Sen. Dave Wilson

This Act facilitates electric vehicle and grid-integrated electric vehicle interconnection by including the Society of Automotive Engineers industrial safety standard, J3072, which sets safety requirements for electric vehicles that provide power from their batteries back to the electric grid. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes Kevin Fitzgerald's achievement of being named 2018 Superintendent of the Year by the National Association of School Superintendents.

This Concurrent Resolution designates the week of May 12, 2019 to May 18, 2019 as National Charter Schools Week and commends Delaware's charter public schools for their efforts in educating Delaware students.

This act will be known as the Extreme Crimes Protection Act. This Act revises Delaware's death penalty statute to ensure its compliance with the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United State Supreme Court in Hurst v. Florida, and by the Delaware Supreme Court in Rauf v. State. In accord with those cases, this Act will require that before a death sentence can be imposed, a jury (unless the Defendant waives their right to one) must first determine unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt: that at least 1 statutory aggravating circumstance exists; which (if any) statutory and non-statutory aggravating circumstances alleged by the State exist; and whether all of the aggravating circumstances found to exist outweigh all of the mitigating circumstances found to exist. This Act also revises Delaware's death penalty statute to comply with the United State Supreme Court's holding in Hall v. Florida, interpreting standards set forth in Atkins v. Virginia. This Act adopts the term "intellectual disability" used by the United State Supreme Court. This Act recognizes developing trends in death penalty jurisprudence and the American Bar Association's Resolution 122A (2006), of August 8, 2006, by prohibiting the imposition of the death penalty upon a person who has been found "guilty, but mentally ill", as defined by Title 11 § 401. This Act also narrows the scope of the most commonly used statutory aggravating circumstances - those applicable in cases involving defendants with previous convictions for violent felonies and murders committed during the commission of other enumerated felonies. Several other statutory aggravating circumstances have been combined to eliminate duplication, eliminated entirely, or otherwise clarified.

This concurrent resolution recognizes the month of May 2019 as "Healthy Vision Month" in the State of Delaware.

This act designates rescue dogs as the official state dog.

This bill updates the members of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Advisory Committee to include additional stakeholders, and directs the Committee to report to the General Assembly on the effectiveness of the Act, ways to improve the Act, and other measures that should be taken by the State of Delaware to prevent lead poisoning in children.

This legislation removes the automatic suspension of a driver’s license for failure to provide proof of insurance. The Division of Motor vehicles will continue to suspend the registration of the uninsured vehicle. The removal of the automatic license suspension will allow the vehicle owner to get to work, keep a job, so that the driver will be able to obtain vehicle insurance.

This Act is the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment reflecting the recommendations of the Advisory Panel to the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) on Potential Fiscal Controls and Budget Smoothing Mechanisms established as per House Joint Resolution 8 of the 149th General Assembly (Panel). This Act would build upon the State’s existing appropriation limit methodology by moving the Budget Reserve Account into a newly defined Budget Stabilization Fund, defining rules for deposits to and withdrawals from said Budget Stabilization Fund, and adding a check of the appropriation limit against an index comprised of relevant indicators of growth of the State’s economy. The Panel further recommended that any final adoption of the structural budget reforms included in this Act be accompanied by statutory enactment of structural reforms to the Personal Income Tax by broadening the tax base as initially recommended by the DEFAC Advisory Council of Revenues report dated May 2015 and further detailed in the Panel’s report dated June 1, 2018.

This Act is modeled after American Laws for American Courts legislation that has passed in Tennessee, Louisiana, Arizona, Kansas, South Dakota, Alabama, and North Carolina. The Declaration of Independence announced the formation of a new country that would no longer find itself in the clutches of a foreign power. For over 2 centuries, hundreds of thousands of men and women have given their lives to protect America’s sovereignty and freedom. America has unique values of liberty which do not exist in all foreign legal systems such as freedom of religion, speech, and press; due process; and the right to privacy. Unfortunately, because state legislatures have generally not been explicit about what their public policy is relative to foreign laws, the courts and the parties litigating in those courts are left to their own devices. State legislatures play a vital role in preserving fundamental constitutional rights and American values of liberty and freedom. No United States citizen or resident should be denied these guaranteed liberties, rights, and freedom.