Rep. Tim Dukes

This Act codifies the longstanding authority of Delaware counties and municipalities, under common law, to separately tax different classes of real property if the classification is reasonable and, as required under § 1 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution, the tax rates are uniform for all property in each classification. See Green v. Sussex County, 668 A.2d 770, 776 (Del. Super. Ct. 1995), aff’d 667 A.2d 1319 TABLE (Del. 1995); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Smith, 131 A.2d 168, 177-78 (Del. 1957); Phila. B & W R. Co. v. Mayor & Council of Wilm., 57 A.2d 759, 765-66 (Del. Ch. 1948); Conrad v. State, 16 A.2d 121, 125-26 (Del. 1940). The City of Wilmington has different tax rates for residential and non-residential properties and upon enactment on July 30, 2025, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 144 amended the Charter of the City of New Castle to allow varying tax rates based on property classification. This Act clarifies that all municipalities have this authority, avoiding the need for separate legislation amending the municipal charter of each municipality to provide this clarity. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a charter issued to a municipal corporation.

This Act adds the existence of the Division of Legislative Services and the Office of the Controller General into Delaware Code. Chapter 11 of Title 29 details the creation of Legislative Council, as well as the authority of the Council to appoint a Director of the Division of Legislative Services (Director) and a Controller General. Chapter 11 further states that the Director shall organize and supervise the Division of Legislative Services and that the Controller General may be provided with additional employees to enable the Controller General to perform their duties. However, our Code does not create the Division of Legislative Services or the Office of the Controller General, which are the offices overseen by the Director and Controller General, respectively.

This resolution establishes the Delaware Nuclear Energy Feasibility Task Force to examine the feasibility, economic impact, regulatory considerations, energy reliability, and environmental implications of deploying Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in Delaware.

