This Act creates a film production tax credit. It requires companies to obtain, at their own expense, an independent audit certifying eligible expenditures. The audit must be submitted to the Division of Small Business for approval and allocation of credits. The credit is nonrefundable, transferable, and may be carried forward for up to 5 years. The credit may be applied against personal income tax, corporate income tax, bank franchise tax, and insurance premiums tax. All credit transfers must be approved by the Division of Small Business. This Act further authorizes necessary data sharing among agencies. Applicants and transferees consent to disclosure of credit amounts by virtue of applying or receiving a transfer. This Act also grants regulatory authority to the Division of Small Business and the Secretary of State to administer the annual credit cap; prioritize and manage awards; and issue reports relating to awards and utilization with input from relevant state agencies. The Division of Small Business may create alternative audit procedures for small businesses where a full audit would be prohibitively expensive. This Act sunsets on June 30, 2031, and no applications may be submitted after that date.
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The purpose of this Act is to protect victims of sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment from retaliatory lawsuits that arise when a victim of sexual assault discloses information regarding an act of sexual assault, discrimination, or harassment. Specifically, this Act protects assault victims from defamation lawsuits by placing a higher burden of proof on the complainant, even if the complainant is a private figure. It also entitles a prevailing defendant in a defamation lawsuit to attorneys’ fees and costs, actual damages, and punitive damages.
This Act provides guidelines for Delaware schools in addressing elopement of students. This Act requires schools to notify the eloping student’s parent or guardian the same day as the elopement incident. All schools must develop policies and procedures to implement the requirements of this Act.
This Act's purpose is to create checks and balances between the Executive and Legislative Branches of State government relating to Emergency Orders. This Act recognizes the authority of the Governor to act in the event of an emergency by allowing the Governor to declare an emergency for 120 days and to renew that order for up to 60 more days, for a total of 180 days. Thereafter, to extend or renew the emergency order beyond the 180 days, such order will be subject to actions taken by the General Assembly. The Governor may terminate any emergency order or renewal order at any time. This substitute bill clarifies that after an Emergency Order has been in effect for 180 days, the General Assembly may act to terminate or amend the Order, but the Order could continue to be renewed until the Governor or the General Assembly act to the contrary. Also, the substitute requires a report to the General Assembly every 30 days during the continuation of a State of Emergency.
This Act excludes large energy use facilities from the definition of a qualified facility for purposes of determining eligibility for a tax credit or license fee reduction for the creation of employment and qualified investment in business facilities.
This Act increases for the crime of criminal mischief to a class F felony when the person intentionally causes damage to an authorized emergency vehicle resulting in a pecuniary loss of $5,000 or more or in the authorized emergency vehicle becoming temporarily unable to be used to respond to an emergency. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This House Substitute for House Bill No. 145 would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse-keyword requests, with the exception that reverse-keyword court orders and requests may be utilized to investigate suspected Class A Felonies so long as the search query returns 5 or fewer search hits. It also requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful reverse-keyword search.
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that does all of the following: (1) Under Section 1 of this Act, limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. (2) Brings Section 1 of this Act into conformity with the United States Constitution and federal law. Section 1 of this Act specifically does all of the following: (1) Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of the right of suffrage as a punishment for a crime. (2) Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. (3) Prohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind. (4) Defines terms related to imprisonment and community supervision. (5) Updates the age at which a resident of this State is granted a right to vote to be 18 years or older, to conform the Delaware Constitution to the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (6) Removes the durational residency requirements necessary to qualify to vote in this State. Durational residency requirements have been found unconstitutional because these requirements infringe on both the constitutional right to vote and the constitutional right to travel. See Dunn v. Blumstein, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972) (finding 1-year residency requirement in a state and 3-month residency requirement in a county unconstitutional) and Marston v. Lewis, 93 S. Ct. 1211 (1973). A voter will still be required to be a resident at the time the voter registers. (7) Removes the literacy test requirement to qualify to vote in this State. Literacy tests have been used to disqualify Blacks and individuals who are immigrants or poor. Because of the discriminatory use of, and often subjective nature of, literacy tests, literacy tests are prohibited under federal law, see 52 U.S.C. § 10501, and likely unconstitutional under the 14th or 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, see Oregon v. Mitchell, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970). Section 2 of this Act removes the suspension of the right to vote as a punishment for violation of certain election offenses. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. 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 to amend the Delaware Constitution.
This Act updates the Respiratory Care Advisory Council to the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline’s enabling act to allow qualified licensed respiratory therapists to perform all duties associated with extracorporeal life support. Under the current law, respiratory therapists are authorized to assist with such support but may not administer medication during the process. As a result, a therapist is required to wait for another licensed professional to do so, resulting in delays to patient care. This bill eliminates this delay in patient care and allows qualified respiratory therapists to work within the full scope of their training. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act directs the Interagency Resource Management Committee to coordinate planning, program development, and funding related to child care affordability initiatives, including voluntary cost-sharing partnerships between the State, employers, community sponsors, and families. The purpose of such programs is to expand access to affordable, licensed child care and support workforce initiatives.