This Substitute for House Bill No. 252, like House Bill No. 252, makes a technical correction and decriminalizes the use or consumption of a personal use quantity of a controlled substance or counterfeit controlled substance in an area accessible to the public, instead making it a civil violation with a fine of up to $50 for a first offense and up to $100 for subsequent offenses. This Substitute differs from House Bill No. 252 in that it does not decriminalize the use of or consumption of a personal use quantity by individuals in moving vehicles. This Substitute does not change the penalty (up to a $200 fine, up to 5 days imprisonment, or both) for a person operating a moving vehicle while using a personal use quantity, but changes the penalty for passengers to a $100 fine with no possibility of prison time.
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This resolution recognizes the Air Mobility Command Museum Foundation’s efforts to expand the Museum’s facilities through a major project that will add new exhibit space, educational and conference facilities, and community spaces. The expansion will enhance the Museum’s ability to preserve aviation history, provide interactive educational experiences, and support community engagement, while also delivering a significant economic benefit to the region. The resolution acknowledges the importance of public and private support to the success of this project.
Senate Bill No. 59 (Chapter 78, Volume 85 of the Laws of Delaware) was passed by the General Assembly on June 26, 2025, and signed by the Governor on July 16, 2025. Senate Bill No. 59 changed the standard applied by the Public Service Commission ("Commission") when deciding public utility rate cases. The standard applied before the enactment of Senate Bill No. 59 was the “business judgment rule” standard. Senate Bill No. 59 changed the standard applied by the Commission to the “prudence” standard. Forty-eight states in the United States apply the “prudence” standard when setting public utility rates, not the "business judgement rule" standard that has been applied in Delaware. Although Section 3 of Senate Bill No. 59 stated that the Act takes effect on January 1, 2026, following its enactment into law, it was the intent of the General Assembly that the Commission must apply the “prudence" standard retroactively in rate case decisions, where the public utility filed the rate case proceeding with the Commission during the period from the date of enactment of the legislation on July 16, 2025, through December 31, 2025. The “prudence” standard does not apply to any rate case proceeding filed by a public utility with the Commission before July 16, 2025.
This Act is a substitute bill for Senate Bill No. 228. It combines Senate Bill No. 228 and Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 228. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 228 by intending to maximize the amount of time New Castle County will have in 2026 to conduct a quality control review of non-residential property assessments and make any adjustments to assessed values while also ensuring sufficient time for the preparation of county and school tax bills in New Castle County with a December 31, 2026 payment deadline: 1. Adjusts the date by which New Castle County must complete its Quality Control review and make any adjustments to assessed values to September 30, 2026. 2. Adjusts the tax "due and payable" date, which is an existing statutory term that is different from a payment deadline, to October 12, 2026. 3. Adjusts the date by which New Castle County must mail out tax statements to November 16, 2026. 4. Adjusts the deadline for payment of tax bills to December 31, 2026. 5. Confirms that penalties for unpaid amounts do not begin until January 1, 2027. This Act also differs from Senate Bill No. 228 by changing the date by which a school board in New Castle County must deliver its warrant to New Castle County to October 22, 2026, and clarifying the State shall advance monies to any school district that experiences a shortfall as a result of the changes in this Act. Like Senate Bill No. 228, this Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill No. 228 is designed to promote fairness in property assessments and property taxation in New Castle County. The Act provides New Castle County the authority to conduct a quality control review of a tax parcel’s new assessed value after a general reassessment when any of the following conditions exist: 1. A clerical, mathematical, or factual mistake occurred during the new general reassessment. 2. A non-residential tax parcel whose assessed value from the general reassessment is at least $300,000 but decreased from its previous assessed value. 3. A non-residential tax parcel’s assessed value from the new general reassessment is at least $300,000 and the percentage change in its newly assessed value from its assessed value prior to the new general reassessment is no greater than 50% of the median increase of non-residential properties in that county from the new general reassessment. 4. A non-residential tax parcel’s assessed value from the new general reassessment is at least 25% less than the actual sale price from the parcel’s most recent sale within the 5 years preceding the new general reassessment, whenever the actual sale price is determinable by public records. The quality control review grants the Office of Finance the power to make revisions and corrections to a tax parcel while adhering to the standards of §§ 8306(a), 8312, and 8321 of Title 9. The Act sets deadlines for the Office of Finance to make adjustments to assessed values and to finalize and mail tax statements. This Act also amends Title 14 to provide a deadline for school boards in New Castle County to deliver their warrants and directs the State to advance funding if a school district experiences a shortfall of funding as a result of the changes in this Act. This Act expires on March 31, 2027, unless otherwise provided by a subsequent act of the General Assembly.
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.
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 Concurrent Resolution recognizes January 27, 2026, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and encourages education and remembrance in observance of the day.
This Concurrent Resolution designates January as “Muslim Heritage Month” and recognizes Ramadan and Muslim residents of this State as they observe it.
Maddy summarySCR 128 is a ceremonial resolution designating January 2026 as "National Blood Donor Month" in Delaware. It formally recognizes the importance of blood donation through a symbolic state acknowledgment, without creating new laws or affecting any specific individuals or groups. The resolution was introduced and passed unanimously in both the Delaware Senate and House on January 29, 2026.
This concurrent resolution urges PJM Interconnection to extend price collars for 2 years at the current rate of $325/mw-day and to implement reforms to its interconnection queue to allow for increased generation capacity to come online faster and prevent the need for price collars in the future.