This Act revises the Code to be consistent with federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) requires states to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available to all children with disabilities “between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive.” 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A). The term “inclusive” requires states to extend eligibility until a student’s 22nd birthday. The IDEA allows states to limit the age of eligibility for FAPE to students between the ages of 18 through 21 only to the extent state law, practice, or court order limits the provision of public education to all children within those age ranges. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(B). In Delaware, state law and practice provide public education to adults without age limitation. Delaware is one of the few states that has developed a public adult high school, the James H. Groves Adult High School, accommodating those needing an alternative to a regular day-school program. As such, federal law requires Delaware to extend eligibility for children with disabilities through their 22nd birthday. Current statute and regulation extend eligibility to the end of the school year in which a child with a disability turns 21, this Act proposes to keep the established exit point to minimize service interruptions and only change the age from the end of the school year in which a child turns 21 to the end of the school year in which a child turns 22.
Sponsored bills
This Act updates the membership and responsibilities of the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council.
This bill amends provisions in Title 26 of the Delaware Code, Section 1014, related to rules and regulations promulgated by the Public Service Commission, municipal electric companies, and electric cooperatives on the subject of net energy metering. The bill accomplishes the following: - Increases the cap at which electric utilities may elect not to provide net metering services from the current 5% to 8%. - Provides that net metering rules and regulations must consider the reliability, safety, and capacity of the affected electric distribution system. - Clarifies the definition of an “Excess kWh Credit." - Defines the value to be assigned to “Excess kWh Credits” and provides that the value does not include charges for “Societal benefits programs.” - Defines the term “Societal benefits program” to include the Green Energy Fund, the Low Income Fund, and other charges which benefit the public at large. - Provides that Commission-regulated electric utilities, municipal electric companies, and electric cooperatives shall not reimburse, credit, or otherwise remunerate net energy metering customers for any “Excess kWh Credits” at the end of the annualized billing period, and that “Excess kWh Credits” will revert to the electric distribution company at the end of the annualized billing period. - Provides that Section 1014(e)(1) does not apply to community-owned energy generating facilities. - Provides that, if a net metering customer abandons the property where the energy-generating equipment is located, the equipment may remain connected to the electric distribution system unless the equipment presents a risk to the safety and reliability of the system. - Includes provisions for adding new meters to maintain system safety and reliability, and caps the cost for such meters for residential customers at $200.
This Substitute Act creates the Delaware Large-Capacity Magazine Prohibition Act of 2022, which does the following: (1) Includes a clear definition for the term “large-capacity magazine” as an ammunition feeding device with a capacity to accept more than 17 rounds of ammunition. (2) Prohibits the manufacture, sale, offer for sale, purchase, receipt, transfer, or possession of a large-capacity magazine. Violation of this prohibition is a class E felony. (3) Prohibits the possession of a large-capacity magazine during the commission of a felony. Violation of this prohibition is a class B felony. This Substitute Act also establishes a buyback program for large-capacity magazines, to be overseen by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
House Bill 214 enacted by the 148th General Assembly (80 Del. Laws c. 287) expanded the offense of Assault in the Second Degree to include the intentional assault of ambulance operators, rescue squad members, and nurses injured while performing work-related duties. As a result of increasing workplace violence directed against healthcare providers, this Act further defines Assault in the Second Degree to include other health care treatment providers and employees and hospital security personnel who are injured while performing their work-related duties.
This bill makes a person under the age of 21 prohibited from purchasing, owning, possessing, or controlling a firearm or ammunition of a firearm except under limited circumstances. Those circumstances are if the person is 18 years of age or older and an active member of the Armed Forces, a qualified law-enforcement officer, or has a license to carry a concealed deadly weapon. The Act does not apply to shotguns and shotgun ammunition, muzzle-loading rifles, and deadly weapons other than firearms, thus allowing those persons who are 18 to 21 years of age to purchase, own, control or possess such deadly weapons. Persons under the age of 21 may possess or control a firearm for the purpose of engaging in lawful hunting, instruction, sporting, or recreational activity while under the direct supervision of a person 21 year of age or older. This bill also makes changes to § 1445 of Title 11—Unlawfully dealing with a dangerous weapon to be consistent with the changes made to § 1448 of Title 11. In addition, the bill only criminalizes the control of a weapon which by compressed air or by spring discharges or projects a pellet, slug, or bullet by a person who is not a qualified law enforcement officer if such pellet, slug, or bullet is larger than .177 caliber shot.
The Delaware Lethal Firearms Safety Act of 2022 prohibits the manufacture, sale, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, receipt, possession, or transport of assault weapons in Delaware, subject to certain exceptions. One exception is that the Act does not prohibit the possession and transport of firearms that were lawfully possessed or purchased before the effective date of this Act; although for these firearms there are certain restrictions relating to their possession and transport after the effective date of this Act. There are also exceptions for law-enforcement and military personnel in the course of their official duties, and a limited exception for retired law-enforcement personnel. Finally, a person lawfully in possession of an assault weapon prior to the passage of this Act may lawfully transfer the weapon to a member of their family, through inheritance or otherwise. The Act directs the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to develop a procedure for issuance of a voluntary certificate of possession to show lawful possession of an assault weapon prior to the effective date of the Act. A gun owner is not required to apply for the certificate, but a certificate provides a conclusive means of proving lawful possession prior to the passage of this Act. The Department is not permitted to retain copies of issued certificates or identifying information of any applicant. The Act also adds a violation of this Act to the list of predicate crimes for possession of a weapon in a school zone.
This Act establishes a Public Education Compensation Committee for the purpose of reviewing Delaware's educator compensation structure and its ability to compete with regional school districts, Delaware's private business sector, and other governmental agencies and to develop recommendations to establish a new compensation structure for educators in Delaware. The Committee will consist of 13 members, including the Secretary of the Department of Education, the Controller General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Executive Director of the Delaware State Education Association, the Executive Director of the Delaware Association of School Administrators, an educator, two school financial officers, one school superintendent, a charter school administrator, a representative of the Office of the Governor, and the Chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees. The Act requires the Committee to present its recommendations to the Governor no later than November 15, 2023, so that the recommendations may be included in the Governor's recommended budget for fiscal year 2025.
This Act is named for Keshall “KeKe” Anderson. KeKe was an innocent bystander who was killed in a 2016 shooting involving a firearm purchased through a straw purchase. In 2019, in a lawsuit by KeKe’s family against the dealer of the firearm involved in her death, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Superior Court’s decision interpreting § 1448A of Title 11 of the Delaware Code to grant a firearm dealer full immunity from liability, even if the firearm dealer is negligent in selling a firearm to a straw purchaser. See Summers v. Cabela’s Wholesale, Inc., 2019 Del. Super. LEXIS 156 (Del. Super. 2019), aff’d, Summers v. Cabela’s Wholesale, Inc., 2019 Del. LEXIS 524 (Del. 2019). The repeal in Section 2 of this Act means victims and their families may seek relief from courts and juries instead of being denied their day in court. Section 3 of this Act provides a cause of action to enable firearm manufacturers and retail dealers to be held accountable when they knowingly or recklessly take actions that endanger the health and safety of residents of this State through the sale, manufacture, distribution, and marketing of firearm-related products.