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Daily Report for 3/21/2017

Governor's Actions

No legislation is Signed by Governor Today

New Legislation Introduced

Bill	Current Status	Sponsor	Synopsis	Title
HB 83	Committee	Matthews	This bill clarifies a county government authority to enact and enforce an ordinance affecting an area within a right of way and consistent with state code. Specifically, it enables a county government to enact an ordinance that concerns the maintenance of sidewalks in residential subdivisions.	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 17 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DELDOT RIGHTS OF WAY.
HA 1 to HB 58	Passed	K. Williams	This Amendment is a substantive change which serves to remove existing subsection (f) relating to ground mounted systems instead of making the revisions noted in HB58. This Amendment also removes the provision relating to a prevailing party being entitled to costs and reasonable attorney's fees associated with litigation arising under this section.
SB 29	Committee	Townsend	This Act makes several changes to the law governing the conduct of members of the General Assembly, as a first step to addressing the troubling ethics scores Delaware received in the 2015 State Integrity Investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. Section 1 removes from the Code the language that exempts members of the General Assembly from the obligations of the State Employees’, Officers’ and Officials’ Conflict of Interest and Code of Conduct rules. It also eliminates a reference to Resident Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Section 2 adds to the Legislative Conflicts of Interest chapter a provision that expressly limits a legislator’s use of public assets for private or partisan political purposes.	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC INTEGRITY.
HA 1 to HB 47	Passed	Yearick	This amendment adds an effective date of January 1, 2018.
SB 37	Committee	Pettyjohn	This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would require the same super-majority vote to amend a provision that results in the act's expiration on a certain date, also known as a "sunset" provision, as was required to pass the act in the first instance.	AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE LEGISLATURE.
HA 2 to HB 47	Passed	Yearick	This Amendment changes the word “affidavit” to “statement” since the bill is removing the notary requirement..

Legislation Passed By Senate

Bill	Current Status	Sponsor	Synopsis	Title
HB 18	Signed	J. Johnson	This bill clarifies the General Assembly’s intent last session in amending the state’s habitual offender law, specifically (a) that the changes made by the General Assembly were intended to affect minimum mandatory sentences, not sentences where judges had already exercised complete discretion, (b) that the changes were not designed to reduce minimum mandatory sentences associated in the Delaware Code with specific crimes (e.g. illegal gun possession), and (c) allows the sentencing judge to impose probation after the minimum mandatory sentence required by this section.	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HABITUAL CRIMINALS.
HB 19	Signed	Mitchell	This bill is a follow-up to House Bill No. 432, a change to the Town of Elsmere’s charter, passed in the 148th General Assembly. HB432 removed a cap on the amount of indebtedness the Town of Elsmere could incur to meet current expenses. This bill clarifies that such borrowing is intended to cover short term cash needs and shall not exceed anticipated revenue for the current fiscal year.	AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF ELSMERE.
HJR 3	Signed	Jaques	This Joint Resolution directs the Department of Education to present its plan for compliance with the new federal education law - “Every Student Succeeds Act” or “ESSA” – at a meeting of the education committees of both chambers of the General Assembly prior to the completion of the state plan and it’s submission to the federal Department of Education.	DIRECTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REVIEW THE STATE ESSA PLAN WITH THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE.
HB 32	Signed	Dukes	This act amends the Charter of the Town of Laurel to allow for tax abatements for a five year period on all improvements of properties, for all zoned properties, located within the Downtown Development District and establishing the condition that all town taxes, fees, etc., are current in order to qualify for such abatement.	AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF LAUREL RELATING TO TAX EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN PROPERTIES LOCATED WITHIN DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT.
HB 37	Signed	Carson	This Act authorizes the Smyrna School District to convey to the Town of Smyrna property located in Kent County, and known as the School Administration Building, to be used by the Town for public purposes, including incorporating the building and property as part of the proposed Duck Creek Regional Library and Community Center at Smyrna.	AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF CERTAIN PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE TOWN OF SMYRNA.
HCR 12	Passed	Briggs King	This resolution encourages all Delaware departments and agencies to consider citizens with visual impairments when developing, maintaining, procuring, or using electronic information and technology.	ENCOURAGING DELAWARE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES TO CONSIDER CITIZENS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS WHEN PRODUCING ELECTRONIC INFORMATION.
SCR 5	Passed	Hocker	This concurrent resolution calls on the Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to study and revise as appropriate, the emergency evacuation routes for the beach areas in lower Sussex County.	REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STUDY AND REVISE EMERGENCY EVACUATION ROUTES FOR THE BEACH AREAS IN LOWER SUSSEX COUNTY.
HCR 15	Passed	Jaques	This Concurrent Resolution commends the 2017 Delaware State Teacher of the Year, Wendy Turner, and all of the District Teachers of the Year.	COMMENDING WENDY TURNER REPRESENTING THE BRANDYWINE SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR BEING SELECTED AS DELAWARE'S STATE TEACHER OF THE YEAR FOR 2017 AND COMMENDING EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT'S TEACHER OF THE YEAR.
SCR 6	Passed	McBride	This Resolution commends the Delaware State Dental Society on the success of its 14th Annual Give Kids a Smile Program and recognizes its continuing efforts to improve the dental health of Delaware’s children.	COMMENDING THE DELAWARE STATE DENTAL SOCIETY ON THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF ITS 14TH ANNUAL GIVE KIDS A SMILE PROGRAM RECOGNIZING ITS CONTINUING EFFORTS.

Legislation Passed By House of Representatives

Bill	Current Status	Sponsor	Synopsis	Title
SB 17	Signed	Townsend	This bill provides for research or transplantation of organs and other anatomical gifts as authorized under federal law among donors who have tested positive for exposure to HIV and intended recipients who have also tested positive for exposure to HIV. Delaware is currently the only state that has laws prohibiting the use of HIV positive organs for HIV positive recipients entirely, including the use of organs as part of a research protocol.	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ANATOMICAL GIFTS.
HA 1 to HB 23	Passed	Matthews	This amendment clarifies that written consent is only required for students who have not reached the age of majority. It also limits the burden on schools by clarifying that a school must make three attempts to contact and schedule an exit interview with a parent or guardian. If the parent or guardian is unreachable or uncooperative the school has no further obligations under this subsection.

Senate Committee Assignments

House Committee Assignments

Senate Committee Report

No Senate Committee Report

House Committee Report

No House Committee Report

Senate Defeated Legislation

No Senate Defeated Legislation

House Defeated Legislation

Bill	Current Status	Sponsor	Synopsis	Title
HB 13	Signed	Potter	This bill provides Statewide consistency in the law that protects the public from dangerous dogs and clarifies that dogs may not be held potentially dangerous or dangerous for animal control enforcement or for purposes of criminal liability based solely on breed-specific criteria. Findings to deem a dog dangerous will be based on actions of the dog, or an individualized demonstration of vicious behavior. It also prohibits municipalities from enacting breed-specific ordinances or regulations. The bill deletes outdated references to the now-defunct Dog Control Panel and replaces them with reference to the Justice of the Peace Court procedure laid out in Chapter 30F of Title 16.	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 11, 16, AND 22 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DOGS.

Nominations Enacted upon by the Senate

No Records