This Act requires new schools and state buildings over 50,000 square feet to meet certain requirements to ensure that the building's roof is able to support solar energy infrastructure.
This Joint Resolution designates August 31, 2024, as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware and requires that in observance, the State flag be flown at half-staff at State facilities. By recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day, this Joint Resolution affirms the importance of overdose awareness, remembers those who have died from overdose, and acknowledges the grief suffered from losing a loved one to overdose.
This Act creates the Delaware Grocery Initiative. The Delaware Grocery Initiative is a healthy foods initiative that seeks to provide financial assistance to eligible food resources as designated by the bill. The Act defines food deserts and eligibility requirements for the initiative. The Act authorizes the Division of Small Business to implement the grant and financial support system. This substitute bill does the following: 1. Adds the following terms in the definition section of the Act: Council, food resource, Healthy Foods Retail Initiative, Program, and specialty grocer. 2. Modifies the definition of food desert. 3. Removes terms of grocery store, rural tract, and urban tract in lieu of the new definitions of food resource and food desert. 4. Designates the Division of Small Business, instead of the Office of State Planning, as theagency authorized to implement the Delaware Grocery Initiative and authorizes the Division of Small Business to adopt rules. 5. Replaces the grocery and food desert study with a food access strategy. 6. Subject to appropriation, creates a food access strategy to address food insecurity and requires submission of a report to the General Assembly and the Governor by June 1, 2025.
This Act simplifies and in some cases increases the civil penalties for violations of laws related to dogs that run at large, dogs that bite a human being or domestic animal while running at large, and dogs that are designated as dangerous or potentially dangerous. It also expands the requirements for keeping or maintaining a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog to include provisions related to licensing, vaccination, microchipping, and leashing. The Act also makes changes to procedures of the Department of Health and Social Services (“the Department”) relating to dogs, including the following: (1) It removes an unused provision requiring that notification of the impoundment of a running at large dog be made to the dog owner in writing. (2) It gives the Department 15 days, rather than 5 days, to file a civil action after impounding a dog and identifying and informing the dog owner. (3) It changes from 48 to 24 the number of hours that an individual can confine a dog that is not the individual’s own before contacting the Department to report the dog. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 269 differs from Senate Bill No. 269 as follows: (1) It removes a provision that would have increased the amount of liability insurance that a dangerous dog owner must carry. (2) It expands the definition of “serious physical injury” to include injuries that pose serious or prolonged impairment to health and serious or prolonged loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ. (3) It removes inaccurate cross-references from § 3074F and replaces them with references to the entire chapter. (4) It provides that a dog will not be considered dangerous or potentially dangerous if it injures a human being who is teasing, tormenting, abusing, or assaulting the dog’s owner or its offspring, in addition to the dog. The current § 3074F only allows this exception for torment, abuse, or assault of the dog itself. (5) It changes one of the criteria for declaring a dog dangerous to provide that the injury to the human being must be a serious physical injury. (6) It adds the definition of “domestic animal” that appears in § 3071F to § 3041F. (7) Throughout the bill, it changes “person” to “human being” when needed for accuracy and consistency. Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 269 Act also corrects minor technical errors in Senate Bill No. 269 and makes additional technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act makes several changes to the civil asset forfeiture proceedings of this state. It repeals the legal presumption that money, negotiable instruments or securities found in close proximity to controlled substances or records or with trace amounts of controlled substances are forfeitable. Such evidence is still admissible and may be considered by the Court in a forfeiture proceeding. It puts the burden of proof on the State to prove all elements of a forfeiture case by a preponderance of the evidence. Under the existing statute, it is the burden of an innocent owner to prove that they did not have knowledge of or consent to the use of their property in an unlawful act. It prohibits the forfeiture of currency less than $500. It prohibits forfeiture unless a criminal charge is brought. It requires the person holding seized property to be financially responsible for all fees associated therewith in the event the property is ordered by the Court to be returned. It allows a claimant property owner who substantially prevails in a forfeiture proceeding to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The language in this section is modeled after a provision of the federal forfeiture statute, at 28 U.S.C. § 2465 that was put in place in 2000 as part of federal civil asset forfeiture reforms. It aligns forfeiture provisions in Title 11 with the forfeiture provisions in Title 16. It requires the Department of Justice to collect and annually report statistics regarding civil asset forfeiture.
