The Act, which shall be known as the 2022 Delaware Relief Rebate Program, creates a “relief rebate” which is a one-time direct payment of $300 per Delaware resident taxpayer. This relief is intended to help Delawareans grappling with significant inflation at the grocery store and gas pump. Payment of the $300 will be made by the Delaware Department of Finance to resident individual income taxpayers who filed a 2020 personal income tax return. This payment will be made to each taxpayer, including those who jointly filed. No action on the part of a taxpayer is required to receive the $300. In order to quickly provide this payment to Delaware taxpayers, provisions pertaining to tax intercepts by other government entities and Delaware State agencies shall not apply. The amount received by individual taxpayers will not be subject to Delaware income taxes. Any written protest for the disallowance of the payment of the $300 relief rebate under this Act shall be processed consistently with existing provisions in Title 30. Records of the Department with respect to the provisions of this Act are subject to existing protections from disclosure under Delaware laws. A timely filed tax return includes extensions. This Act also temporarily suspends the limitation on refunds of taxes under Title 29 of the Code until DEFAC refund estimates include the 2022 Delaware Relief Rebate Program. Costs associated with the administration and issuance of payments under this Act will be funded by delinquent tax revenue authorized to be retained by the Department of Finance in the annual budget act. Finally, this Act requires the Department of Finance to establish a process to provide the relief rebate to resident adults who did not file a 2020 state income tax return by identifying adult residents through existing databases held by other state agencies, such as the Division of Motor Vehicles. The Department of Finance will then work with the Department of Technology and Information to implement a process by which eligible residents who have not been identified by other means can apply for and receive the relief rebate, subject to verification of their identity and eligibility.
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This Act repeals the outdated requirement for the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families (DSCYF) to seek approval before “mixing” youth who have been adjudicated delinquent with youth who do not have a delinquency history in the same facility. The mixing statute was codified in 1987, and since then, DSCYF has developed rigorous safety protocols and uses evidence-based assessments to determine appropriate placements for children in the care of the department. The current practices of DSCYF have eliminated the need for mixing approval, which in some cases require DSCYF to seek a court order. In addition, the Family Court conducts regular review hearings for youth in DSCYF custody, allowing opportunities for the department, the child’s attorney, the child (if age appropriate), and the judicial officer to monitor many factors relating to the child’s placement, including safety. This Act retains the prohibition on dependent or neglected children being placed in a detention facility unless charged with or found to have committed a delinquent act.
This Act adopts the Uniform Law Commission’s (“ULC”) Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (“Revised Uniform Law”). As our State continues to recover from COVID-19, chief among the changes in the Revised Uniform Law relevant to our State’s current situation are those that permit notarial acts to be performed for a remotely located individual, an individual who is not in the physical presence of the individual performing the notarial act. These revisions include recent amendments made by the ULC to respond to areas the law needed to address discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the need to have tangible documents ink-signed and notarized and the administration of oaths taken by remotely located individuals. Adoption of this Act will expand on Governor Carney’s authorization for remote notarization to be performed by licensed Delaware attorneys by allowing all notarial officers authority to perform remote notarization. In addition to including provisions similar to those from the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts that provide integrity in the process of performing notarial acts, the Revised Uniform Law does the following: (1) Provides the authority to notarize electronic documents on par with notarization of tangible documents, including authority for the Secretary of State to regulate notarization of electronic documents. (2) Requires a notary public to maintain a journal of all notarial acts the notary public performs. (3) Adopts new licensing procedures for notaries public, including minimum requirements for commissioning and grounds to deny, suspend, or revoke commissions. (4) Prohibits a notary public from acting in a deceptive or fraudulent manner. Current Delaware law on notarial acts is an adoption of the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, approved by the Uniform Law Commission in 1982. This Act would bring Delaware law on notarial acts into conformity with at least 19 other states, including Pennsylvania and Maryland, which both currently allow remote notarization and notarization of electronic records.
This resolution recognizes April 11-17, 2022 as "Black Maternal Health Awareness Week" in Delaware.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation and community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities throughout Delaware for their dedication to serving their communities with energy saving programs and carbon reduction projects. This Resolution also celebrates DEMEC’s upcoming 43rd anniversary and over 100 years of reliable electric service from Delaware’s local public power utilities by proclaiming April 13, 2022, as DEMEC Day.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes March 29, 2022 as "National Vietnam War Veterans Day" in Delaware.
This Resolution recognizes April 2022 as "Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution honors the Meals on Wheels program for providing invaluable and irreplaceable service to our aging population. Additionally, the Modern Maturity Center in Kent County is the program's backbone, delivering nutritious meals to seniors and individuals with disabilities at significant risk of hunger and isolation.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution supports the Department of Education's review of the requirements for educator certification and efforts to strengthen these requirements to include demonstrated knowledge of the essential components of evidence-based reading instruction, known as the "science of reading".
A disability pension for Delaware State Police officer and County and Municipal police officers and firefighters is only for those first responders who suffer injuries on the job such as being shot or assaulted while effecting an arrest or getting burned while putting out a fire. Many who suffer these injuries while doing their job protecting the citizens of this State are unable to return to their jobs as police officers or firefighters. Under the current law, these officers and firefighters who receive a disability pension and have not reached normal retirement date must report total earnings from any gainful employment or business each year. If the officer or firefighter receives earnings over the current base pay of the officer’s or firefighter’s rank at the time of the disability, such excess must be deducted from the disability pension. However, such provision does not apply to officers and firefighters who have reached normal retirement date. This bill treats officers and firefighters who have not reached normal retirement date the same as those who have by removing the provision that requires a deduction in disability benefits if the officer or firefighter earns more than what the officer’s or firefighter’s base pay was at the time of disability.