Rep. John J. Viola

This concurrent resolution thanks the Career and Technical Student Organizations for their presentation of geraniums. This concurrent resolution also extends the General Assembly's best wishes for continued success to these exemplary students.

The intent of this act is to promote agritourism activities within this State by broadly defining what constitutes agritourism.

This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment that would add the Chief Magistrate to the Court on the Judiciary. Like all judges within the state, the judges of the Justice of the Peace Court are subject to the jurisdiction of the Court on the Judiciary. This amendment makes it so that the presiding judge of each of the six state courts serves as a member.

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 Concurrent Resolution recognizes The Committee of 100 on the 50th anniversary of its founding.

Sections 1-4 clarify the type of supervised experience applicants are required to obtain in order to be qualified for licensure and eliminates the requirement that reciprocal applicants be certified by a national organization prior to being qualified for licensure. Additionally, section 2 eliminates a pending criminal charge as a basis to deny licensure. Section 5 changes the law governing chemical dependency professionals to eliminate a pending criminal charge as a basis to deny licensure. Sections 6-9 clarify the type of supervised experience applicants are required to obtain in order to be qualified for licensure and eliminates the requirement that reciprocal applicants be certified by a national organization prior to being qualified for licensure. Additionally, section 7 eliminates a pending criminal charge as a basis to deny licensure.

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 Act is the second leg of a Constitutional amendment to lengthen the time period during which the Governor must appoint a judicial officer following the occurrence of a vacancy, thereby giving the Governor and State Senate more flexibility in the consideration of vacancies occurring when the State Senate is not in session while preserving the Delaware tradition of quickly filling judicial vacancies. The first leg, Senate Bill No. 275 from the 148th General Assembly, was adopted by two-thirds of the members elected to the General Assembly and publicized in accordance with Article XVI, § 1 of the Delaware Constitution. From 1897 until 1983, the Delaware Constitution provided that the Governor shall submit his or her appointment to fill a vacancy to a constitutional court within 30 calendar days of a vacancy when the State Senate was not in session. In 1983, the timeframe for the Governor to make an appointment when the State Senate was not in session was lengthened to 60 days, a timeframe for the Governor to make an appointment when the State Senate was in session was added and set at 60 days, and a provision permitting judges to hold over in office for 60 days after their term expired was added. Since 1897, the number of constitutional courts and the number of judges on those courts has increased. As a result, the Governor must now call special sessions of the State Senate for the consideration of judicial nominees more frequently than in the past. This Act provides more flexibility to the Governor and State Senate in two respects. First, it extends the 60 day period after the occurrence of a vacancy to a 90 day period. The 90 day period strikes a balance between the need to have judicial positions filled quickly to avoid operational disruptions in the court system and the desire to have more flexibility when the General Assembly is not in session. Second, the Act clarifies that the Governor and State Senate may consider a nomination 30 days prior to the occurrence of the vacancy. The Constitution was previously silent on the consideration of nominations prior to the occurrence of a vacancy. This Act also modifies the time period during which an incumbent judicial officer whose term has expired may hold over in office after the expiration of his or her term from 60 days to 90 days to match the vacancy timeframes. This Act confirms that an incumbent judge whose term has expired has the option to hold over in office for that 90 day period, but is not required to do so. Finally, this Act makes additional technical corrections to conform existing law on lines 42 through 44, line 46, lines 56 through 58, and line 60 to the guidelines of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Resolution recognizes April, 2017 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Delaware.

This resolution designates April 6, 2017 as “National Tartan Day” and commemorates the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Scottish-Americans to the United States. When the United States was first formed and the thirteen states selected their first governors, nine were of Scottish ancestry. All the members of the first American cabinet had Scottish ancestry. Delaware’s first governor, John McKinly, was born in Northern Ireland of Scottish descent. Americans of Scottish descent have played a vibrant and influential role in the development of this country. However, not until 1997 was this influence recognized by a single-year U.S. Senate Resolution that appeared in the Congressional Record of April 7, 1997. In 1998 National Tartan Day was officially recognized on a permanent basis when the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution 155 recognizing April 6th as National Tartan Day. This was followed by companion bill House Resolution 41 which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 9, 2005. President George W. Bush signed a Presidential Proclamation on April 4, 2008 making April 6 National Tartan Day. In April of 2008, then Governor Minner issued a statement celebrating the accomplishments of Scots-Irish Americans in the First State as part of a Scots/Scots-Irish Heritage Month. April 6 commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, which asserted Scotland's sovereignty over English territorial claims, and which was a significant influence on the American Declaration of Independence. Canada has been celebrating "National Tartan Day" since 1993. The idea and motivation for creating a similar American holiday was provided by the Scottish Coalition, a group of national Scottish- American cultural organizations.