Sen. Catherine Cloutier

This Act acknowledges that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has been collecting natural resource data for years without the consent of the respective property owners. This Act further prohibits the dissemination of natural resource data to any person or entity without first disclosing the date and method of collection along with obtaining the written consent of the respective property owner. In the event written consent cannot be obtained during a two year period following the effective date of this Act, the Department must expunge, without the distribution or transmission to any other person or entity any natural resource data.

This bill makes it a crime to sell, transfer, buy, receive or possess a trigger crank or bump-fire device designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle, making such weapon function more like an automatic weapon. A bump stock was used by the gunman in Las Vegas in October 2017. Violation of this provision is a Class E felony.

This Act replicates and extends to electric and natural gas utilities the same authority that has previously been granted to water utilities. This authority allows for the implementation of an interim rate mechanism already in existence for water utilities in an effort to reduce volatility and the costs to electric and natural gas customers. By way of background, the General Assembly enacted § 314 of Title 26 of the Delaware Code in 2001 to provide an efficient interim rate mechanism to foster investments in needed infrastructure improvements for water utilities, including those mandated by government agencies. With this Act, the same provisions are now extended to public utilities providing electric and/or natural gas services. Doing so will help address concerns with the frequency and volatility of electricity and natural gas distribution rates, as well as the cost to customers of general rate proceedings. The Act requires annual audits and annual reconciliations and empowers Staff for the Public Service Commission and the Delaware Public Advocate to review such expenditures and raise concerns with the Commission should they exist.

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.

Some students from disadvantaged backgrounds arrive at school lacking the same vocabulary and word recognition skills of their peers, putting them at a disadvantage when developing literacy skills in primary grades. In analyzing this disparity, studies have shown that the third grade is a critical turning point in educational development and that students who are not preforming at grade level by this point will continue to fall behind their peers at an increasingly rapid pace. This Act will seek to diminish this performance gap by creating a 3-year pilot program for disadvantaged students in primary grades in Delaware public schools. The State will provide $1 million in grant funding per year, over a 3-year period, to support the pilot program. Under the Act, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College, and the University of Delaware are invited to help collect and analyze data to assess the program.

This is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to provide equal rights on the basis of sex. There is no Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. While Congress passed the Amendment in 1972, it was not ratified by the requisite number of states by the 1982 deadline. Delaware, however, was one of the first states to ratify the Amendment. About half of the states across the country have passed Equal Rights Amendments to their state constitutions in order to provide protection against discrimination based on sex. Without an Equal Rights Amendment, women’s rights and protections are limited. This Amendment is necessary to correct a constitutional shortcoming, reduce sex-based disparities and to codify our State’s value of equality.

This is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to provide equal rights on the basis of sex. There is no Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. While Congress passed the Amendment in 1972, it was not ratified by the requisite number of states by the 1982 deadline. Delaware, however, was one of the first states to ratify the Amendment. About half of the states across the country have passed Equal Rights Amendments to their state constitutions in order to provide protection against discrimination based on sex. Without an Equal Rights amendment, women's rights and protections are limited. This Amendment is necessary to correct a constitutional shortcoming, reduce sex-based disparities and to codify our State's value of equality.

This non-punitive, public-health oriented bill seeks to codify certain sections of the federal law known as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), as amended by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), that requires states to have policies and procedures in place to address the needs of infants born with and identified as being affected by substance abuse, withdrawal symptoms, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, including a requirement that healthcare providers involved in the delivery or care of such infant notify the child protection services system. This bill formalizes a uniform, collaborative response protocol for the development of a Plan of Safe Care for infants with prenatal substance exposure and their affected family or caregivers.

This legislation, the Angel Investor Job Creation and Innovation Act for Small Technology Companies, creates an incentive for qualified angel investors to invest capital in qualified Delaware small technology companies..

This Act allows the various at-large members of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council to be appointed for 3-year terms and be eligible for reappointment. This change is requested by the Council.