This Act makes the crime of “patronizing a prostitute” a class E felony rather than a misdemeanor where the person from whom prostitution is sought is a minor.
Section 1 of this Act revises the definition of “massage establishment” by repealing the exemption for all business establishments licensed under other chapters of Title 24. This exemption allows a massage practitioner to work in a licensed cosmetology shop that does not hold a massage establishment license. In that situation, the cosmetology shop can have an identified professional-in-charge responsible for the operation of the cosmetology shop and its employees, but that individual is not responsible for the massage practitioners. This means that the professional-in-charge responsible for the cosmetology shop cannot be held responsible for the wrongful actions of a massage practitioner, which adversely impacts the disciplinary process. With this exemption repealed, a cosmetology shop offering massage services is required to have both a massage establishment license and a licensed massage practitioner as the professional-in-charge responsible for the actions of all massage practitioners providing services on the premises. Section 2 of this Act increases the minimum hours of education required for licensed massage therapists for students who begin their massage therapy education on or after July 1, 2024, from 500 hours to 625 hours and makes corresponding revisions to the required curriculum hours for each subject. This increase in hours is required by changes in the federal Department of Education regulations for student eligibility for Title IV financial aid, including the elimination of the “150% rule”. Instead, school hours must match the curriculum hours required for licensure by the state. However, programs that require less than 600 hours are not eligible for Title IV financial aid. This change is consistent with the recommendation of the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards that 625 curriculum hours are appropriate to adequately train massage therapists to practice safely and competently. Section 1 of this Act takes effect upon enactment, but Section 2 of this Act takes effect on or before July 1, 2024, to align with the effective date of the federal Department of Education regulations. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act amends the Charter of the Town of Newport in the following ways: Section 1 of the Act amends Article III of the Charter pertaining to the Mayor and Commissioners. It provides that the Mayor and Commissioners may discuss matters pertaining to the appointment of Town administrative officers or employees with the Town Manager in Executive Session. In addition, the Charter currently provides that the Mayor and Commissioners may deal with Town officers and employees directly for the purposes of inquiries and investigations; Section 1 eliminates this exception and requires the Mayor and Commissioners to deal with such officers and employees through the Town Manager for all purposes. Section 1 also modifies the criteria for which a Mayor or Commissioner forfeits office based on attendance of meetings: while currently the Charter provides that a Mayor or Commissioner forfeits office for failure to attend 3 successive monthly meetings or 4 regular meetings in a 12-month period, Section 1 provides only that failure to attend 4 regular meetings in a 12-month period will result in forfeiture. Finally, Section 1 eliminates the requirement for the Mayor and Commissioners to meet in July and August. Section 2 of the Act amends Article IV of the Charter pertaining to assessment of property and taxes. It streamlines the procedures for how the Town may use property assessments performed by New Castle County. Section 3 of the Act amends Article VI of the Charter pertaining to finances and indebtedness. It eliminates certain requirements for a capital improvement plan submitted by the Town Manager to the Commissioners. Section 4 of the Act amends Article VI of the Charter pertaining to Town Appointive Offices. It eliminates certain actions required to be taken by the Mayor in the event that the Town chooses not to use property assessments performed by the county. In addition, Section 4 provides that the Town Manager, rather than the Mayor, may appoint a Town Building Inspector, and eliminates the separate position of "Town Plumbing Inspector." Section 5 of the Act amends Article VIII of the Charter pertaining to Election rules and Procedure. It provides that the Town Clerk or Town Manager must give notice of any election or referendum. Section 5 also requires a criminal background check of all candidates seeking election as Commissioner, at the candidates' expense; a successful candidate may be reimbursed for the cost of the background check up to $75. Finally, Section 5 provides that the Town will use the State's voter registration rolls and eliminates any provision for absentee voting. Section 6 of the Act amends Article IX of the Charter pertaining to the Town Manager. Consistent with the changes made in Section 3 of the Act, Section 6 eliminates the requirement that the Town Manager submit a capital plan to the Commissioners. Section 7 of the Act amends Article X of the Charter pertaining to Town Administration. It provides that the Chief of Police, rather than the Commissioners, will have the power to implement policies for governing the Police Department. Section 7 also provides that the Police Department will have statewide police arrest and enforcement powers equivalent to those held by a member of the Delaware State Police, subject to certain terms. In addition, Section 7 removes the provisions for a Town Board of Health. Section 8 of the Act amends Article XI of the Charter pertaining to Planning. It removes the provisions for a Town Planning Commission and provides that the Commissioners must adopt a comprehensive development plan at least every 10 years. Section 9 of the Act amends Article XII of the Charter pertaining to General Provisions and, specifically, to Charter Amendments. It eliminates the requirement for a Town referendum on amendments to the Charter.
