and unduly burdensome to the ratepayers of Delaware and urges PJM to join with Delaware in contesting the cost allocation in the proceedings pending before FERC.
A minor child that is a qualifying patient may need, in addition to their parents, a designated caregiver who is not their parent when the parents work and cannot regularly get to school to administer medicine. This bill expands the class of persons who can be designated caregivers to a minor qualifying patient. This bill would allow grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings, all over age 21, as persons who may be designated caregivers for a minor patient.
An individual's housing status should not be a basis for discrimination. This bill establishes a "Homeless Individual's Bill of Rights" that provides rights to protections for individuals experiencing homelessness, including protections from discrimination while in public and while seeking access to housing, employment, and temporary shelter. This bill vests important investigatory and enforcement authority with the State's Division of Human Relations and the State Human Relations Commission, similar to their roles with Delaware's Equal Accommodations Law and Delaware's Fair Housing Act.
This resolution encourages all Delaware departments and agencies to consider citizens with visual impairments when developing, maintaining, procuring, or using electronic information and technology.
This Act makes several changes to the law governing the conduct of members of the General Assembly, as a first step to addressing the troubling ethics scores Delaware received in the 2015 State Integrity Investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. Section 1 removes from the Code the language that exempts members of the General Assembly from the obligations of the State Employees’, Officers’ and Officials’ Conflict of Interest and Code of Conduct rules. It also eliminates a reference to Resident Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Section 2 adds to the Legislative Conflicts of Interest chapter a provision that expressly limits a legislator’s use of public assets for private or partisan political purposes.
Section 1 of this Act updates Delaware’s existing Motor Voter Program to adopt an automatic voter registration process. Currently, when Delawareans apply for, renew, or replace a driver’s license or identification card, they must choose to register to vote, update an existing registration, or decline registration. This bill would require eligible voters to instead “opt out” of having their information automatically shared with the Delaware Department of Elections for registration. Six states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar opt out policies. A portion of Section 1 (specifically, § 2050(b), Title 15) and Sections 2, 3, and 4 of this Act make technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual with no intent to change the substance of these sections.
This Act would remove the broad exemption that the University of Delaware and Delaware State University currently receive under the state Freedom of Information Act. In recognition of the sensitive nature of some records held by public universities, this Act would also add some specific exemptions for public universities. Specifically, confidential letters or statements related to admission, employment or honors would not be a public record for purposes of FOIA. Universities would not be required to disclose scholarly research or information related thereto where such information is of a proprietary nature. Finally, certain information related to fundraising activities would be protected from disclosure. Delaware’s FOIA, as currently written, already exempts personally identifiable student information protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
This bill creates the right for the parent or guardian of a child to opt out of the annual assessment, currently the Smarter Balanced Assessment System.
