Rep. Lyndon Yearick

This House Concurrent Resolution commends the 2026 Delaware Behavioral Health Professional of the Year, Taylor Richey and all of the District/Charter Network Behavioral Health Professionals of the Year.

Maddy summaryThis legislative measure designates May 2026 as Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month within the State of Delaware. The bill directly impacts state officials and the public by establishing an official timeframe for recognizing the disease. Its primary function is to raise visibility for cystic fibrosis through a formal proclamation rather than implementing new laws or funding. The resolution was passed by both the Senate and the House without requiring a formal vote in either chamber.

Maddy summaryThis bill formally designates September 2026 as "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month" within the State of Delaware. It directly affects state agencies and officials by establishing an official date for public awareness campaigns and educational events related to prostate cancer. The key provision is a symbolic recognition that encourages the state to highlight the importance of early detection and support for those affected by the disease. As a commemorative resolution, it does not create new laws or change funding but serves to unify state efforts around this health cause for the specified month.

This Act provides an exemption from state income tax for the amount of income or compensation received for federally required annual training, drills and field exercises, or inactive duty training by an individual who is a member of the National Guard or a reserve component of the Uniformed Services of the U.S. The bill’s provision applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.

This Act cleans up antiquated portions of The Liquor Control Act, under Title 4, by updating provisions that have been in the Code since the 1930s and making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act also creates two new license types: (1) a special event license and (2) a bottle club license for businesses offering creative arts experiences like painting, candle-making, and other arts and engagement activities. In addition to technical changes, this Act makes all of the following changes to Title 4 of the Code: Sections 2, 7, 8, 15, 11, and 22 changes “retailer” or “retail” to “package store” in § 512A, § 512C, § 524, and § 904. Section 1 updates and modernizes definitions in § 101 by lowering the number of customers for concert hall licenses, clarifying that IRS-recognized 503(c)(3) or similar organizations may obtain gathering licenses, clarifying that an “importer” also means a wholesaler or distributor because the terms are used interchangeably throughout Title 4 and the Office of the Alcoholic Beverage Commissioner (“Office”) regulations, renaming a “retailer” as a “package store” and providing a clearer definition, and adding a new definition of “special event” for the special event license created by this Act. Section 2 requires the Office, under § 304, to provide current licensing data on its public-facing website rather than submitting annual reports to the Governor and the General Assembly. The Office already provides the licensing data on its website in lieu of paper reports that become stale quickly. Section 2 also updates how the Office provides notice of a hearing to consider a license application and the protests to the license application by removing the requirement to post the notice on the entrance door of the proposed licensee’s establishment and requiring the Office to mail notice by first class mail instead of registered mail. These changes reflect modern practices. Section 3 updates antiquated fiscal provisions in § 310 by requiring the Office to deposit receipts with the Office of the State Treasurer instead of the Division of Revenue and by requiring the Office to maintain receipt records and make the records available to the Division of Accounting instead of the Office of the State Treasurer. Section 4 allows the Auditor of Accounts (“Auditor”) to audit the Office, under § 313, as often as the Auditor considers necessary instead of requiring the Auditor to conduct an annual audit of the Office. Section 5 clarifies, under §501, that importers licensed as suppliers must deliver products directly to a licensed warehouse of a Delaware licensed importer because brokerage import firms licensed by the federal government as importers are also licensed as suppliers by the Office and act as agents of suppliers. Section 6 cleans up sentence structure in § 508 to clarify manufacturer and distillery reporting requirements. Section 9 removes the domestic sales cap on production for distilleries licensed under § 512E, because no other state has a similar production cap. Section 10 creates a new § 512H that allows the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner (“Commissioner”) to grant to a qualified applicant a special event license for festivals, arts, crafts fairs, and other similar open-air events. The special event license permits the service and sale of alcoholic liquors for consumption on the licensed premises at special events hosted on the licensed premises by the landowner or tenant (the landowner could contract with a promotional company. A qualified applicant may hold only 1 special event license. The licensed premises must meet certain requirements, including having controlled ingress and egress. Also, at each special event sufficient food must be available at all times when alcohol is sold. A licensee must submit each special event to the Commissioner for review and approval at least 30 days prior to the special event (caterers have 20 days to provide the same materials but the Office feels the 10 extra days are needed for larger events), and the appropriate political subdivision must have approved the special event. The Commissioner may suspend a special event license, deny future licenses, or impose a fine of up to $10,000 per violation if the special event license holder has made misrepresentations on its application materials or fails to comply with the requirements of § 512H. Section 11 updates § 514 to allow an in-state manufacturer to donate alcoholic liquors to gathering license holders and require applicants for a biennial premises type gathering license to provide notice of application under § 524, unless the applicant has already been granted a biennial premises type gathering license and has no violations. Section 12 expands § 515A to allow the Commissioner to grant a bottle club license to a business establishment where customers pay a fee to participate in a creative arts experience, including painting, pottery-making, candle-making, or other similar activities. Some of these types of businesses already tell customers that the customers may bring alcohol, like a bottle of wine, on the premises. The bottle club license allows a licensed business’s customers to bring alcohol onto the business’s premises for on-premises consumption by the customer if sufficient food is provided while alcohol is being consumed. Section 13 updates § 516 by replacing “store” with “package store”, which eliminates off-premises licenses for restaurants and clubs because these establishments can now sell alcohol to-go. But the few existing licenses will be grandfathered, just like the taproom off-premises license that was eliminated in 1983. Section 14 gives a property owner or governing body who receives a notice of application under § 524 the option to file protests with the Office by email and updates the Office’s mailing address. Section 16 changes hearing requirements under § 541 so that the Office is not required to hold a hearing to consider a license application and the protests to the application, unless at least 5 persons who filed protests and who reside or own property located within 1 mile of the premises or in any incorporated areas located within 1 mile of the premises pre-register to testify at the hearing. Community members often will sign a filed protest, but then not show up to testify at the hearing. Yet the Office incurs hundreds of dollars in costs, including hiring a court reporter and publishing the hearing notice in 2 newspapers. This causes delay in approving an application and causes the State to incur costs for a hearing it did not need to hold because the application could have been granted on the paperwork. Requiring at least 5 persons to pre-register to testify should help small businesses open more quickly and still preserve a community’s opportunity to address concerns about an application at a hearing. The Office is sensitive to community concerns about license applications and believes that the communities should be able to voice their concerns at a hearing. But the Office also believes that having the option to cancel a hearing, if the persons who file a protest choose not to follow through with the protest, would alleviate unnecessary costs and delays in processing license applications. Section 16 also requires the Office to post the hearing notice on the State Public Meeting Calendar instead of publishing the hearing notice in a newspaper, because hearing notices are already mailed and emailed to individuals who have filed a protest with the Office. Section 18 adds a new license fee under § 554 for the new special event license. Section 18 also adds holders of a beer garden license to the list of licensees required to pay an additional $100 biennial license fee to be deposited in the Overservice Investigation Fund used to implement, administer, and enforce the Delaware Responsible Alcohol Beverage Server Training Program. All other on-premises license types pay the fee and the omission of the beer garden licenses appears to be a statutory oversight. Sections 19 and 21 remove an antiquated provision that permits spouses, brothers, sisters, other family members, and employers to appeal to the Commissioner to investigate, decide, and then prohibit the sale of alcohol to certain people. Section 20 adds requirements for labeling batched cocktails and infused beverages prepared by licensees to § 712, so that customers know the ingredients used in the cocktails and beverages. Section 23 delays implementation of Section 10 and Section 12 of this Act, so that the Office may prepare to implement the new special event license and the new bottle club license. This Act takes effect on the Act’s enactment into law and Section 10 and Section 12 of this Act are to be implemented the earlier of the following: (1) Six months from the date of the Act’s enactment into law. (2) Notice by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner published in the Register of Regulations that final regulations to implement Section 10 and Section 12 of this Act have been adopted. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose or levy a tax or license fee.

