Sen. David B. McBride

This bill will add a new check-off donation box on the Delaware personal income tax return whereby individuals may choose to donate a portion of their tax refund, or designate an amount in addition to the tax they owe that will be transferred by the Division of Revenue to the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund held by the Delaware Community Foundation, who in turn will deposit the funds to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.

In 2017, 44,889 failure to pay capias issued for people who did not pay a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution imposed for a non-felony offense. In the first 6 months of 2018, there were a total of 5,807 admissions to detention at all Level V facilities. Of these admissions, 129 were for failure to pay only and 595 were for failure to pay and another charge. When a capias is issued for nonpayment of a fine, courts currently may and do impose fees to cancel the warrant. When defendants are late paying their fines, the courts’ clerks also must forward the defendant’s name to the Department of Transportation’s Division of Motor Vehicles for license suspension. This Act prohibits a court or the Department of Transportation from suspending a driver’s license for nonpayment of a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution and from charging a penalty, assessment, or fee to a defendant for the cancellation of a warrant issued due to the defendant’s nonpayment of a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution. This Act also prohibits a court from imposing an additional fee on a defendant for payments that are made at designated periodic intervals or late, or when probation is ordered to supervise a defendant’s payment. Nothing in this Act precludes the court from filing contempt charges against defendants who willfully fail to pay their fines imposed after their ability to pay hearing. Further, this Act permits a court, before imposing a fine, fee, cost, or assessment, to consider a defendant’s ability to pay the fine, fee, costs, or assessment, whether an adult or a juvenile, is able to pay the fine, fee, cost, or assessment. This Act also provides the courts with discretion to waive, modify, suspend, costs, assessments, fines, and fees even if otherwise deemed mandatory by the Code. Additionally, this Act requires state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies and volunteer ambulance companies to calculate and report the total sum they receive from fines, fees, costs, assessments and restitution and make a public report of these totals. This Act also creates the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group to review the impact court imposed financial obligations have on defendants and survivors of crime and make recommendations to promote access, fairness, and transparency in the imposition and collection of court imposed financial obligations. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Employment for formerly incarcerated individuals is a major barrier to transitioning and re-entering the community. The National Institute of Justice estimates that 60% of ex-offenders are jobless one year after their release. Improving access to employment opportunities for ex-offenders helps lower the State’s recidivism rates and will improve public safety and reduce taxpayer spending on prisons. This Act seeks to improve access to employment for formerly incarcerated individuals by establishing the Ex-Offender Employment Opportunity Tax Credit that offers a tax credit to employers hiring qualified ex-offenders in an amount equal to 10% of that individuals wages, with a maximum credit of $1500.

This bill is intended to facilitate the growth and expansion of Delaware licensed craft alcoholic beverage companies within the State by permitting them to continue to grow and expand in an increasingly competitive environment. This bill does not change the position of craft alcoholic beverage companies in the traditional “three-tier” system.

This concurrent resolution commends the nominees and recipients for the 2019 Delaware Governor’s Awards: Recognizing State Employee Individuals, Teams, and Heroes.

Delaware's statewide community college system, operated by Delaware Technical and Community College (“the College”), plays a critical role in the State's economy by providing workforce development, vocational training, and transfer education that connects Delawareans with good paying jobs within the State and region. This Act gives the College’s Board of Trustees the authority to issue bonds to finance the cost of major and minor capital improvements, deferred maintenance, and the acquisition of related equipment and educational technology and establishes the Community College Infrastructure Fund (“the Fund”) to pay the principal and interest on such bonds. Any promissory notes or bonds must be approved separately prior to issuance by the General Assembly in a bond and capital improvement act. This Act is a substitute for and differs from Senate Bill No. 50 by deleting the property tax component and instead provides that it is the intent of the General Assembly to appropriate at least $10 million for deferred maintenance for the next 5 years to be deposited to the Fund together with such other funds as may be deposited by the College from sources including, but not limited to, tuition and fees, private funds, non-state grants and federal support. This Act also provides a mechanism, but not an obligation, for the state to provide matching funds for minor capital improvement projects consistent with existing matching provisions for public education. This Act also makes technical corrections.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution commends the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and the Delaware Bioscience Center for Advanced Technology (Bioscience CAT) for their outstanding efforts to strengthen Delaware’s economy through the support of academic-industrial life science research collaborations and to enrich the lives of Delaware’s young people by providing them with opportunities to observe and pursue scientific research.

This House Concurrent Resolution establishes an Interagency Pharmaceuticals Purchasing Study Group ("Study Group") to coordinate the existing efforts to leverage bulk purchasing to negotiate lower prices and make recommendations to maximize the opportunities to coordinate State-funded pharmaceutical purchases.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution commends the Delaware State Dental Society on the success of its 16th annual “Give Kids a Smile” program and recognizes its continuing efforts to improve the dental health of Delaware’s children.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution commemorates, on April 22, 2019, the 100th Anniversary of Easterseals, a leading advocate and service provider for children and adults with disabilities, veterans, older adults, caregivers and their families. The resolution further directs that the cupola atop Legislative Hall shall be lighted on the evening of April 22, 2019 with an orange light in honor of the Easterseals’ 100th Anniversary.