In December 2024, the Code Revisors provided the General Assembly with a list of potential technical corrections that they identified as they revised the Delaware Code to reflect legislation that was enacted by the 152nd General Assembly in 2024 or as they reviewed titles of the Code. While technical in nature, these changes are beyond the authority of the Code Revisors to make and can only be done by the General Assembly through legislation. This Act also includes technical corrections identified outside of the list provided by the Code Revisors. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage to err on the side of caution because some of the sections of the Delaware Code being revised may require a super-majority vote under the Delaware Constitution. This Act also makes also makes basic technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 1. This section corrects errors in § 1202 of Title 3 from Senate Bill No. 191 from the 135th General Assembly by renumbering the defined terms to appear in correct alphabetical order and by making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Sections 2 through 12. These sections correct errors throughout Chapter 13 of Title 3 as enacted in Senate Bill No. 307 from the 138th General Assembly, and later amended, by making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 13. This section corrects grouping and phrasing errors in § 2103(b) of Title 6 from Senate Bill No. 296 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 14. This section inserts use of the Oxford comma and the word “or” in § 4504(b)(1) of Title 6 as both had been missing in Senate Bill No. 315 of the 138th General Assembly and in order to adhere to Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 15. This section inserts use of the Oxford comma in § 1405(b) of Title 9 to correct errors in House Bill No. 55 from the 143rd General Assembly in order to adhere to Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 16. This section removes a reference to medical malpractice review panels in § 566(b) of Title 10, as those panels were discontinued by Senate Bill No. 208 of the 152nd General Assembly. Sections 17 and 18. These sections correct errors by removing the stray phrase “or projectile weapon” in the future contingent versions of §§ 2105(b)(3) and 2107(c) of Title 11. These errors were created when House Bill No. 357 of the 152nd General Assembly did not take into account changes contained in Senate Bill No. 12 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 19. This section corrects an error in § 1716E(h) of Title 14, from House Bill No. 100 of the 151st General Assembly, by inserting utilization of the Oxford comma. Section 20. This section substitutes “subsection” for and erroneous reference to “paragraph” in § 3001(e)(4) of Title 14 as inserted by Senate Bill No. 305 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 21. This section removes an unnecessary “et seq.” following a finite reference to “the federal Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-134)” in § 3004 of Title 14 as inserted by Senate Bill No. 305 of the 152nd General Assembly. Sections 22 through 24. These sections complete the substitution of “perinatal” for “maternal” throughout Chapter 8D of Title 16, begun in Senate Substitute No. 1 of Senate Bill No. 106 of the 152nd General Assembly, in order to remove gender-specific language as directed by § 211(c)(1) of Title 1 and the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Sections 25 and 26. These sections substitute the indefinite “et seq.” for “through 1396w-7” in § 1304(b) and (c)(1) and § 1045(d)(2)f. and (e)(1) of Title 16 in order to acknowledge the need to comply with all of Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act which has grown since enactment of Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 13 of the 152nd General Assembly which had created the more finite reference to what was then the final section of the title. Section 27. This section properly substitutes penalty amounts in § 1109(e) of Title 16 which had been improperly substituted by Senate Bill No. 216 of the 152nd General Assembly without appropriate striking of present language and underlining of new insertions. Section 28. This section corrects an error in § 2503B(c) of Title 16, from Senate Bill No. 309 from the 152nd General Assembly, by substituting “or” for “and” to make it clear that any of among a health-care institution, health-care professional, or certified peer recovery specialist may assist an individual with creating an advance mental health-care directive. Section 29. This section corrects an error in § 2704 of Title 16 created by House Bill No. 134 of the 152nd General Assembly having previously changed language included in House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill 162 of the 152nd General Assembly by enacting the intent of the latter bill, giving county medical examiner offices authority previously given to the Division of Forensic Science. Section 30 through 34. These sections correct stylistic errors in Chapter 102 of Title 16, from House Bill No. 57 of the 144th General Assembly, by conforming all “2-1-1 Helpline” references to accepted style without hyphenation as approved by the Federal Communications Commission and by making adjustments in line with proper Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 35. This section corrects an error in § 2379(g) of Title 19 by properly striking “an” which was removed without appropriate striking in Senate Bill No. 306 of the 152nd General Assembly. Section 36. This section properly enacts the specific intent of Senate Bill No. 206 of the 152nd General Assembly by substituting “cold weather operations” for “winter weather operations” in § 4356A(b)(3) of Title 21. Section 37. This section corrects an error in § 4402(d) of Title 21, created by House Bill No. 352 of the 152nd General Assembly, by properly inserting “county code enforcement or municipal police” using appropriate underlining of the new insertion. Section 38. This section corrects an error in the introductory paragraph of § 5302 of Title 24, from House Bill No. 386 of the 152nd General Assembly, by making clear that the defined terms in the section apply to all of Chapter 53 of Title 24 and not just to § 5302 of that title. Section 39. This section corrects errors in § 363(b) of Title 26 by deleting words which were removed by Senate Bill No. 265 of the 152nd General without appropriate striking of the present language. Section 40. This section corrects errors in § 108(b)(2) of Title 29, created by House Substitute No. 1 of House Bill No. 356 of the 152nd General Assembly, by adjusting paragraph designations and an internal reference as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 41. This section corrects an error in § 1132 of Title 29, first appearing in House Bill No. 209 of the 137th General Assembly, by inserting an introductory paragraph to this defined terms statute as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 42. This section corrects an error in § 2909(b)(3) of Title 29, from Senate Bill No. 287 of the 152nd General Assembly, by substituting “or” for “and” with regard to documentation of illegal or unbusinesslike practices included in State Auditor reports. Section 43. This section corrects errors in § 6981(l) of Title 29, from House Bill No. 428 of the 152nd General Assembly, by adjusting language of list inclusion as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 44. This section makes grammar and capitalization corrections throughout § 8011 of Title 29, from House Bill No. 439 of the 151st General Assembly, as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 45. This section corrects an error in § 8723(g) of Title 29, from House Bill No. 437 of the 152nd General Assembly, by making clear that the Delaware Commission of Veterans’ Affairs Executive Director’s designee may act in the Executive Director’s stead in performance of certain duties. Sections 46 and 47. These sections make grammar and capitalization corrections throughout the present and future versions of § 8905 of Title 29, from House Bill No. 439 of the 151st General Assembly, as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Sections 48 and 49. These sections correct errors in §§ 573(d) and 574(b) of Title 30, from House Bill No. 324 of the 152nd General Assembly, by making clear that the statutes do not apply if a person is required to pay a tax under any of § 3002 of Title 30 or Chapter 51 or 52 of Title 30, rather than under all of those provisions. Section 50. This section corrects errors in § 4071 of Title 31, from Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill 22 of the 152nd General Assembly, by inserting an introductory paragraph to this defined terms statute and redesignating the terms as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Sections 51 through 56. These sections correct errors in the Charter of the Town of Newport from Senate Bill No. 298 of the 152nd General Assembly by implementing changes which had been included without proper underlining of insertions and striking of deletions and by making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style.

