Sen. Nicole Poore

This Act requires that the court consider the existence of a military protective order as a factor in favor of granting an emergency protective order or a temporary sexual violence protective order. It further requires that a law-enforcement officer notify the agency that entered a military protective order against an individual, if the law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that the individual violated the military protective order.

This Act requires regulated utilities to establish a separate rate class for large energy use facilities that mitigates the risk of costs associated with expanding infrastructure and maintaining reliability in the face of growing demand from being shifted to residential, small business, and other electric customers. Wherever possible, the costs of large energy use facilities should be directly assigned to those facilities, and where direct assignment is not possible, the costs should be allocated to the class of large energy use facilities and not to other customer classes. To accomplish this, the Act sets forth minimum requirements for Electric Service Agreements (ESAs) and Transmission Security Agreement (TSAs) to be in place for any large energy use facility. The Commission shall promulgate regulations to implement these agreements. ESAs shall be reviewed and approved by the Commission prior to the interconnection of a large energy use facility and provide a regulatory framework to enable responsible developers of large energy use facilities to enter into agreements to fairly allocate costs among customer classes. The Public Service Commission will consider several factors in determining whether to approve an ESA, including consistency with the Commission’s regulations; whether the ESA and tariff ensure that all costs attributable to the large energy use facility are assigned to the class of large energy use facilities; whether other customers are adequately protected from the risk of paying stranded asset costs; the impact of the large energy use facility on delivering safe, adequate, and reliability electricity; the impact on the State, including the economy, other ratepayers, and environmental impacts; and the viability of the developer of the facility. In combination, the ESAs and the large load tariff shall ensure that, wherever possible, distribution infrastructure investment costs, capacity procurement costs, reliability backstop procurement costs, transmission infrastructure costs, and study costs attributable to a large energy use facility are all directly assigned to that large energy use facility. Where direct assignment is not possible, these costs should be allocated to the class of large energy use customers. The Commission shall develop an “incremental cost test” to measure the revenues and costs from a large energy use facility to ensure that there are not cost shifts to other customers. The Act further establishes interruptability requirements for large energy use facilities to ensure other customers are protected from reliability impacts caused by large energy use facilities. Facilities that construct or cause to be constructed new in state generation may exempt themselves from interruptability. Finally, the Act requires large energy use facilities to contribute to the low income fund and green energy fund at higher rates than other customers and requires large energy use facilities to contribute to renewable portfolio standard costs and qualified fuel cell provider costs. The Act takes effect upon enactment and regulated utilities must file an application to establish rates required under this Act within 180 days of the effective date.

A victim of child sexual abuse that occurred in this State who has been barred from filing suit against the victim’s abuser by virtue of the expiration of a former civil statute of limitations are permitted to file these claims in the Superior Court of this state at any time. This is intended to apply retroactively.

This Act modernizes Delaware’s emergency communications infrastructure by transitioning the State’s legacy Enhanced 911 (E911) system to a Next Generation 911 (NG911) system and updating the funding structure needed to support a statewide emergency communications network. Delaware’s current E911 system is funded through a monthly surcharge of $0.60 per telephone line, which has remained unchanged since 2001. This Act also authorizes periodic adjustments or scheduled increases in the surcharge to account for inflation, technological upgrades, and the growing operational costs associated with maintaining a modern emergency communications system. The transition to NG911 will allow Delaware’s public safety answering points (PSAPs) to support modern communications technologies, including text-to-911, multimedia communications, improved geolocation capabilities, and enhanced data sharing with first responders. These capabilities require significant upgrades to network infrastructure, cybersecurity protections, geographic information systems (GIS), and redundancy to ensure reliability during emergencies. Revenue generated by the updated surcharge structure will be deposited into the 911 System Fund and used for costs associated with planning, deploying, operating, and maintaining the statewide NG911 system. Eligible expenditures include network infrastructure, call handling equipment, software systems, cybersecurity protections, GIS data management, training of emergency communications personnel, and other costs necessary to operate a modern statewide emergency communications system. By establishing a sustainable funding mechanism and enabling the transition to NG911, this Act ensures that Delaware’s emergency communications system can meet current and future public safety needs, improve response times, and provide residents with access to modern emergency communication capabilities. Finally, this Act makes technical changes to existing statutory language to conform with the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for the state's Fiscal Year 2027 budget. It serves as a formal record of projected financial data to guide future budget planning and resource allocation. The legislation does not allocate new money or change tax laws but instead sets a baseline figure for government spending in the upcoming fiscal year.

Maddy summaryThis bill authorizes a one-time funding allocation of approximately $146.2 million to the Office of Management and Budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027. The money is designated to cover specific, temporary expenses identified by that agency. The legislation has been approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and is now ready for final passage.

Maddy summaryThis bill allocates state funds to cover government operations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, directly affecting all state agencies and departments. It establishes specific rules and limits on how these funds can be spent and updates related state laws to reflect these financial constraints. The legislation has been passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, moving it closer to becoming law.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for the state's Fiscal Year 2026 budget. It directly affects state financial planning by setting the baseline numbers that government agencies and legislators will use to allocate resources for the upcoming year. The measure does not create new taxes or spending programs but instead formalizes the financial data required to draft the future budget. After passing both the Senate and the House, the resolution serves as a procedural step to ensure the state has accurate figures for its fiscal planning.

Under current Delaware law, a minor cannot be guilty of the crime of prostitution under § 1342 of Title 11. This Act removes references to minors engaging in prostitution and being prostituted in favor of using the term "exploited" or “exploitation”, which is defined to mean acts by a minor that would constitute prostitution under § 1342(a) of Title 11 if that minor were 18 years old or older. This change is twofold. (1) It creates a separate term to refer to the exploitation of a minor since minors cannot be guilty of prostitution and prostitution is not otherwise defined outside of the offense in § 1342(a) of Title 11, which excludes minors; and (2) Recognizes a growing trend nationally and internationally to remove language that misleadingly implies that children are able to consent to, and participate in, prostitution. The Interagency Working Group on Sexual Exploitation of Children, comprised of representatives from the United Nations, INTERPOL, and organizations working to end the sexual exploitation of children, published a manual containing terminology guidelines for the protection of children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. While there is no single recommended term, attempts should be made to avoid stigmatizing a child and suggesting that the child had culpability in any acts undertaken. Sections 8 through 11 of this Act update internal references elsewhere in the Code to account for the addition of subsection designations in §§ 1352 and 1353. Sections 12 through 13 of this Act add the definition of “illicit massage establishment” from House Bill 409 and update it to account for the change in terminology that this Act makes. This addition of and update to the definition of “illicit massage establishment” only occurs if House Bill No. 409 is enacted. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act prohibits individual, group, state employee, and Medicaid health plans from differentiating in the reimbursement rate of a health service based on whether the service was provided by a certified registered nurse anesthetist or by a physician.