| SB 54 | Signed | Ennis | This Bill codifies Delaware’s compatibility with certain sections of the Federal Code of Regulations related to weight of vehicles and loads and commercial vehicle safety. Delaware enforces violations contained in the Code of Federal Regulations Parts 374, 385, and 386 and wishes to formally adopt those parts and any subsequent amendments thereto. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SIZE AND WEIGHT OF VEHICLES AND LOADS AND MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY - RESPONSIBILITY. |
| SB 38 | Signed | Brown | The Victim-Offender Mediation Committee was established by the 138th General Assembly in 1996. There have been no significant changes to the statute since then. The composition of the Committee and the nature of the services provided by vendors selected to provide victim-offender mediation services, however, has changed since the program's inception in 1996. For example, the Court of Common Pleas is the principal beneficiary of the program but is not a Committee member.
This Act updates the composition of the Committee; renames the Committee to acknowledge the broader scope of services provided by vendors selected by the Committee to run alternative case resolution services; updates criteria used to select vendors and reporting requirements; and makes additional corrections to conform to the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO VICTIM-OFFENDER MEDIATION. |
| SB 67 | Signed | Townsend | This Act reinstates the requirement that the Clerks of the Peace in each county maintain a registry of clergypersons or ministers who perform marriages in Delaware. Clergypersons or ministers of any religion desiring to perform wedding ceremonies must register with the Clerk of the Peace. Upon registering, he or she will receive an identification number that he or she must enter on the Certificate of Marriage for each wedding ceremony he or she performs. If the clergyperson or minister registers with the Clerk of the Peace in one county, he or she will be added to a statewide registry and will be able to perform weddings statewide. If a clergyperson or minister performs a wedding without being registered, the Clerk of the Peace can suspend or revoke that clergyperson or minister’s ability to perform further weddings in Delaware. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MARRIAGES. |
| SB 76 | Signed | McDowell | The Board of Pension Trustees has established policies and practices for the administration of the Delaware Public Employees Retirement System. House Bill 199 of the 149th General Assembly provided the initial changes to Delaware Code based on the recommendations of the Board’s Best Practices review. This Act provides additional changes to the Delaware Code based on the review. The changes are summarized as follows:
Sections 1, 2, & 3 – Changes to the New State Police Plan to include determining normal retirement date for the review of a disability continuance case, deleting references to the medical committee which has been dissolved by the Board, and giving the authority by the Board to the Executive Secretary for benefit determinations.
Sections 4, 5, & 6 – Changes to the County/Municipal Police/Firefighter Pension Plans to include determining normal retirement date for the review of a disability continuance case, deleting references to the medical committee which has been dissolved by the Board, and giving the authority by the Board to the Executive Secretary for benefit determinations.
Section 7 – Technical change for the Judicial Pension Plan.
Section 8 – Technical changes regarding the closed Diamond State Port pension plan; allows for comingling for accounting purposes only of the OPEB trust with the DPERS Fund; clarifies Memoranda of Understanding with other state agencies; gives sole authority to the Board of Pension Trustees to hire an external audit firm; clarifies that the Board chair must be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate; clarifies that all records of the Board’s Audit Department are not public records under the State's FOIA laws.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE BOARD OF PENSION TRUSTEES AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF PENSION PLANS. |
| SB 80 | