Sen. Brian Pettyjohn

Delaware's statewide community college system, operated by Delaware Technical Community College (“the College”), plays a critical role in the State's economy by providing workforce development, vocational training and transfer education that connects Delawareans with good paying jobs within the State and region. This Act gives the College’s Board of Trustees the authority to issue bonds to finance the cost of major and minor capital improvements, deferred maintenance, and the acquisition of related equipment and educational technology and establishes the Community College Infrastructure Fund (“the Fund”) to pay the principal and interest on such bonds. This Act also provides a mechanism, but not an obligation, for the state to provide matching funds for minor capital improvement projects consistent with existing matching provisions for public education. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act amends the Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 Bond and Capital Improvements Acts to (1) authorize the Department of Transportation to use Community Transportation Funds for one-time reimbursements for various projects; (2) allow the transfer of funds between capital projects for the Appoquinimink School District; (3) authorize a transfer of funds from the Office of Management and Budget for other listed projects; (4) revise the fund amount for the Garashes L Project and expand the use of funds for road projects at the Wilmington Riverfront Sports Project; (5) authorize funding from the Delaware Strategic Fund when interest earnings are not available for the New Castle County and Middletown Chamber of Commerce’s business incubators; (6) authorize the Delaware National Guard to use appropriated funds for the 198th Readiness Center Facilities and Georgetown Readiness Center; and (7) authorize the conveyance of property between the Appoquinimink School District and the Town of Middletown.

Designating February 6, 2019 as "Ronald Reagan Day" in Delaware.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution continues the Motorcycle Rider Education Advisory Committee, which must meet at least quarterly to monitor the Motorcycle Rider Education Program, and assess the future needs of and recommend improvements to the Program.

This Act requires a physician to offer a patient ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services before terminating a pregnancy and provides civil and criminal penalties for the failure of a physician to comply with this requirement. The patient is free to choose not to view the ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat. This Act is known as "The Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act."

This Act requires a physician to offer a patient ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services before terminating a pregnancy and provides civil and criminal penalties for the failure of a physician to comply with this requirement. The patient is free to choose not to view the ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat. This Act is known as "The Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act."

The Act protects the life of the unborn child at a time when the potential for the child to survive outside the womb increases, especially with the advancement of medical procedures. Specifically, this Act repeals the current sections of the Delaware Code relating to termination of human pregnancy and enacts The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Substantial medical evidence exists that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain by 20 weeks after fertilization. As set forth in this Act, the General Assembly has the constitutional authority to make this judgment under decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court decisions. In enacting The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, Delaware is not asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn or replace the holding in Roe v. Wade. Rather, it asserts a separate and independent compelling state interest in unborn human life that exists once the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes January 9, 2019, as Law Enforcement Appreciation Day in Delaware.

This Resolution recognizes January 9, 2019, as “Wildland Firefighter Day”.

This bill changes the earned income tax credit from nonrefundable to refundable. This bill creates a table for the percentage of earned income credit for tax years 2018 and after. Currently, if spouses file a joint federal return but separate State returns, only the spouse with the higher taxes due can use the State earned income tax credit. This bill eliminates that limitation starting with tax year 2018 and provides that the credit shall be divided equally between such spouses.