Sen. Gerald Hocker

This bill will increase the public transparency of education funding information by directing the Department of Education to: 1. Establish, in collaboration with stakeholders, a statewide approach for districts and charter schools for reporting expenditures at the school level and the school’s share of central office expenditures so that per-pupil expenditure data is consistent and comparable across the State. 2. Report per-pupil expenditure data with key information that provide context on differences in funding such as school type, student demographics, and student outcomes. 3. Provide optional trainings to increase understanding of the data. As a result, this bill is intended to enable all taxpayers, parents, and schools to understand their school spending and resources in order to make data-driven decisions for students.

Cybersecurity attacks, including data breaches, corporate theft, and sabotage perpetrated by state and non-state actors throughout the world present unique threats to Delaware residents, governments, businesses, and critical infrastructure. Statewide coordination is required to effectively ensure cybersecurity protection. Cyber-attacks have increased significantly, providing evidence that information security must be strengthened to guard against threats. The State must leverage every partnership and mechanism available to combat the growing number of cyber-attacks and breaches. Trends show attacks growing by 64% annually. 84% of organizations have experienced cyber-attacks in the last 12 months. This bill strengthens Delaware’s defenses by facilitating multi-industry coordination among critical sectors such as communications, emergency services, energy, financial services, healthcare, water, and government. The primary objectives of the Council will be to focus on sharing and analyzing cyber threat intelligence in a collaborative manner.

The Division of Small Business, Development and Tourism was created by 81 Del. Laws ch. 49 and placed in the Department of State. This enactment transferred certain responsibilities for economic development, formerly in the Delaware Department of Economic Development, to this Division. The purpose of this Act is to address administrative housekeeping matters involving this transfer of responsibilities for economic development. Specifically, this Act changes the name of the Division of Small Business, Development and Tourism to the Division of Small Business. The Division of Small Business will remain in the Department of State and be responsible for economic development activities transferred to the Division of Small Business, Development and Tourism in 81 Del. Laws ch. 49. This Act also does the following: (1) Sets a new date for the submission of the Comprehensive State Plan for Economic Development and unifies the economic development reporting requirements of the Division of Small Business. (2) Limits the terms of members of the Council on Development Finance (“Council”) appointed after July 1, 2018. (3) Eliminates the requirement that all Council members be physically present to constitute a quorum for meetings, to foster greater efficiency in making economic development recommendations to the Division of Small Business. (4) Further deletes reference to programs governed by prior acts of the General Assembly such as the Agriculture/Aquaculture Program, the Liberty Court Apartments project, and the Human Investment and Partnership Program, to the extent that these programs are no longer active. Finally this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Bill eliminates the prohibition against the mere possession of a body-gripping trap with a jaw spread in excess of 5 inches, while maintaining the prohibition against actually using one in Delaware. This modification is necessary because many licensed Delaware trappers legally trap in other states where such traps are legal and it also allows trap collectors to possess the larger traps while maintaining the prohibition against their actual use.

This Act creates Pay for Success contracts. A Pay for Success contract is an agreement between a State agency and either a program intermediary or an investor under which an investor will provide upfront capital to fund a service, program, or economic development initiative. The State agency agrees to repay the program intermediary or investor if the service, program, or economic development initiative meets the performance measures and outcomes agreed to in the contract. An independent evaluator will determine if the performance measures and outcomes are met. If the State agency contracts with a program intermediary, the program intermediary will manage all aspects of the project, including identifying the investor and the entity or entities that will provide the service, program, or economic development initiative. In other situations, a State agency will contract directly with the investor, who will contract directly with the entity or entities that will provide the service, program, or economic development initiative.

Under current law, a person may deposit, for a fee, an original will with the Register of Wills in New Castle County for safekeeping. The person is not required to be a resident of New Castle County, but only the New Castle County Register of Wills is authorized to store original wills. This Act expands current law to authorize the Register of Wills in Sussex County to similarly store original wills.

Section 1 of this Act transfers from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to the Department of Health and Social Services the responsibility for establishing, administering, adopting rules and regulations, and setting fees for courses of instruction and programs of rehabilitation for those whose licenses have been revoked for driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or any drug, or both. The Department of Health and Social Services’ Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health is better positioned to establish and operate programs aimed at treating substance abuse issues. Section 1 of this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and to update language in this Act that is no longer consistent with language in § 4177 of Title 21. Section 2 of this Act delays the Act’s effective date for 6 months.

This bill creates two new vehicle license plates promoting and supporting both saltwater and freshwater fishing in the State of Delaware. The proceeds associated with The Delaware Sport Fishing License Plate, has a mission of undertaking initiatives that will enhance the pleasure of both saltwater and freshwater recreational fishing throughout the State of Delaware.

Section 1 through 4 of this Act establish interim standards and criteria in order to permit redevelopment projects to move forward while revised regulations are being drafted. The interim standards set forth in this Act would effectively "sunset" upon the adoption of regulations governing redevelopment. The redevelopment regulations, upon formal adoption, would supersede the provisions of the Bill. Section 4 corrects an oversight in prior legislation, which extended the time frame for Department review of delegated projects from 3 to 5 years, but failed to extend the effective date of delegation from 3 to 5 years. Section 5 codifies current and proposed regulations as they pertain to stormwater management to ensure consistency. Section 6 is intended to clarify the procedural status of supporting materials published by DNREC to facilitate compliance with the Regulations, in light of the Order of the Delaware Supreme Court in Baker v. DNREC, No. 552, 2015 (April 15, 2016), affirming the Memorandum Opinion of the Honorable T. Henley Graves of the Superior Court, dated October 7, 2015. Consistent with the Delaware Administrative Procedures Act, regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy adopted pursuant to this exception must still be published in the Delaware Register of Regulations, in order to provide notice of the changes. The language confirming the exemption is drawn from federal administrative law, 5 U.S.C.A. §553, and equivalent provisions of the New Jersey Code, 52:14B-3a, governing such supporting materials. The regulatory guidance documents, interpretive rules, and general statements of policy may not be used by DNREC to impose new or additional requirements on regulated parties, and may not be used, instead of the Code provisions and the Stormwater Regulations, as a basis for enforcement. Such materials are therefore not regulations, and not are not subject to the notice, hearing, or comment procedures of the Administrative Procedures Act or Title 7, or the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Rather, DNREC is free to publish periodic updates and revisions of its technical manuals, checklists, forms, and policy memos, to assist regulated parties in compliance with the Regulations. Section 7 creates a sunset date for sections 1, 2, and 5 to give the Department additional time to fully enact regulations. It is the intent that sections 1, 2, and 5 will sunset upon having a finalized version of Sediment and Stormwater Regulations.

The Delaware National Guard is a crucial partner in the preparedness, planning and in conducting operations in the event of radiological incidents. This Act’s modification to § 181 corrects an unintended flaw from a previous change to Title 20, affecting the manner in which National Guard members are paid for Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) events. The previous change in Title 20 impedes the National Guard’s efforts to recruit personnel, who have developed a high level of proficiency achieved through consistent monthly training. The change allows the Delaware National Guard to ensure ample participation and encourage returning members to build upon previous training and processes. This request has no impact to the State’s general funds as it is paid through Special Funding provided by Public Service Enterprise Group. This Act’s modifications to § 185 updates the requirements for the employment and administration of state employees working for the Delaware National Guard. The Delaware National Guard has administered their state employees similar to the federal military technician program which includes dual status and non-dual status technicians. In the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the non-dual status federal technician position was eliminated and technicians were converted into Title 5 employees. The change in the federal law impedes the employment and administration of some state employees. The change allows for the proper employment and administration of all Delaware National Guard state employees.