Rep. Danny Short

This Act is the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment reflecting the recommendations of the Advisory Panel to the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) on Potential Fiscal Controls and Budget Smoothing Mechanisms established as per House Joint Resolution 8 of the 149th General Assembly (Panel). This Act would build upon the State’s existing appropriation limit methodology by moving the Budget Reserve Account into a newly defined Budget Stabilization Fund, defining rules for deposits to and withdrawals from said Budget Stabilization Fund, and adding a check of the appropriation limit against an index comprised of relevant indicators of growth of the State’s economy. The Panel further recommended that any final adoption of the structural budget reforms included in this Act be accompanied by statutory enactment of structural reforms to the Personal Income Tax by broadening the tax base as initially recommended by the DEFAC Advisory Council of Revenues report dated May 2015 and further detailed in the Panel’s report dated June 1, 2018.

This Act is modeled after American Laws for American Courts legislation that has passed in Tennessee, Louisiana, Arizona, Kansas, South Dakota, Alabama, and North Carolina. The Declaration of Independence announced the formation of a new country that would no longer find itself in the clutches of a foreign power. For over 2 centuries, hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives to protect America’s sovereignty and freedom. America has unique values of liberty which do not exist in all foreign legal systems such as freedom of religion, speech, and press; due process; and the right to privacy. Unfortunately, because state legislatures have generally not been explicit about what their public policy is relative to foreign laws, the courts and the parties litigating in those courts are left to their own devices. State legislatures play a vital role in preserving fundamental constitutional rights and American values of liberty and freedom. No United States citizen or resident should be denied these guaranteed liberties, rights, and freedom.

This resolution designates May 8, 2019 as "4-H Day" in the State of Delaware and calls upon Delaware's citizens to recognize the many contributions of the State's 4-H programs.

This act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that protects parental rights.

This amendment to the House Rules requires a three-fifths vote of the members of the House in order to suspend the House Rules. The primary purpose of the House Rules is to establish a reasonable and orderly process for the consideration of legislative proposals to be addressed by the House of Representatives. Suspension of Rules should only be necessary in unusual situations and should not be the norm. This change will require a broad consensus (three-fifths) of all members of the House of Representatives in order to suspend rules. Since a three-fifths requirement cannot be done via a simple voice vote, and must be performed with a roll call, this change will also increase transparency by ensuring that every legislator will have their vote on the action recorded and available for public review.

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.

This Bill requires all statewide and other candidates that may appear on the general election ballot to disclose whether or not all their State and Federal personal income tax returns are filed and any tax due has been paid and whether or not all their real property taxes have been paid.

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would ensure that legislative business is conducted at a reasonable time during a special session to enable the public to monitor and participate in the legislative process. Specifically, this Act: (1) Prohibits the regular session of the General Assembly from extending beyond 7:00 p.m. on the last day of June, unless the session is recalled by the Governor or the presiding officers of both Houses. This changes the time beyond which a regular session of the General Assembly may not extend from midnight on June 30 to 7:00 p.m., which changes the time at which the presiding officers of both Houses must act to recall the General Assembly into special session. This change negates the Supreme Court’s ruling in Opinion of the Justices, 405 A.2d 694 (Del. 1979), that “the General Assembly, by operation of law, is required to stop its session at midnight of June 30th annually and it cannot continue by Legislative initiative unless ‘the session is recalled by . . . the mutual call of the presiding officers of both Houses.’” (2) Requires that a session of a special session adjourn or recess to the call of the chair not later than 11:59 p.m. on June 30, unless otherwise provided by a resolution passed by a 2/3 vote of all members elected to both Houses. (3) Prohibits a session of a special session from being called to order before 9:00 a.m. on any other calendar day or being adjourned or recessed to the call of the chair later than 9:00 p.m. on any other calendar day, unless otherwise provided by a resolution passed by a 2/3 vote of all members elected to both Houses. This Act does not change the date of or process for “final adjournment,” as defined in Opinion of the Justices, 175 A.2d 543, 545 (Del. 1961) (“‘[F]inal adjournment’ . . . means the adjournment sine die of the second regular session, or, in the absence of such adjournment, the extinguishment of the particular General Assembly by reason of expiration of the terms of office of the members.”). In addition, this Act contemplates that the General Assembly will continue its traditional practice of recessing to the call of the chair to enter a temporary recess of a special session, from which a presiding officer may then recall the officer’s House at that officer’s pleasure.

This resolution recognizes April 29 - May 4, 2019 as "Auctioneers Week" in Delaware.

This bill requires an elected official or other paid appointed official of this state or any county or political subdivision who is also employed by any state agency, education, or other institution, or any other political subdivision of this State to disclose such employment to the Public Integrity Commission (PIC). This disclosure will assist the PIC and the State Auditor in evaluating if the official is receiving dual compensation for coincident hours of work.