This Act is being proposed in hopes of allowing for additional disbursements from a special fund created by the General Assembly to ensure adequate pensions for affected police officers and firefighters, and their surviving spouses. This raises the pension level an individual is permitted to receive and still be eligible for a distribution from the special fund from $35,000 or less to $55,000 or less. It also ensures that those eligible to receive a distribution from the special fund will be able to do so upon enactment, and not have to wait until the current date permitted under the Code.

This Act updates the Town of Delmar's Charter as follows: 1) changes the time period in which a candidate must notify the town manager of their candidacy from 10 to 30 days, 2) updates a portion of the charter that was intended to be updated in HB 396 of the 152nd general assembly to increase Delmar's bonding limit from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000, 3) updates the language describing the circumstances in which a voter may be denied to include no longer being a resident of Delmar or other disqualification as described within Delmar's Charter, and 4) changes the word "biannually" to "biennially".

This Act amends Chapter 44 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware, formerly Senate Bill No. 159, as amended by Senate Amendment No. 1 and House Amendment No. 1, of the 153rd General Assembly, to delay the effective date of Chapter 44 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware until January 31, 2026, and to repeal the sunset clause in Section of Chapter 44 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware. This Act is retroactive to the enactment of Chapter 44 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware. This Act does not affect or limit the retroactive effect of Section 2 of Chapter 44 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware.

Maddy summarySCR 118 designates October 12, 2025, as "National Farmer's Day" in Delaware through a symbolic resolution. This procedural bill does not create new laws or affect specific groups; it simply recognizes farmers' contributions via a formal state designation. The resolution has no legislative effect beyond raising awareness on that date. It is a ceremonial measure, not a policy change.

Maddy summarySCR 119 is a non-binding Senate Concurrent Resolution designating June 2025 as "Sacred Heart of Jesus Month" in Delaware. This resolution recognizes the religious observance without creating new laws, imposing obligations, or changing state policies. It serves as a symbolic gesture by the Delaware legislature to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus tradition. The designation applies only to the state of Delaware and does not affect citizens, government programs, or legal requirements.

The governance of this State relies on the qualifications and performance of the members of the Governor’s cabinet. The General Assembly finds that the confirmation process is an important step to ensure the qualifications and performance of the Governor’s cabinet. This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment to require each holdover member of the Governor’s cabinet to be reconfirmed by the Senate at the beginning of each term of the Governor. The first leg of this constitutional amendment was Senate Bill No. 15 of the 152nd General Assembly, published in Chapter 278 of Volume 84 of the Laws of Delaware. On passage of this second leg by this General Assembly this amendment will become part of the Delaware Constitution. This Act defines members of the Governor’s cabinet as the principal officer of an executive department made subject to § 10 of Article III of the Delaware Constitution by an Act of the General Assembly. Senate Bill No. 16 of the 152nd General Assembly, which was enacted on September 30, 2024, and takes effect on the enactment of this Act, implements this Act by making the principal officer of the following executive departments subject to this constitutional requirement: (1) The Department of Education. (2) The Department of Military Affairs / Delaware National Guard. (3) The Office of Management and Budget. (4) The Department of Health and Social Services. (5) The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. (6) The Department of Agriculture. (7) The Department of Safety and Homeland Security. (8) The Department of Finance. (9) The Department of Transportation. (10) The Department of Labor. (11) The Delaware State Housing Authority. (12) The Department of State. (13) The Department of Correction. (14) The Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. (15) The Department of Technology and Information. (16) The Department of Human Resources. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when the General Assembly amends the Delaware Constitution.