Sen. Brian J. Bushweller

This Act provides clearer language concerning license requirements, gives licensees a much clearer understanding of prohibited acts, discipline and penalties; and grants the ability of the Professional Licensing Section to promulgate regulations, and additional powers needed to oversee this chapter.

“Cooking wine” contains alcohol but has been exempted from alcohol regulation by the federal government (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) and many states as long as it contains no more than 20% alcohol by volume and no less than 1.5% salt, thereby making it unfit for beverage consumption. This Act adds cooking wine to the list of exempted liquids from the alcohol regulation. This Act provides that DATE may investigate allegations of misuse of § 725 of this title and refer the matter to the Commissioner for a hearing if the manufacturer or seller disagrees with DATE’s determination.

This bill updates the statute governing the Delaware Division of Libraries, revising terminology to reflect the varied roles of Delaware libraries in the 21st Century. The bill also codifies existing responsibilities of the Division of Libraries related to coordination of state library technology.

This bill expands the list of persons eligible to participate in the Ada Leigh Soles Memorial Professional Librarian and Archivist Incentive Scholarship Program to include employees of non-public libraries in Delaware that join the Delaware Library Consortium.

The Board of Pension Trustees has established policies and practices for the administration of the Delaware Public Employees Retirement System. Based on the recommendations of the Board’s Best Practices review, this Act will codify some of these policies and practices. The Act also indemnifies committee members and clarifies the frequency of Board meetings and authorized methods of communication for obtaining quorum and voting.

This Act amends the provisions of the Municipal Tax Increment Financing Act applicable solely to the City of Dover, Delaware, to allow the City of Dover to determine the date as of which the adjusted assessed value and the original assessed value of the property in the TIF District designated by the City of Dover will be determined for the purposes of the Municipal Tax Increment Financing Act.

This Act amends the Kent County Tax Increment Financing Act to allow Kent County to determine the date as of which the adjusted assessed value and the original assessed value of the property in the TIF District designated by Kent County will be determined for the purposes of the Kent County Tax Increment Financing Act.

This Act increases the State’s alcoholic beverage tax rates. The rate for beer increases by 2¢ per 12 ounce can. The rate for wine increases by approximately 3¢ per 5 ounce serving. The rate for spirits containing more than 25% ethyl alcohol by volume increases by 15¢ per 750 ml bottle.

This Substitute is the Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriation Act.

This bill implements across-the-board increases to the filing fees associated with Department of Insurance filings, including for insurer Certificates of Authority, producer and adjuster licenses, annual statement filings, and rate and rule filings.