This Act revises existing animal cruelty laws to include people who knowingly possess, own, buy, sell, transfer, or manufacture animal fighting paraphernalia with the intent to engage in or otherwise promote or facilitate such fighting as guilty of a class E felony. This Act defines “animal fighting paraphernalia” and creates a list of considerations a court may use when assessing whether an item or object qualifies as animal fighting paraphernalia.
This Act enacts the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC). The Council of State Governments partnered with the Department of Defense and the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) to support the mobility of licensed teachers through the development of this new interstate compact. The ITMC will create reciprocity among participant states and reduce barriers to license portability and employment. The Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact (ITMC) is an interstate occupational licensure compact. Interstate compacts are constitutionally authorized, legislatively enacted, legally binding agreements among states. The ITMC will allow teachers to use an eligible license held in a compact member state to be granted an equivalent license in another compact member state, lowering barriers to teacher mobility and getting teachers back into the classroom more seamlessly. The ITMC utilizes a different model than other interstate occupational licensure compacts. Compact member states submit licenses that are eligible for the compact and meet a set of criteria outlined in the legislation. To be eligible, a license must require a bachelor’s degree and completion of a state-approved program for teacher licensure like a teacher preparation program at a college or university. Furthermore, for a license to be eligible under the ITMC, the license must be unencumbered, which means it is not restricted, probationary, provisional, substitute, or temporary. Teachers holding a compact-eligible license can apply for licensure in another member state and receive the closest equivalent license without submitting additional materials, taking state-specific exams or completing additional coursework. Special carveouts were created for some populations in the ITMC to support equitable access. Due to the mobility patterns of military spouses, the barriers to receiving a license that would be considered unencumbered under the compact are much higher. Teachers meeting the definition of an eligible military spouse will be able to use a temporary or provisional license for the purposes of the ITMC. Career and Technical Education Teaching Licenses often do not require a bachelor’s degree as a requirement for licensure, so the compact allows these licenses to be considered eligible without that requirement. The ITMC will not close any existing pathways to teacher licensure or teacher mobility. The ITMC aims to provide additional tools to state licensing authorities to more efficiently license out of state teachers and get them into the classroom. State licensing authorities will also appoint their state’s representatives to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact Commission, which serves as the administrative body of the ITMC. In addition to the NASDTEC, the following organizations contributed to the development process for the ITMC: • National Association of Elementary School Principals. • American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. • National Education Association. • Council of Chief State School Officers. • Education Commission of the States. • Southern Regional Education Board. • American Association of School Administrators. • National Conference of State Legislatures. • National Association of State Boards of Education. • National Governors Association. • National Council on Teacher Quality. • National School Boards Association. The ITMC must be enacted in 10 states to become effective. The ITMC has been enacted in 8 states and legislation to enact it is pending in 13 states.
