Rep. Bill Bush

This Act increases funding for preschool children with disabilities who are not counted in either “intensive” or “complex” special education units by revising the current ratio of 12.8 students per unit to 8.4 students per unit for children 3 years of age and older enrolled in a preschool program. This is the same ratio that will be in effect for K-3 basic special education after the passage of HB86 in 2021. The Act also creates a new “preschool 2” unit with a ratio of 7 students per unit. This is to accommodate 2-year-olds with disabilities who are enrolled in school district programs. The Office of Child Care Licensing requires a 1:7 ratio for classrooms that have 2-year-olds in them. The preschool funding change is effective July 1, 2022.

This Act allows Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party to vote in a political party's primary election. Currently there are approximately 170,000 registered Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party. Members of a political party are not allowed to crossover and vote in another political party's primary election.

This Resolution expresses the General Assembly's strong support for Ukraine in its war against the invasion by the Russian Federation (“Russia”) and for the severe economic sanctions imposed on Russia by President Biden's administration. This Resolution further demands that Russia immediately cease its violent, illegal, and immoral assault on the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

This bill creates a Delaware personal income tax credit, not to exceed $500 per year per individual for interest paid on student loans.

This bill permanently removes the sunset provision of House Bill 1 to allow food and drink establishments who suffered great losses since March, 2020 due to the pandemic to continue to sell alcoholic beverages in transactions for take-out, curbside, or drive-through service and to use outdoor seating for serving of food and drinks so long as the licensee satisfies certain conditions. This bill also permanently provides the Commissioner the authority to temporarily suspend a license only if the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that public's safety is at risk and there has been a violation of the law, and to hold hearings by electronic, telephonic, or remote means.

This Act corrects an error in the drafting of Section 4, Chapter 69, Volume 83 of the Laws of Delaware, House Bill No. 164 of the 151st General Assembly, and makes the correction retroactive to the enactment of the law on June 30, 2021.

Section 1. Section 1 of this Act amends Sections 145(c) and 145(g). Amended Section 145(c) corrects a typographical error but otherwise makes no substantive changes. The amendments to Section 145(g) expressly authorize a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of its directors, officers, employees and other indemnifiable persons by or through a “captive insurance company,” which, in general, is an insurer directly or indirectly owned, controlled and funded by the corporation. The captive insurer may be licensed in Delaware or another jurisdiction. Like third-party insurance, the captive insurance may provide coverage for liabilities incurred by directors, officers, employees and others whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify them under Section 145. Thus, captive insurance could be used to provide coverage for, among other things, amounts paid to satisfy judgments and settlements of claims brought by or in the right of the corporation, even though the corporation would not have the power to indemnify the covered persons against such amounts. Amended Section 145(g) contemplates that captive insurance may be procured pursuant to any “fronting” or other reinsurance arrangement (such as when a corporation obtains insurance from a third-party insurer but, through a reinsurance policy, all or part of the risk of loss is transferred to a captive insurer). Section 145(g)(1) requires that a captive insurance policy must exclude from coverage, and must provide that the insurer may not make payment in respect, of any loss that arises out of, is based upon or is attributable to any personal profit or financial advantage to which the covered person was not legally entitled (e.g., an undue financial benefit from a self-dealing transaction), any deliberate criminal or deliberate fraudulent act, or any knowing violation of law. Despite these exclusions, directors may be covered under a captive insurance policy for certain liabilities that are not exculpable under Section 102(b)(7), including non-exculpated liability stemming from so-called Caremark or oversight claims where there is not otherwise a finding that the directors knowingly caused the corporation to violate the law. The coverage exclusions in Section 145(g)(1) only apply if the proscribed conduct has been established in a final, non-appealable adjudication in the underlying proceeding in respect of the claim. They do not apply if the proscribed conduct has been established in an adjudication in an ancillary proceeding by the insurer or the insured to determine coverage. Because the exclusions in Section 145(g)(1) are invoked only after an adjudication in the underlying proceeding, a captive insurance policy could cover amounts paid in settlement of proceedings that allege conduct referenced in Section 145(g)(1). Amended Section 145(g) makes clear that the conduct of one person insured under the captive policy will not be imputed to any other insured person for purposes of applying the conduct exclusions set forth in Section 145(g)(1). In addition, the exclusions in Section 145(g)(1) do not apply to the extent the corporation would otherwise be entitled to indemnify the covered person under the other provisions of Section 145. A corporation that establishes a captive insurance program may include in the insurance policy limitations or exclusions from coverage that are in addition to those prescribed by statute. Amended Section 145(g)(2) provides that any determination to make a payment under a captive insurance policy must be made either by a third-party administrator or in accordance with the procedures set forth in paragraphs (d)(1) through (4) of Section 145, to ensure that the persons claiming entitlement to payment under the captive insurance policy are not the same persons making the decision whether to pay claims under the policy. Amended Section 145(g)(3) provides that if any payment is to be made under the captive insurance policy in connection with the dismissal or compromise of any action, suit or proceeding by or in the right of the corporation as to which notice is required to be given to stockholders, the corporation must include in the notice that a payment is proposed to be made under the captive insurance policy in connection with the dismissal or compromise. Section 145(g)(3) thereby affords the reviewing court and stockholders an opportunity to consider the use of assets of the captive insurance company in connection with a compromise of such actions, suits or proceedings. However, amended Section 145(g) does not require a court to make any specific determinations with respect to payments by a captive insurer. The amendments to Section 145(g) make clear that a corporation that establishes and maintains a captive insurance company shall not, solely by virtue thereof, be subject to the provisions of Title 18 of the Delaware Code regulating insurance companies. The amendments to Section 145(g) are not intended to prohibit other forms of insurance that would have been permitted under the provisions of Section 145(g) that predated this amendment.

