Rep. Rich Collins

Section 1 of this Act increases the standard deduction for personal income tax purposes of resident individuals and spouses of this State for tax years beginning after December 31, 2023. Section 3 of this Act increases the monetary filing thresholds resulting from the increases the standard deduction under Section 1. Sections 2 and 4 of this Act increase the refundable earned income tax credit to 7.5% of the corresponding federal earned income tax credit for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, and clarify that a previously enacted refundable earned income tax credit of 4.5% of the corresponding federal earned income tax credit took effect for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021.

This Act is a substitute for House Bill No. 167. Like House Bill No. 167, this Act establishes school resource officer units to fund school resources officers in all Delaware public schools. Specifically, this Act funds at least 1 school resource officer in each charter school and in each school in a school district, regardless of enrollment, and provides for additional school resource officers for schools with over 1,000 students. This Act differs from House Bill No. 167 by defining "school resource officer" to include constables commissioned under Chapter 56 of Title 24 of the Delaware Code.

The state’s pre-application process for land use process, known as PLUS, was created 20 years ago and has served to increase coordination among state and local agencies. In doing so, it has fulfilled its intent of providing predictability and consistency for the development community, especially in the area of major projects. Given that success, this bill assists in expediting the process for economic development projects in the State of Delaware with some exemptions from the PLUS process. A project located in Investment Level 1 or 2 under the Strategies for State Policies and Spending that is consistent with local zoning and any local comprehensive plan that will create full-time jobs is exempt from the pre-application process unless required by the local government or requested by the applicant.

This Act amends the Senior Tax Credit to $1000 for Real Property valued less than $500,000, $500 for Real Property valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000. This Credit will not be extended to Real Property valued above $1,000,000.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution proclaims Monday, June 12, 2023, as “Women Veterans Day” in the State of Delaware.

House Bill No. 66 adds required information to annual reports issued by the Department of Education (Department), currently known as School Performance Data Reports, and which are available on the Department’s website as the Delaware Report Card. Like House Bill No. 66, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 66 adds the following requirements: 1. That there is a link to these reports on both the home page of the Department’s website and the school choice website. 2. That these reports include a list of career pathways offered at a high school and must continue to include proficiency rates. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 66 reflects that the Department provides more education-related data than the annual reports required under existing law and that the Department has already made changes to their website in response to House Bill No. 66. The changes the Department has made makes education-related data more user friendly for the public, including links to the reports from more webpages and instructional videos to help people use the data. Specifically, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 66 differs from House Bill No. 66 as follows: 1. Does not require the ability to generate side-by-side comparisons of the Education Profiles for multiple schools or school districts so that data for multiple entities can be reviewed at the same time. This requirement is being removed because changes have been made to make these comparisons more accessible and because of the cost required to generate the side-by-side comparisons. 2. Changes the term “Education Profile” to “education-related data” to reflect the broad range of data that the Department publishes, in addition to the annual reports required under existing State and federal law. 3. Does not delay implementation of the new requirements. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual which includes revisions to clarify repetitive, confusing, or contradictory language.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution designates the month of May 2023 as "Lyme Disease Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution supports a forthcoming federal resolution recognizing Thomas Garrett as a heroic abolitionist.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes May 11, 2023 as Delaware Local Government Day in the State of Delaware.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Delaware State Police and recognizes them for their service to the citizens of Delaware.