Rep. Tim Dukes

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to establish the right to hunt and fish in Delaware. Twenty-one other states have preserved the rights of their citizens to hunt, fish, or trap wildlife. This Act is modeled after the constitutional provisions of Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee. This Act specifically acknowledges Delaware’s valued, natural heritage of hunting, fishing, and trapping, and declares hunting, fishing, and trapping as the preferred methods of managing and controlling wildlife in this State. This Act may not be applied to do any of the following: 1. Affect rights to divert, appropriate, or use water, or to establish a minimum amount of water in any water body. 2. Lead to a diminution or abrogation of a public or private right or of the State’s power to regulate commercial activities. 3. Prevent the suspension or revocation, under a law enacted by the General Assembly, of an individual’s hunting, fishing, or trapping license. 4. Alter a burden of proof requirement otherwise established by law for a challenge to a law or regulation pertaining to hunting, fishing, or trapping the wildlife of this State.

This Concurrent Resolution celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Office of the Controller General.

Establishing a suspect's identity is critical to their processing by law enforcement. DNA analysis provides unparalleled accuracy in establishing identity. The United States Supreme Court held that "DNA identification of arrestees is a reasonable search that can be considered part of a routine booking procedure". Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435, 465 (2013). The establishment of an individual's DNA may identify the perpetrator of "some heinous crime" and may free "a person wrongfully imprisoned for the same offense". Id. at 456. The collection of a DNA sample by buccal swab (cheek swab) of a person is a reasonable and legitimate police booking procedure that should be available for identifying those arrested for serious crimes in Delaware. This Act creates a constitutionally sound procedure for collecting and analyzing arrestee DNA. First, the Act directs that biological samples only be obtained from those accused of committing designated serious felony offenses. Second, biological samples may only be taken from arrestees by the least intrusive method - a buccal swab. Third, samples may only be submitted for identification analysis after a determination of probable cause by a judge at a preliminary hearing or a grand jury by indictment. Finally, any DNA sample or analysis of a DNA sample shall be destroyed or expunged from a DNA database if probable cause is not determined or if all charges associated with the arrest of the individual are dismissed or the individual is found to be not guilty. This Act shall become effective upon the receipt of a federal grant to the State pursuant to the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012.

This bill amends the notice provision of the Administrative Procedures Act to include copies of the regulatory flexibility analysis and the economic impact statement. It also creates the requirement of an Economic Impact Statement and what it will contain. Further, the timeline for review of regulations is spelled out with an emphasis on minimizing the economic impact caused by regulations.

Employment for formerly incarcerated individuals is a major barrier to transitioning and re-entering the community. The National Institute of Justice estimates that 60% of ex-offenders are jobless one year after their release. Improving access to employment opportunities for ex-offenders helps lower the State’s recidivism rates and will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer spending on prisons. This Act seeks to improve access to employment for formerly incarcerated individuals by establishing the Ex-Offender Employment Opportunity Tax Credit that offers a tax credit to employers hiring qualified ex-offenders in an amount equal to 10% of that individuals wages, with a maximum credit of $1500.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes Kevin Fitzgerald's achievement of being named 2018 Superintendent of the Year by the National Association of School Superintendents.

This Concurrent Resolution designates the week of May 12, 2019 to May 18, 2019 as National Charter Schools Week and commends Delaware's charter public schools for their efforts in educating Delaware students.

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 recognizes developing trends in death penalty jurisprudence and the American Bar Association's Resolution 122A (2006), of August 8, 2006, by prohibiting the imposition of the death penalty upon a person who has been found "guilty, but mentally ill", as defined by Title 11 § 401. This Act also narrows the scope of the most commonly used statutory aggravating circumstances - those applicable in cases involving defendants with previous convictions for violent felonies and murders committed during the commission of other enumerated felonies. Several other statutory aggravating circumstances have been combined to eliminate duplication, eliminated entirely, or otherwise clarified.

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 bill raises the threshold limit requiring a Building and Loan Association to obtain federal deposit insurance from $7 million to $10 million dollars. This amount was last raised in 2005. The State Bank Commissioner is okay with this change.