In January of 2015, the Office of Civil Rights & Public Trust was created by the Attorney General to establish a centralized office within the Department of Justice for the investigation of matters concerning civil rights enforcement and the prosecution of matters concerning violations of the public trust. This office must remain an independent entity within the Department of Justice to avoid conflicts with other Department of Justice duties and thus effectively enforce laws protecting the public trust and civil rights. Thus, this Act creates the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust within the Department of Justice which will be separate from the other Divisions within the Department of Justice and have a Director who reports directly to the Chief Deputy Attorney General, to avoid conflicts of interest with the work of the other Divisions. This Act also clarifies the current scope of the Department of Justice’s ability to investigate and bring civil rights actions to protect the civil rights of all Delawareans.
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This Act allows any qualified voter evidencing a desire to vote by mail in writing to the State Elections Commission to vote by mail in primary, general, and special federal elections. The State Elections Commission shall administer the program, creating rules and regulations that allow processing and scanning of mail ballots ahead of Election Day without tabulation until Election Day, dropping off mail ballots at any polling place on Election Day and dropping off mail ballots in a secure drop box of each county Department of Elections office before and leading up to Election Day.
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to prohibit the imposition of the death penalty. 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 when the General Assembly amends the Delaware Constitution.
This Act revises the requirements for the shape of a Complete Community Enterprise Districts (“District”) to maximize the use of transit, walking, and bicycling by residents and employees. Specifically, this Act does all of the following: 1. Eliminates the minimum size. 2. Requires the District to contain more than 1 parcel and that part of at least 1 parcel be within a ½ mile from a bus or rail stop or station. 3. Requires the District to include adjacent neighborhoods within a ½ mile from a bus or rail stop or station. 4. Prohibits a district from being in the shape of a linear corridor and requires that each parcel of land in the District is zoned to maximize the use of transit, walking, and bicycling. 5. Requires that a District be part of a master development plan that maximizes the use of transit, walking, and bicycling by residents and employees. This Act also repeals the definition of "isoperimetric quotient" because the term is being removed and replaced with paragraphs (3), (7), and (9) of § 2104 of Title 2, in the revised requirements for a Complete Community Enterprise District.
Current Delaware regulations provide that transportation benefits must be provided for students in grades K through 6 who live 1 or more miles from the schools to which district administrators would normally assign them. In grades 7 through 12, the same students are entitled to transportation benefits if they live 2 or more miles from their assigned public schools. See 14 Del. Admin. C. § 1150-12.1. This Act expands transportation benefits to students in grades 7 and 8 who live 1 or more miles from the public schools to which district administrators would normally assign them. This Act takes effect 1 year after enactment. It also and makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act establishes a Behavioral Health Professional of the year award program throughout the State. Through this legislation, the state will formally honor and recognize the work behavioral health professionals, such as, school counselors, social workers, licensed clinical social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses.
This bill requires all public and charter schools which have students in grades 6-12 to provide free feminine hygiene products in 50% of the bathrooms used by students who can have a menstrual cycle. This bill also requires schools to publish on its website and post in its common areas the locations of the bathrooms where the hygiene products are provided. Finally, this bill provides that each school must consult with its school nurse regarding the products to be provided.
This bill creates a special license plate for World War II veterans.
This Act makes changes to the State’s budget and fiscal procedures. Specifically: Sections 1 and 7 of this Act update the deadlines for the submission of General Fund revenue forecasts to more effectively account for the timing of revenue payments. Section 2 of this Act updates notice requirements regarding bond sales to allow for notice using the Department of Finance website. Section 3 of this Act limits the availability of bond refunding premiums to an escrow account for debt service savings. Sections 4 and 6 of this Act eliminate the requirement that the Secretary of Finance be bonded, because the state’s self-insurance plan, § 6543 of Title 18 of the Delaware Code, provides coverage that eliminates the need for a bond and lifts this requirement. Section 5 of this Act simplifies the administrative responsibilities of the State, Counties, and the City of Wilmington related to private activity bond cap by requiring the Counties and City of Wilmington to request the amount of their guaranteed private activity bond cap as needed, eliminating the need to reassign unused portions back to the State each year. Section 8 of this Act extends the Division of Revenue’s authority to enter into agreements to share information with additional agencies and county governments on whose behalf the Division receives and processes tax returns and payments. Section 9 of this Act repeals an antiquated and now unnecessary penalty predating the current criminal code. Section 10 of this Act makes a technical correction to the exceptions to business license revocation following the issuance of a notice of intent. Section 11 of this Act ensures that all tobacco product tax deferred payment plans for the month of June are settled by June 25th. In addition, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill increases the amount that a tenant may deduct from rent in order to have necessary work done on the rental premises if the landlord fails to repair or maintain the premises after proper notice. The original amount of $200 was selected at the time that the Landlord Tenant Code was drafted in 1996. The amended amount of $400 reflects inflation of rent and cost of repairs.