This Act requires each school district and charter school to adopt a policy, with educator input, about cell phone use by students during school hours. Each policy must contain: (1) Clear guidelines about what constitutes acceptable cell phone use at school. (2) A requirement that limits cell phone use during instructional time. (3) The designation of times and places during which students may use their cell phones at school. (4) Guidelines that encourage communication between the schools, parents or guardians, and students about the cell phone use policy. (5) A system of appropriate consequences for violations of the cell phone use policy. (6) Exceptions that address, and are applicable to, emergency situations and medical or educational accommodations. Each school district and charter school shall provide the Department with its policy. Each school district and charter school shall post its policy on its website by August 1, 2025. School districts and charter schools are free to amend their cell phone use policies as needed. If a school district or charter school adopts an amended cell phone use policy, it must be provided to the Department and posted on that school district or charter school’s website.
Last session, the General Assembly enacted the Richard "Mouse" Smith Compassionate Release Act (Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 10), which revised the process for sentence modifications. This Act makes a change to that Act. Specifically, Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 10 required the Department of Correction ("Department") to adopt regulations to implement the revised sentence modification process. The Department does not believe regulations are necessary for the Department to successfully implement the revised sentence modification process. Therefore, this Act authorizes the Department to adopt regulations, rather than requires it.
This Act amends the Fiscal Year 2026 Bond and Capital Improvements Act to (1) add the Department of Labor, Sussex Facility, to the Transfer to the State Treasurer’s Agency Bond Reversion Account; (2) add the Delaware Veterans Cemetery Expansion to the list of OMB Projects in the Transfer from the State Treasurer’s Agency Bond Reversion Account; (3) allow the Legislative Building Committee to develop design standards and plans for Legislative Hall; (4) authorize the Office of Management and Budget, Division of Facilities Management, to utilize residual funds for the Delaware State Police Firing Range Improvements; (5) allow for funds appropriated to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to be used for the construction of a mixed-species exhibit; (6) authorize the Department of Transportation to use Community Transportation Funds for one-time reimbursements for various projects; (7) reprogram funding from the Community Redevelopment/Reinvestment Fund from Downtown Milford, Inc. to the City of Milford, Delaware Nature Society, Kent Sussex Industries, the Milford District Fee Public Library Commission, and the Milford Housing Development Corporation; (8) update Delaware Code to make a language change from a stationary source reporting propane and ammonium nitrate to a stationary source reporting propane or ammonium nitrate; (9) require the Diamond State Port Corporation and the Department of Transportation to conduct a study of rerouting truck traffic on Hay Road; (10) correct a reference to the Historic Tax Credit; (11) allows that the activation timing of amber warning lights shall not apply to Red Clay School District school buses equipped with, and operating stop arm cameras; (12) authorize the Office of Management and Budget, Division of Facilities Management, to utilize residual funds from the Ferris Window project for the Cleveland White project, (13) authorize the Office of Management and Budget, Division of Facilities Management, to utilize any residual funds from the Department of Correction for the W1 Building HVAC project at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (14) authorize the transfer of Warwick School No. 203 to Indian Mission Properties, Inc.; (15) amend Delaware Code to require the Diamond State Port Corporation Executive Director to be selected by majority vote of the Board.
The Hospital Budget Review Act, House Substitute No. 2 to House Bill No. 350 (152nd General Assembly), enacted in 2024, ("HB 350") created the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board (“Board”) in an effort to bring greater transparency and accountability to hospital spending in Delaware. HB 350 requires hospitals to submit their budgets to the Board annually, disclose financial and operational information, and comply with the State’s healthcare spending benchmark. HB 350 also authorizes the Board to prospectively approve or modify hospital budgets and imposes penalties for non-compliance. Shortly after HB 350’s enactment, ChristianaCare filed suit in the Court of Chancery, alleging principally that the prospective budget approval and modification authority granted to the Board violates the Delaware Constitution. The litigation raised broader constitutional and policy questions about the balance between State oversight of health care spending and the autonomy of private, nonprofit hospitals. On September 30, 2025, the State and ChristianaCare signed an agreement pausing ChristianaCare’s lawsuit and setting forth the framework for this Act that, if enacted, will fully resolve the case. Under the agreement, the State admitted no fault. This Act incorporates the each of the terms of that agreement. HB 350 has 4 main components. First, hospitals must present detailed budget information annually to the Board. Second, the Board must determine whether the hospital has complied with the State’s healthcare spending benchmark. Third, if the hospital misses the benchmark, it must submit a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for approval by the Board. Fourth, if the hospital fails to submit an approved PIP or achieve its objectives, then the Board may prospectively approve or modify the hospital’s budget. This Act addresses constitutional concerns by eliminating the Board’s ability to approve or modify hospital budgets, while preserving the first 3 components of HB 350 with certain modifications and enhancements. First, under this Act, hospitals still must present detailed budget information to the Board each year. However, the Board will evaluate hospitals based on actual expenditure and revenue information