Sen. Dave Wilson

This Act expands the permitted uses of unclaimed electric cooperative capital credits to include investments in energy services for low income members and energy efficiency, renewable energy, battery storage, electrification and emerging energy technology programs. The bill also amends the annual reporting requirements to include an itemization of the amount allocated each year to low income assistance, energy efficiency and renewable technologies, and non-profit donations.

This Act amends the Delaware Hazardous Substance Control Act to reflect recent amendments to the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This Act protects state, county, and municipal government entities from being deemed liable as “owners or operators” of hazardous substance release sites when they take title to or control of such properties through the exercise of their lawful governmental powers. Additionally, this Act protects land banks established pursuant to the Delaware Neighborhood Conservation and Land Banking Act when they assume ownership of potentially contaminated properties in accordance with the provisions and requirements of the Land Banking Act.

This act will increase the numbers of Delaware nursing students eligible for the nursing incentive program by allowing Delawareans pursuing nursing careers at non-profit hospitals located in Delaware to be eligible for the program.

This legislation expands the list of central contracts currently available to be accessed by state agencies and other allowed organizations to include professional services contracts. The legislation also adds local governments to the list of organizations that can access central contracts.

Section 1 of this Act amends Section 903 of Title 13 of the Delaware Code. Substantively, this Act allows persons who are not married but who are cohabitating to jointly adopt a child that is not theirs. The Act also rewrites the statute so as to be more clearly understandable. Section 2 of this Act amends Section 951 of Title 13 of the Delaware Code. It allows persons who are not married but who are cohabitating to jointly adopt a child that is not theirs. The Act also changes the phrase "husband and wife" to "married couple."

This act designates the Bellanca Cruisair as the official historical aircraft of Delaware.

This Act addresses the serious problem of individuals dumping large quantities of trash on public and private property, by: • Defining a “substantial quantity” of litter as being more than an amount contained in a standard garbage can. • Providing enhanced penalties for the unlawful dumping of a substantial quantity of litter. • Creating the Litter Investigation and Enforcement Fund (“LIEF”), funded through restitution paid by offenders of this chapter, to support investigations to identify those who violate this chapter. This Act clarifies that a public authority or agency is not required to provide litter receptacles in a park or recreation area that is designated as a carry-on and carry-out facility. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Substitute to Senate Bill No. 5 makes the following changes: • Clearly labels “littering” as a category of unlawful activity distinct from “dumping.” • Adds State parks, State forestry areas, State fish and wildlife areas, federal wildlife refuges, and lands within the State that are administered by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, to the list of areas that trigger enhanced penalties. • Establishes LIEF as a subaccount to the already-existing Special Law Enforcement Assistance Fund (“SLEAF”) under Subchapter II, Chapter 41, Title 11. • Requires disbursement of LIEF funds to follow the disbursement procedures already established for SLEAF. • Clarifies that the voluntary assessment alternative applies only to littering offenses. The penalty for dumping includes a mandatory community service obligation, so voluntary assessment cannot apply to dumping. • Updates language to allow courts to accept methods other than check or money order to make payments under this Act.

This bill enables a key component of the Take Care Delaware program, a partnership between law enforcement and schools to adopt a trauma-informed approach to children who have been identified at the scene of a traumatic event. The Take Care Delaware program, which will start as a pilot, operates by a police officer or emergency-care provider alerting a child’s school about the child’s presence at a traumatic event that the police officer or emergency-care provider responded to. In order to avoid violations of the State Bureau of Investigation’s dissemination statute and the Victim’s Bill of Rights in Title 11, this bill creates a narrow exception to both statutes that allows police officers and emergency-care providers to send the child’s name to their school district or charter school so that the child’s teachers can ensure the child is handled in a trauma-informed way. The Take Care Delaware program is based on the national “Handle With Care” model and includes training and other best practices for law enforcement and schools to prevent and mitigate the negative impact of childhood exposure to trauma.

Currently, the SEED program allows students a maximum of 6 semesters to complete an Associate Degree. This Bill allows SEED eligible students who complete their Associate Degree in fewer than 6 semesters to apply the remaining semesters of the grant toward a Bachelor’s Degree at either the University of Delaware or Delaware Technical and Community College.

This bill removes the 3 year sunset provision that was part of House Bill No. 53, as amended, enacted on May 10, 2018 of the 149th General Assembly. This will allow the on-going use of certain ground-based and hand-held sparklers.