This Bill amends the State’s insurance holding company system registration act to designate two additional categories of documents filed under the insurance holding company system registration act as subject to confidential treatment under the law and to incorporate changes adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners related to affiliated transactions for insurers in receiverships. The adopted changes to the model law were developed to address the continuation of essential services by affiliates of insurers undergoing receivership, as well as the receiver’s access to data and records held by affiliates but belonging to the insurer. The amendments, among other things, add certain standards for affiliate transactions of an insurer that is deemed to be in hazardous financial condition or subject to a supervision, conservation or delinquency proceeding, including that such transactions must: • Allow the commissioner to require a deposit or bond for the protection of the insurer in connection with affiliated transactions; • Require that all records and data of the insurer held by the affiliate are and remain the property of the insurer; and • Specify that premiums or other funds belonging to the insurer but collected or held by an affiliate are the exclusive property and subject to the control of the insurer. The amendments permit the commissioner to require that certain affiliate agreements specify that the affiliate consents to the jurisdiction of the supervision, seizure, conservatorship or receivership proceedings. The amendments also bolster the minimum required provisions that must be included in agreements for cost-sharing services and management services, including to specify that the affiliate will provide essential services for a specified period after termination of the affiliate agreement if the insurer is placed into supervision, seizure, conservatorship or receivership. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill provides COVID-19 related relief to both claimants receiving unemployment benefits and employers who are assessed unemployment taxes, and extends the end date of the Secretary of Labor’s COVID-19 related rulemaking authority. Section 1 exempts unemployment compensation benefits received in 2021 from the calculation of Delaware adjusted gross income so that unemployment claimants will not have to pay state taxes on the benefits they received during the continuation of the pandemic into 2021. This exemption was previously granted for 2020 state taxes. Section 2 holds the 2022 new employer assessment rate, average industry assessment rate and average construction industry assessment rate at the same rate as 2020 in order to avoid an increase in these rates as a result of the increase in unemployment claims due to COVID-19. Section 3 reduces the unemployment tax assessment rate for merit rated employers to the lowest of their earned rates for 2020, 2021 and 2022, in order to provide further tax relief for employers dealing with the economic effects of COVID-19, but does not provide this reduction for any employers who are paying the delinquency rate of assessment because of a failure to file quarterly assessment reports or failure to pay assessments. Section 3 also allows the Department the administrative authority to reduce employer assessment rates below the delinquency rate and provide responding credits, as necessary to correct administrative errors or address fraudulent claims charged to employers, except for employers who are charged the delinquency assessment rate because they have failed to file any quarterly tax report. Section 4 holds the taxable wage base at $14,500 for 2022, which will reduce the amount of wages on which employers pay unemployment tax assessments into the UI Trust Fund for 2022. The Department has determined that the impact of this change on the UI Trust Fund balance is estimated to be $11.4M in 2022. Sections 5 and 6 extend to December 31, 2022 the provision in HB 65, which authorized the Delaware Secretary of Labor to issue emergency rules amending the Delaware Unemployment Insurance Code to deal with the continuing effects of COVID-19 and implement federal programs providing unemployment benefits to respond to COVID-19.

This Act increases the Senior Real Property Tax credit to $750 from $400 as authorized in the Appropriations Bill for fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, which effectively amended Title 29, § 6102(q)(3) from $500 to $400.