Sen. Stephanie Hansen

This bill will add a new check-off donation box on the Delaware personal income tax return whereby individuals may choose to donate a portion of their tax refund, or designate an amount in addition to the tax they owe that will be transferred by the Division of Revenue to the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund held by the Delaware Community Foundation, who in turn will deposit the funds to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.

This bill creates certificates of rehabilitation, an essential resource states can offer to support reentry, and promote public safety, by lifting statutory bars to jobs, licenses or other necessities such as housing that result from a conviction history. Certificates may be used to provide a way for qualified people with criminal records to demonstrate rehabilitation or a commitment to rehabilitation. At least six states currently have laws authorizing certificates of rehabilitation or other similar means of removing legal barriers arising from a criminal record separate and apart from seeking a governor pardon. This bill creates certificates of rehabilitation to restore the rights of people with criminal records who have paid their debt to society.

In 2017, 44,889 failure to pay capias issued for people who did not pay a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution imposed for a non-felony offense. In the first 6 months of 2018, there were a total of 5,807 admissions to detention at all Level V facilities. Of these admissions, 129 were for failure to pay only and 595 were for failure to pay and another charge. When a capias is issued for nonpayment of a fine, courts currently may and do impose fees to cancel the warrant. When defendants are late paying their fines, the courts’ clerks also must forward the defendant’s name to the Department of Transportation’s Division of Motor Vehicles for license suspension. This Act prohibits a court or the Department of Transportation from suspending a driver’s license for nonpayment of a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution and from charging a penalty, assessment, or fee to a defendant for the cancellation of a warrant issued due to the defendant’s nonpayment of a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution. This Act also prohibits a court from imposing an additional fee on a defendant for payments that are made at designated periodic intervals or late, or when probation is ordered to supervise a defendant’s payment. Nothing in this Act precludes the court from filing contempt charges against defendants who willfully fail to pay their fines imposed after their ability to pay hearing. Further, this Act permits a court, before imposing a fine, fee, cost, or assessment, to consider a defendant’s ability to pay the fine, fee, costs, or assessment, whether an adult or a juvenile, is able to pay the fine, fee, cost, or assessment. This Act also provides the courts with discretion to waive, modify, suspend, costs, assessments, fines, and fees even if otherwise deemed mandatory by the Code. Additionally, this Act requires state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies and volunteer ambulance companies to calculate and report the total sum they receive from fines, fees, costs, assessments and restitution and make a public report of these totals. This Act also creates the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group to review the impact court imposed financial obligations have on defendants and survivors of crime and make recommendations to promote access, fairness, and transparency in the imposition and collection of court imposed financial obligations. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act eliminates the set bargaining unit classifications established in 19 Del. C. § 1311A(b) and allows exclusive representatives of bargaining units to work with the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources to organize or consolidate bargaining units in a manner in which they can agree for purposes of collective bargaining. It also eliminates the requirement that exclusive bargaining representatives of exclusive bargaining units form a coalition for collective bargaining. The Act eliminates the provision allowing for an employee organization to seek to be certified for unrepresented employees. The Act provides that parties may engage in collective bargaining for compensation in conjunction with or separately from collective bargaining for terms and conditions. It requires that the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements be staggered over time while providing that collective bargaining agreements currently in place remain in place until they expire by their own terms. While the Act allows for exclusive representatives to bargain for different pay rate increases, it prohibits the compensation of bargaining units from exceeding the pay ranges for each pay grade as established each year in the appropriations act. In addition, it retains the existing scope of bargaining contained in 19 Del.C. Section 1311A(a). Finally, this Act makes technical revisions to conform with the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Employment for formerly incarcerated individuals is a major barrier to transitioning and re-entering the community. The National Institute of Justice estimates that 60% of ex-offenders are jobless one year after their release. Improving access to employment opportunities for ex-offenders helps lower the State’s recidivism rates and will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer spending on prisons. This Act seeks to improve access to employment for formerly incarcerated individuals by establishing the Ex-Offender Employment Opportunity Tax Credit that offers a tax credit to employers hiring qualified ex-offenders in an amount equal to 10% of that individuals wages, with a maximum credit of $1500.

This Act facilitates electric vehicle and grid-integrated electric vehicle interconnection by including the Society of Automotive Engineers industrial safety standard, J3072, which sets safety requirements for electric vehicles that provide power from their batteries back to the electric grid. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This concurrent resolution proclaims May 8, 2019, as “Early Childhood Advocacy Day” to affirm the importance of quality early learning for every citizen and every sector of our State, to celebrate the accomplishments of the past year, and to rededicate ourselves to our shared responsibility for the construction and support of a Delaware early childhood system that will positively impact children, families, communities, and workforce and economic development across the State.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes Ramadan and Muslim residents of this State as they observe Ramadan.

This act designates rescue dogs as the official state dog.

This legislation clarifies the type of signage that can be installed along or within the control zone of a designated Delaware Byway and puts the state into compliance with federal regulations.