This Act doubles the childcare and dependent care expense tax credit for resident households with federal adjusted gross income of less than $60,000 and makes that credit refundable, and differs from HS 1 by clarifying the credit is for residents only (as is the case currently), and corrects the means test of federal adjusted gross income threshold for taxpayers filing "joint" and "married filing separate combined" at $60,000. For all others, the tax credit remains unchanged.

Maddy summaryThis bill formally designates May 2026 as Mental Health Awareness Month within the state. It is a symbolic measure that does not create new laws, allocate funding, or change existing regulations. The resolution serves to highlight the importance of mental health awareness during that specific month.

Maddy summaryHCR 134 is a resolution that officially designates the last Monday of May as Memorial Day. This measure directly affects state government records and public observances by establishing a formal date for honoring military personnel who died in service. The bill was passed by both the House and Senate without requiring a formal vote count. Once enacted, it serves as a commemorative recognition rather than changing laws or regulations.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution adopts a rule applicable to both the Senate and House of Representatives to limit the number of bills introduced by members of the General Assembly to 5 bills each regular session. The rule provides for exceptions for certain types of bills and for a process to request a waiver of the bill introduction limit by filing a request with the Senate Rules & Ethics Committee, for Senators, or the House Rules Committee, for Representatives. The rule requires the Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to keep records on and issue a report by November 1 of each year containing the following information: (1) The number of bills introduced by each member. (2) The number of bills introduced by a member under each individual exception under subsection (c) of this rule. (3) The number of bills introduced by a member under subsection (d) of this rule. (4) The number of times each member seeks to introduce a bill that is denied introduction under subsection (e) of this rule. For purposes of the application of this Senate Concurrent Resolution to this General Assembly, because this session is nearly complete, bills introduced to date do not count for purposes of determining the limit and each legislator starts at zero bills introduced. This Senate Concurrent Resolution also recommends that the 154th General Assembly adopt a similar rule when it convenes.

This is the first leg of a constitutional amendment creating a "Crossover Day" deadline for each House of the General Assembly to send legislation over to the other House. The annual budget appropriation act, grants-in-aid act, bond and capital improvements act, and resolutions are excluded from this deadline. Currently 26 states, including Maryland, have crossover day deadlines for passing legislation between their two legislative chambers.