for the most recent year, rather than prospectively approving future budgets. As with HB 350, hospitals must report financial information, including costs of operations, revenues, assets, liabilities, and expenditures, scope and volume of service information, and other information deemed relevant by the Board. This Act also requires hospitals to outline changes in year-over-year results and describe the actions it will take in the coming year to meet the benchmark, and further requires the Board to adopt a Uniform Reporting Manual for Budget Submissions to ensure the consistency of information provided by hospitals. Hospitals must provide labor costs by units of service and budget category, salary reporting is narrowed to officers, directors, key employees, and highest-compensated employees, and certain categories, such as payer contract information and three-year capital budgets, are no longer required. Second, HB 350 required the Board to determine annually whether each hospital has met the State’s healthcare spending benchmark. That requirement remains, but this Act expressly requires the Board to issue written findings of fact and determinations as to whether each hospital: (1) has met the benchmark; and, if applicable, (2) has satisfied the elements of the hospital’s Benchmark Compliance Plan (BCP), which replaces the PIP; and (3) is participating in a Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement (MCCA). Further, the Board may also make policy recommendations to the Delaware Health Care Commission or the General Assembly regarding how to better align hospital budgets with the benchmark, while promoting efficient and economic operations and maintaining the ability of hospitals to meet hospitals’ financial obligations and to provide quality care. Third, beginning in 2027, hospitals that fail to meet the benchmark must submit a BCP for the Board’s approval. As with HB 350, if the BCP does not meet the criteria established by the Board, the Board may require the hospital to amend and resubmit the BCP. If a BCP is required, the Board will examine and determine in writing the following year whether the hospital has satisfied the BCP’s elements. However, if the hospital demonstrates that it is subject to an MCCA, then the hospital is not required to submit to the BCP process for that year. MCCAs are contracts between hospitals and payers (including, in some cases, federal or state governments) that are designed to reduce healthcare costs by holding the hospital financially accountable for controlling healthcare spend for a specific population – including downside risk. However, even if a hospital has an MCCA and therefore is not required to adopt a BCP, it still must present its detailed budget information to the Board every year so that the Board may determine whether it has met the benchmark. A hospital’s adoption of an MCCA does not exempt it from that process, only the requirement that it adopt a BCP—and only for one year. Civil penalties of up to $500,000 for knowingly failing to comply with reporting standards remain in effect.
This Act clarifies that the law-enforcement agency practice of purchasing firearms for that agency’s law-enforcement officers for use by the officers in their official duties is exempted from the requirements under §§ 1448A, 1448B, and 1448D of Title 11 under our State’s permit to purchase firearms laws. Both the currently effective versions of §§ 1448A and 1448B of Title 11, and the versions of those sections that will become effective upon implementation of 84 Del. Laws, c. 259, § 1 (pursuant to §§ 5 and 6 of the act), are amended by this Act.
This Act decouples select provisions of Delaware’s tax code from provisions of Public Law 119-21, also known as the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). Absent legislative action, most provisions of federal tax law are automatically incorporated into Delaware’s tax law. This Act does not eliminate depreciation of property or expensing, but instead modifies the timing of deductions that were impacted by the OBBBA. For corporations taxed as separate entities, commonly called “C corporations,” this Act does the following: (1) Continues expensing provisions for domestic research and experimental expenditures made after December 31, 2021, but on or before December 31, 2025, under the provisions in place before the OBBBA. (2) Decouples from the OBBBA provision for full expensing of certain business property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. (3) Decouples from the special depreciation allowance for qualified production property. For individuals with business income such as an S corporation or a partnership, the following changes are made to Delaware’s personal income tax code, beginning January 1, 2026: (1) Decoupling from the OBBBA allowance for full expensing for certain business property acquired and placed in service after December 31, 2025. (2) Decoupling from the special depreciation allowance for qualified production property acquired and placed in service after December 31, 2025.
An extension of the deadline for payment of property tax bills in New Castle County for the 2025-2026 tax year established under Chapter 135 of Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware (House Bill No. 242, as amended by House Amendment 1, of the 153rd General Assembly) is required because property tax invoices could not be timely delivered due to subsequent, unforeseen expedited litigation before the Court of Chancery (Newark Property Association, et al. v. State of Delaware, et al., C.A. No. 2025-1031-LWW). The current deadline is November 30, 2025, however this Act changes the deadline to December 31, 2025, to ensure that taxpayers have a commercially reasonable period to review and pay property tax invoices and to help prevent the inequitable imposition of statutorily-mandated penalties and interest.
A placard must be prominently displayed at any entrance of a massage and bodywork establishment that has failed to obtain a valid license or has a license that is suspended, revoked, or expired. This Act provides that no placard can be removed unless the removal of the placard is approved by the Division of Professional Regulation. This Act makes the unlawful removal of the placard a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 1 year in jail and up to a $2300 fine. Technical corrections are also made to existing statutory language to conform with the requirements of the Legislative Drafting Manual.
Pay range transparency empowers job applicants with crucial information to negotiate salaries and make informed career decisions. It also encourages businesses to proactively review compensation practices, address unjustified pay disparities, and strengthen their ability to attract and retain top talent. This Act requires that employers include salary or wage range information and a general description of benefits in all postings for job opportunities, and ensures that applicants have access to that information prior to any offer or discussion of compensation. Employers are required to maintain records relating to job descriptions and wage rates for employees for at least 3 years. The Department of Labor may bring an administrative action to enforce the pay transparency provision. This Act does not apply to employers with 25 or fewer employees. The Act takes effect 2 years after its enactment. House Substitute No. 2 to House Bill No. 105 differs from House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 105 as follows: It provides that where a job opportunity is covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the compensation or compensation range disclosed in a notification should be one that has been agreed upon for disclosure in the CBA itself. It provides that the pay transparency provision becomes applicable to postings for opportunities covered by a CBA only when the CBA is amended, modified, or renewed after the effective date of the Act, to give the parties opportunity to consider the disclosed range in the course of negotiating a CBA. It provides that an employer is not liable for job postings that are digitally replicated and published without the employer’s consent. It specifies that the pay transparency provisions in this section apply to Delaware-based jobs or non-international remote positions offered by an employer based in Delaware. It makes the record preservation requirement consistent with § 907 of Title 19.
This Act would limit the opportunity to remain as a licensed apprentice electrician after an individual has already completed an apprentice program approved by the Board of Electrical Examiners. Apprenticeship is meant to be a first step on a career journey, not a destination. Since the apprentice electrician license was created, the ranks of apprentices have steadily swollen, but a significant number of those apprentices have not moved forward toward more advanced licensing. As the number of these apprentices grows beyond the capacity for more senior licensees to supervise their work, the situation is likely to create confusion among and to threaten the safety of consumers of electrical services in Delaware and the general public. This bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act creates a new chapter in Title 21 pertaining to the towing of vehicles without the consent of the owner or operator. It makes violations of the chapter an unlawful practice enforceable by the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice. The Act creates the following requirements for the towing and storage of vehicles without the consent of the owner or operator: Photographic evidence must be taken to document the unauthorized parking of a vehicle before it may be towed, and written authorization to tow a specific vehicle is required before the vehicle may be towed from a private parking area. Tow companies and storage facilities must publicly display their rates. Towing and storage rates must be reasonable, with reasonableness calculated in relation to the fees imposed by the companies for consensual towing and storage or based on average rates in the county. A maximum total towing rate of $250 and daily storage rate of $50 is imposed. Tow companies must decouple or drop vehicles that have not been removed from parking areas if the owner returns before removal. The drop fee may not be more than 50% of the tow fee. Storage facilities must be open or accessible to the public from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. five days a week, and tow companies must make reasonable accommodations to redeem vehicles after-hours. Individuals must be allowed to retrieve at no cost during business hours personal belongings from vehicles held in storage. Storage facilities may charge a fee of up to $50 for after-hours access to or retrieval of a vehicle. Tow companies and storage facilities must accept credit cards, or have an ATM available with a reasonable access or service fee. Where a tow is completed in violation of the chapter, the owner or operator is entitled to both reimbursement of the tow and storage fees as well as damages incurred to retrieve an illegally towed vehicle. Tow companies may not patrol for illegally parked cars, unless they have a contract to do so and comply with the requirements applicable to any other unauthorized towing of a vehicle. Tow companies may not pay or give other benefits to obtain information about cars parked without authorization.
HS 2 to HB 48 seeks to streamline accessible parking laws and improve enforcement of accessible parking laws in Delaware. Although federal and state laws currently require specific design and construction requirements for accessible spaces, these laws are often ignored and rarely enforced. To that end, this Act requires that a permit be issued by the local county or municipal authority to ensure that accessible parking spaces are compliant with the design and construction requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and any existing local laws. This Act permits a county or municipal government to assess a civil penalty of up to $500 on an individual or entity that does not construct and maintain ADA compliant parking spaces. This Act also increases the fine for unlawfully occupying an accessible parking space. Rather than imprisonment, the penalty for unlawfully occupying an accessible parking space may include community service. All accessible parking space signs must display the current maximum fine. HS 2 to HB 48 differs from HB 48 in that it does the following: (1) Requires state facilities to obtain approval through the Architectural Accessibility Board in lieu of a permit. (2) Removes state-specific accessible parking provisions of the bill and adopts the federal accessible parking provisions that are already in effect under the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design issued by the Department of Justice on September 15, 2010, and its accompanying guidance. (3) If an existing accessible parking space is not ADA compliant within 5 years of the effective date of this Act, authorizes a civil penalty to be assessed against the individual or entity that is responsible for maintaining the accessible parking space. (4) Requires that all accessible parking space signs display the current maximum fine for unlawfully occupying an accessible parking space.
