Rep. William R. Outten

This Act amends the definition of "municipality" in 22 Del. C. 1801(4) to allow the City of Dover to take advantage of the economic development opportunities afforded by Municipal Special Development Districts, and enables such municipality to pledge the special tax levied on the property in the special development district to the payment of bonds issued by other issuers in the State for the purposes of the municipal special development district financing act.

This Act amends the definition of “municipality” in the Municipal Tax Increment Financing Act to allow the City of Dover to take advantage of the economic development opportunities afforded by the Municipal Tax Increment Financing Act, and enables such municipality to pledge the tax levied on the tax increment to the payment of bonds issued by other issuers in the State for the purposes of the Municipal Tax Increment Financing Act.

This Act would enhance the ability of the prescription monitoring program to make informed determinations as to prescribers who may be making extraordinary prescriptions of opiates or other controlled substances, and to refer such cases to law enforcement or professional licensing organizations for further review. The Act would also provide a more usable standard for provision of specified information to law enforcement agencies upon a showing of need.

This legislation will allow Kent County to utilize Special Development District tax financing, an economic development tool which New Castle County already possesses.

This Act revises Delaware’s hate crime statute to make law enforcement, firefighters and emergency personnel protected classes. Nationwide we have seen unprecedented number of unprovoked attacks upon our first responders. This Act provides additional protection for those who serve to protect our communities.

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

This act will be known as the Extreme Crimes Protection Act. This Act revises Delaware's death penalty statute to ensure its compliance with the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United State Supreme Court in Hurst v. Florida, and by the Delaware Supreme Court in Rauf v. State. In accord with those cases, this Act will require that before a death sentence can be imposed, a jury (unless the Defendant waives their right to one) must first determine unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt: that at least 1 statutory aggravating circumstance exists; which (if any) statutory and non-statutory aggravating circumstances alleged by the State exist; and whether all of the aggravating circumstances found to exist outweigh all of the mitigating circumstances found to exist. This Act also revises Delaware's death penalty statute to comply with the United State Supreme Court's holding in Hall v. Florida, interpreting standards set forth in Atkins v. Virginia. This Act adopts the term "intellectual disability" used by the United State Supreme Court.

This Act explicitly allows ground effect lighting equipment on motorcycles. This extra lighting would increase motorcycle safety by enhancing their visibility.

This Act authorizes the Smyrna School District to convey to the Town of Smyrna property located in Kent County, and known as the School Administration Building, to be used by the Town for public purposes, including incorporating the building and property as part of the proposed Duck Creek Regional Library and Community Center at Smyrna.

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.