Sen. Dave Lawson

Requesting the Division of Research, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Delaware Department of Technology & Information to cooperate in creating a detailed and implementable plan to stream audio and video of all floor and committee action of the House of Representatives and Senate; record all such material; and make these recordings available to the public via an online archive. The resolution further requests the 151st General Assembly and the governor to approve and act on the finished plan and authorize the funding needed to implement it.

This Act fully exempts county property taxes and local school taxes for a disabled veteran with a 100% VA rated service-connected, permanent and total disability or for a disabled veteran who is receiving 100% disability compensation due to individual unemployability. The 100% rating and disability compensation is determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. This Act sets forth the minimum requirements that a claimant in any county must meet in determining eligibility for the exemption. Each county may impose additional requirements as necessary for eligibility. The minimum requirements are as follows: (1) the disabled veteran must be legally domiciled in the State for a period of time established by the county; and (2) the property for which the exemption is sought must be solely owned by the disabled veteran (or jointly with spouse) and used as his or her primary place of residence.

Currently, under § 718 of Title 7 of the Delaware Code, it is unlawful for an individual to hunt any wildlife, except migratory game birds, during deer season without displaying at least 400 square inches of hunter orange material. This Act requires the wearing of hunter orange by all individuals who are on public land designated for deer hunting during deer season by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control or the Department of Agriculture. Failure to wear hunter orange as required by this Act is a class D environmental violation, which is subject to a $50 to $100 fine for a first offense under § 1304(g) of Title 7 of the Delaware Code. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to create a new crime within the jurisdiction of the Justice of the Peace Court.

In almost every mass murder that has occurred in the United States over the past 2 decades, subsequent investigations have revealed that the perpetrator had displayed what have become known as “red flag indicators” which, if known, identified, and reported, might have allowed trained professionals to intervene. In far too many cases, these red flag indicators were observed, but because of a lack of training or inadequate reporting, tracking, or referral policies in schools, no action was taken to stop the perpetrator before the attack. This Act requires red flag indicator training for teachers, school principals, counselors, school nurses, and other school district or charter school employees who interact with students, the people most likely to exhibit red flag indicators during the school day. This Act also requires that each school district and charter school establish and implement red flag indicator reporting, tracking, and referral policies. These policies will allow for the timely referral of at-risk students for needed mental health evaluation or treatment or law enforcement action. To protect teachers, administrators, and other school district or charter school employees, this Act provides immunity from criminal liability, civil liability, or professional discipline for employees who follow school district or charter school red flag indicator policies to report a student’s red flag behavior. Finally, Section 2 of this Act makes a technical correction by redesignating § 4168 of Title 14, regarding the Department of Education’s regulatory authority, to be § 4161A of Title 14 to avoid repeatedly moving this provision as Subchapter II of Chapter 41 of Title 14 grows. Section 4168 was previously designated § 4167 until 2019 when Chapter 212 of Volume 82 of the Laws of Delaware redesignated the provision.

This Act sets the minimum educational course requirements for each grade. It does not set the curriculum for these courses or how they will be presented within the classroom. The life skills program replaces the half credit currently listed as part of the 3.5 electives required for graduation and is not an additional half credit added to the graduation requirements. This Substitute Bill differs from Senate Bill No. 62 by clarifying the title of the new § 4142 and correcting errors made in the drafting process, specifically the list of areas for which a student must receive a passing grade in grade 12 to graduate.

This act restores the $500 senior real property tax credit.

This Act removes the State’s authority to forcibly isolate, quarantine, vaccinate, or treat individuals against their will for COVID-19 during a state of emergency relating to COVID-19. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment to add race, color, and national origin to § 21 of Article I of the Delaware Constitution to explicitly declare that protection against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin is one of Delaware's fundamental rights. The first leg of this constitutional amendment was Senate Bill 191 of the 150th General Assembly, published in Chapter 287 of Volume 82 of the Laws of Delaware. On passage of this second leg by this General Assembly this amendment will become part of the Delaware Constitution. Since the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, with Delaware ratifying it in 1901, at least 15 states have added a provision to their state constitution that prohibits the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on race, color, or national origin. In 2019, Delaware amended the state constitution to prohibit the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on sex, but no such prohibition exists as to race, color, or national origin. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when the General Assembly amends the Delaware Constitution.

This joint resolution rejects the 2021 report of the Delaware Compensation Commission in its entirety.

On November 3, 2015, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report titled "Elevated Rates of Urban Firearm Violence and Opportunities for Prevention – Wilmington, Delaware" in which the CDC made 2 major recommendations: (1) the creation and adoption of a robust risk assessment tool and (2) an integrated, statewide data collection system. To date, no meaningful action has been taken at any level to implement the CDC's recommendations. This Act adopts the CDC's recommendations and directs the pertinent State agencies to implement these recommendations.