Sen. Nicole Poore

This Act ensures that the spouses of those killed in the line of duty are able to receive benefits for the remainder of their lives regardless of future marital status. When a surviving spouse remarries, the surviving spouse's benefit is reduced to 90% of the original benefit for the first 10 years after the remarrying and must be reduced to 75% of the original benefit thereafter until the death of the surviving spouse. Spouses of fallen first responders should not be forced to make decisions to carry on with their lives based on financial considerations.

This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment that would alter the continuity of government provisions of the Delaware Constitution to enable the effective continuance of government following a variety of emergency situations. The first leg of this amendment, House Bill No. 380 of the 148th General Assembly, passed both Houses with the two-thirds vote required by, and was publicized in accordance with, the Delaware Constitution. Currently, Article II, § 5 of the Delaware Constitution requires the General Assembly to meet in Dover, unless an emergency caused by insurrection, conflagration, or epidemic diseases occurs. And, Article XVII, § 1 of the Delaware Constitution provides the General Assembly with the power to enact laws providing for continuity of government following emergency situations, but only if the emergency results from an enemy attack. Section 2 of this Act extends the General Assembly's authority under Article XVII, § 1 to disasters involving terrorism, disease, accident, and other natural or man-made disasters. This would authorize the General Assembly to extend the provisions of Chapter 77 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code (relating to the emergency location of government), Chapter 17 of Title 29 (relating to emergency interim legislative succession), Chapter 78 of Title 29 (relating to interim executive succession), and Chapter 18 of Title 10 (relating to emergency interim judicial succession) to emergencies involving terrorism, disease, accident, or other natural or manmade disasters, as well as those involving enemy attack. This change is consistent with the approach taken in at least four states, New York, Louisiana, Montana, and Utah, which have adopted an "all hazards" approach to continuity of government planning. In addition, Section 2 of this Act makes changes to Article XVII, § 1 adopting the interpretation of this provision by the Delaware Supreme Court in Opinion of the Justices, 190 A.2d 521 (Del. 1963), so that it is clear that the General Assembly may provide for succession for those public offices that are not immediately filled by operation of the Constitution. Section 1 of this Act would harmonize Article XVII, § 1 and Article § 5 so that the emergency situations exempting the General Assembly from the requirement that it meet in Dover are similar to the emergency situation in which the General Assembly may enact laws or otherwise act to provide for the continuity of government. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to confirm existing law to the guidelines of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Specifically, lines 17 through 19 of this Act remove unnecessary legalese in and make grammatical changes to the final sentence of Article XVII, §1.

Both the Delaware Strategic Fund (Title 29, Chapter 87A, Subchapter II) and the Delaware Technical Innovation Fund (Title 29, Chapter 87A, Subchapter III) provide funding for Delaware businesses, including new businesses in growing technology-related fields. The Delaware Strategic Fund is intended to assist in the development of startup strategies such as seed capital and incubator programs. The Delaware Technical Innovation Fund is intended to promote coordination with Delaware’s institutions of higher education and the private sector to commercialize innovative products and processes developed by small businesses. This act encourages Delaware’s institutions of higher education to assist foreign-born, student entrepreneurs, who are engaged in the development of new businesses and technologies in Delaware, to provide them with assistance in maintaining proper legal status within the United States. Presently, thirteen universities in six states offer Global Entrepreneur in Residence Programs which have been successful in assisting foreign-born, student entrepreneurs in creating new businesses, new jobs, and attracting additional capital investment for their development and expansion. This act will add a provision comparable to those found in Global Entrepreneur Residence Programs within the existing frameworks provided by the Delaware Strategic Fund and the Delaware Technical Innovation Fund. This will encourage the creation and development of new businesses and new technologies in Delaware, without creating a new program with new funding needs.

This Act amends the Delaware Governmental Accountability Act to make the annual budget process part of a performance management system of strategic planning, performance metrics and performance budgeting, dedicated to continuous process improvement that makes government more efficient, reduces costs and eliminates waste in the process and operations that deliver goods and services to taxpayers, customers and employees of State government.

The Public Service Commission’s (“PSC”) authority over public utilities has been changed by recent decisions by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and legislation enacted in Delaware. This Act changes the statutory requirements for PSC public utilities to remove requirements that are no longer consistent with the FCC decisions and revised State laws but impose unnecessary burdens and costs on utilities and administrative costs to the PSC. This Act also removes an unnecessary administrative requirement regarding motor vehicle dealers. The specific changes are as follows: Section 1. Removes the requirement in § 4915 of Title 6 that an annual assessment be sent to motor vehicle dealers so that the PSC has the flexibility to send an annual assessment and notification to motor vehicle dealers only when the annual assessment is necessary to cover actual administrative costs. Current law requires that the annual assessment be sent even when the actual cost of administering this chapter is zero or de minimis. The PSC has had only 2 cases in the past 6 years and both were settled without significant cost. Section 2. Revises an internal reference to reflect a subsection redesignated by this Act. Section 3, Section 5, Sections 6 through 8. Amend §§ 215, 704, 705, 706, and 707 of Title 26 so that PSC approval is not needed for telecommunication filings for mergers, transfers of control, securities issuance, and financings. The telecommunications industry has continued to evolve and provide competitive services in Delaware. The FCC exercises regulatory authority over telecommunication service providers and recent statutory changes eliminated the PSC’s authority to regulate telecommunication customer service. Thus, applications for merger or transfer of control are typically permitted after there has been no PSC action within the required 30 day period. This section eliminates an unnecessary regulatory requirement and loses little oversight of competitive telecommunication service providers. Section 4. Eliminates PSC authority to regulate “rates changed” for basic cable services. On September 9, 2015, the FCC issued new rules declaring basic cable service to be competitive in all areas because fiber and satellite services offer a competitive alternative. To retain rate regulatory authority, states must petition the FCC showing a lack of competitive alternatives with their boundaries and Delaware has not filed a petition to do so. This change codifies the impact of that FCC ruling on PSC authority. Section 8. Amends § 707 of Title 26 to eliminate the annual rate filing by telecommunication providers. In 2013, HB 96 redefined basic service in Delaware to include an individual access line and residential local usage at a location where there is no alternative provider of telephone service available and switched access services. This revised definition eliminated all basic service in Delaware and the need for a telecommunication provider to file applications for rate changes, which had been calculated using the Gross Domestic Product Price Inflation Index. Under federal law, carriers are prohibited from increasing intrastate switched access rates, so there is no need for a State filing regarding a calculation related to switched access services. Thus, this change eliminates unnecessary regulatory filings. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes June 2018 as National Scoliosis Awareness Month in the State of Delaware.

This concurrent resolution recognizes and honors the young women of Delaware participating in the 2018 session of Delaware Girls State.

This Act permits the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to renew or extend the term of a construction permit under certain circumstances.

This Senate Resolution promotes awareness of the rare disease hypophosphatemic rickets.

This bill ensures that necessary information is provided to the exclusive bargaining representative. This bill further aligns statutory language within Title 19.