This bill amends the Merit System of Personnel Administration by allowing for preference in hiring for casual seasonal employees who are performing the same job duties of a posted merit position.
School board members are currently required to engage both in financial responsibility training and a training to understand educational and legal issues about due process and special education. This Act will require that a school board president inform each new member of the board of the training obligation. A school board president must also send a letter by January 15 of every year to any school board member who has not fulfilled the training obligation by January 1 following that member’s election or appointment. The Act also makes the special education due process training requirement explicit in the Code for members of a charter school board of directors as well as members of a traditional or vocational technical district school board. This training is already required for charter schools by regulation.
This Act codifies the teacher academy pathways program that prepares students for careers in elementary and secondary education. Among other things, it requires the DOE to update and revise statewide standards and guidelines for teacher academies and provide technical assistance to local education agencies to meet those standards and guidelines. This Act further requires that teacher academies offer (1) value-added credits to students who have completed the credits required by the initial program of study; and (2) work-based immersion options. Finally, the DOE must publish an annual report summarizing each teacher academy program in the State, including the number of participants in the program and the number of participants who successfully transition to a program or institute of higher learning in the field of education.
This Act changes how the Insurance Commissioner and the State Treasurer provide for distributions from taxes collected by the Insurance Commissioner to be made to fire companies or departments in Delaware. The current method for reporting, calculating, and making distributions to fire companies or departments is complex to administer and can lead to incorrect payments. This Act simplifies the reporting process and provides a new method for calculating the funds distributed to fire departments and companies in the City of Wilmington, New Castle County outside of Wilmington, Kent County, and Sussex County. Specifically, it reduces the number of payments per year from two to one, gives the Insurance Commissioner more time to ensure the accuracy of insurer-reported financial data, and establishes detailed guidelines for how the funds should be distributed to the various fire companies or departments. This Act also makes changes to the reporting requirements related to payments made by the State Treasurer to the State Insurance Coverage Office. In addition, this Act amends the requirement related to the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association (“DVFA”) annual report to the Insurance Commissioner. This requirement is being amended because contrary to what the current statute states, the Insurance Commissioner does not use the report to calculate funding under this section. DVFA is now also required to send its annual report, which details the locations, apparatuses, and equipment maintained for its member fire companies or departments, to the State Fire Prevention Commission. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act is effective January 1, 2025.
This Act authorizes the creation of Family Justice Centers within Delaware to provide victims of crime with a single source to obtain resources and support services.
This substitute bill requires the Secretary of DNREC to follow certain procedures when conducting public hearings, while giving discretion to the Secretary in choosing which hearings the procedures apply to. The bill becomes effective August 1, 2024.
This act requires that an owner be reimbursed up to $1,500 annually for veterinary care expenses paid by the owner for the care of a law-enforcement canine retired from a police department of a political subdivision of the State of Delaware. The Department of Safety and Homeland Security is the implementing agency for this act.
Senate Bill No. 288 of the 151st General Assembly (Chapter 371 of Volume 83 of the Laws of Delaware) created a pilot program whereby motorcyclists are permitted to use pulsating headlights as a way to alert other drivers of their presence, without allowing the use of flashing lights that would otherwise be used on emergency vehicles. SB 288 contained a sunset clause providing that the pilot program would expire on January 1, 2025, unless the General Assembly took action to extend or remove the sunset clause. This Act extends the sunset clause until June 30, 2030. The main reason for the extension is that many motorcycle owners have and are continuing to replace their lights with LED technology... up until 2024 the technology of a modulating device was not available for the LED lights only standard lighting had that option. To be able to better see if the pulsating lighting is effective the pilot program should be extended to adequately gauge what the new LED systems effectiveness is.
Federal and Delaware law protect the right to vote and the rights of individuals with disabilities to have equal access to voting places and public facilities. Nonetheless, recent information suggests that a substantial number of polling places in Delaware are either inaccessible to persons with disabilities or lack accessible parking, infringing on the right of all eligible persons to vote in this State. This substitute, like House Bill No. 293, requires that the Department of Elections ensure that polling places selected for elections are accessible to voters with disabilities and elderly voters. This substitute adds a provision that in addition to being accessible, the accessibility features are available to voters in any election. Like House Bill No. 293, this substitute allows certain exceptions for states of emergency, or for circumstances in which no accessible polling place in a particular polling area is available and the Election Commissioner ensures that those voters impacted are provided with an alternative accessible polling place or alternative means for casting a ballot upon advance request. This substitute limits the states of emergency that would allow an exception to natural disasters or other emergencies that render a polling place unsafe or unusable. This substitute also adds a provision allowing any person with information that the Department has not complied with this section to file an administrative complaint with the Department.
This bill updates the current law relating to the Spay Neuter Fund and the administration of that fund to make it easier to administer the fund and animal population control programs. Changes have also been made to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
