| HB 170 w/ SA 1, SA 1 to SA 1 | Signed | Ramone | This legislation, the Angel Investor Job Creation and Innovation Act for Small Technology Companies, creates an incentive for qualified angel investors to invest capital in qualified Delaware small technology companies.. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 29 AND 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ANGEL INVESTOR JOB CREATION AND INNOVATION ACT . |
| SB 84 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Pettyjohn | This Act makes consistent the amount of time that the Court "looks back" to determine if the current offense is a second offense for the purposes of sentencing. This Act applies to Traffic offenses, but it would not be applicable to DUI cases. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES |
| HB 289 | Signed | B. Short | This bill amends 18 Del. C. § 6907 relating to the filing of annual statements and payment of premium taxes for captive insurance entities. This legislation will require captive insurers to file their annual statements and pay premium taxes on or before April 15th of each year. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO INSURANCE. |
| HB 306 w/ HA 2 | Signed | J. Johnson | This bill permits judges to utilize their discretion in determining whether a juvenile charged with possession of a firearm during commission of a felony should be transferred back to Family Court or remain in Superior Court. Prior to 2017, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony was only one of five criminal charges where judges had no discretion in determining whether a juvenile should be treated as a juvenile or an adult because the statute required a juvenile charged with these offenses to be prosecuted as an adult. House Bill 9, which was enacted last year, provided judges the discretion to determine how a juvenile should be treated for four other offenses. This is a continuation of that effort.
The bill simply changes the language from ‘shall’ to ‘may’ to allow judges to weigh the possibility that a juvenile may be better served in Delaware’s Family Court system through the amenability process already enumerated in Title 10 § 1010 and § 1011. This bill also raises the age from 15 to 16.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CERTAIN CRIMES. |
| HB 307 w/ HA 1 | Signed | J. Johnson | United States Supreme Court case law and scientific research has changed how we think about juvenile delinquency. We know now that an adolescent’s brain is not fully developed until his/her mid-twenties which makes juveniles especially prone to making poor choices. In the landmark case of Miller v. Alabama, wherein the United States Supreme Court prohibited mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles, the Court wrote: “Children are constitutionally different from adults for sentencing purposes.”
This proposed legislation would repeal and remove all minimum-mandatory sentencing schemes for juveniles adjudicated delinquent in Family Court because children are different than adults. Family Court judges and commissioners would still be able to impose a commitment to a DSCYF secure placement, but would now have the ability to exercise their judicial discretion to fashion an appropriate sentence for an individual juvenile.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 AND 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO JUVENILES. |
| HB 313 | Signed | Gray | This amendment to the Ocean View charter confirms the authority of the Town Council to elect to assess and value property pursuant to 22 Del.C. § 1101, et seq., as an alternate to the previously required procedure. | AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 399, VOLUME 77, LAWS OF DELAWARE, ENTITLED AN ACT TO REINCORPORATE THE TOWN OF OCEAN VIEW. |
| HB 322 | Signed | Potter | This bill lowers the mayoral age requirement from 30 to 25. This change makes the Mayor’s age requirement consistent with that for City Councilmen. Under the City ‘s Charter, if the Mayor resigns, dies or is unable to perform his/her duties, the Council President takes the Mayor’s place. This succession would prove problematic if the Council President does not meet the age requirement for Mayor. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF WILMINGTON RELATING TO QUALIFICATIONS FOR MAYOR. |
| HB 327 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Mitchell | This Act is designed to address underage gambling offenses under § 4810 of Title 29 in a more efficient way.
Section 1 of this Act requires mandatory counseling for underage individuals who gamble in violation of § 4810(a) of Title 29 and provides for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Justice of Peace Courts for those who are 18 years of age or older and for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Family Court for those who are 17 years of age or younger.
Section 2 of this Act gives Superior Court jurisdiction over other violations of the underage gambling law.
Section 3 makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 eligible for probation before judgment.
Section 4 of the Act makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 a warrantless crime, which would permit violators to be processed through the use of a criminal summons.
Finally, this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO UNDERAGE GAMBLING. |
| HB 345 | Signed | Schwartzkopf | This bill increases the 1-time fee from $35 to $50 for Delaware’s environmental license plates in order to increase revenue to improve the capacity of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary to fulfill their responsibilities to the protection and restoration of Delaware’s estuaries. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES. |
| SB 160 | Signed | Henry | This Act revises and improves the New Castle County Board of Assessment Review ("Board") by making revisions that are the result of practical lessons learned over the years of the Board's operation.
The specific changes are as follows:
1. Increases the total number of Board members from 7 to 9 members, to increase the total pool of experienced subject matter experts on the Board and improve the already high quality of decisions made by the Board.
2. Revises the residency requirement for Board membership to encompass all of New Castle County instead of specific council districts, thereby increasing the pool of talented applicants who can be considered for selection to the Board. With this change, appointments can be made based upon the applicant’s competency and expertise without being limited by where the applicant resides in the County.
3. Decreases the term of appointments for Board members appointed or reappointed after enactment of this Act from 6 years to 4 years to encourage greater participation on the Board. The current 6 year term discourages potential applicants.
4. Removes the requirement regarding the length of terms for the original Board members because it is no longer necessary. The Board was established in 1953.
5. Changes references to the Department of Finance to accurately reflect the current organization and responsibilities of New Castle County departments.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE NEW CASTLE COUNTY BOARD OF ASSESSMENT REVIEW. |
| HJR 11 | Signed | Miro | This resolution honors Boyd and Liane Sorenson by designating the new Valley Road Pedestrian Pathway between Evanson Road and Lantana Square as "Sorenson's Way". | HONORING BOYD AND LIANE SORENSON BY DESIGNATING THE NEW VALLEY ROAD PEDESTRIAN PATHWAY BETWEEN EVANSON ROAD AND LANTANA SQUARE AS "SORENSON'S WAY". |
