This Act brings the Division of Motor Vehicles into compliance with federal law by allowing a commercial learner permit to be issued for a period of up to 1 year. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act is intended to make it easier for businesses and homeowner associations to open their doors and their community facilities without fear of facing frivolous negligence lawsuits from customers, patrons or facility users.
Delaware received significant funding from the federal government under the CARES Act to address economic harm caused by the Covid-19 public health emergency. This Act recognizes the undue economic harm small businesses faced during the State of Emergency closures in Delaware and specifically instructs that 100,000,000.00 of the CARES Act money be directed to small business through an application process overseen by the Secretary of State and the Delaware Economic Development Authority.
In 48 states, the presidential candidate winning the majority of the popular vote is awarded that state’s total electoral votes. However, the U.S. Constitution does not specify how individual states must apportion these votes. The predominant “winner take all method” is deeply flawed in that the outcome is often not an accurate representation of a state’s diversity of opinion. This measure corrects this inequity in Delaware. The proposed reform would divide the state’s three electoral votes equally among its three counties. The popular vote in each would determine how that county’s single electoral vote would be allocated. Such a system would be unique and proportional, better reflecting the will of the individual Delawarean with greater accuracy and independent strength of geographic location for all Delawareans, not just those in the densely populated areas in this nation or State.
This Resolution proclaims June 25th, 2020 as “Korean War Remembrance Day”.
This bill limits the Governor's authority to continue a state of emergency by requiring the General Assembly to adopt and set the time period for continuing the state of emergency. If the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Senate agree that it is not reasonably possible for the General Assembly to conduct a meeting and the Governor determines that it is necessary to continue the state of emergency, then and only then may the Governor continue the state of emergency without approval of the General Assembly.
In 1994 the 137th General Assembly created the crime of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. In the intervening decades, the length of the minimum required sentence of 3 years and 5 years for defendants with 2 prior felonies has not changed. Instead, in 2019 the 150th General Assembly removed the requirement of consecutive sentences and removed the prohibition on suspending portions of the sentence and earned good time. Felony offenses committed with firearms are some of the most dangerous and violent crimes that can be committed by criminals. The trend of leniency is not commensurate with the seriousness of the offense, nor does it adequately protect victims of crime. This Act increases the minimum penalty to 5 years and to 10 years for defendants with 2 prior felonies. This Act also restores the requirements that defendants be sentenced consecutively and prohibits suspension of the sentence. This Act is intended to enhance public safety by appropriately punishing criminal use of firearms.
This Act eliminates the state's portion of the realty transfer tax for closings for first time home buyers with a purchase price of $250,000 or less. The bill applies to a home buyer whose gross income is less than $45,000 or in the case of natural person joint purchasers whose combined gross income is less than $75,000.
This Act allows the owner of a vehicle which has a “check engine” light illuminated to be able to pass the Division of Motor Vehicles’ (DMV) On-board Diagnostic (OBD) test emission inspection if a Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) certified emissions repair technician determines that the vehicle is operating within the manufacturer’s designed emission thresholds. If the DNREC technician cannot determine whether the vehicle will operate within the required thresholds, the technician may issue documentation to the vehicle owner which will require the DMV to disregard the OBD test and use an alternative test to determine if the vehicle will pass the emissions portion of the inspection. Because not all “check engine” lights relate to an emission problem, this bill will prevent unnecessary costly repairs while still maintaining the integrity of the emissions inspection process by using alternative tests when prudent.
This Act permits a school district to conduct on the last day of January an optional unit count of pupils who enrolled after the actual unit count was conducted and certified by the Department of Education. A school district will qualify for one-half of the value of the Division I and Division II state financial support for each additional unit under the optional unit count.
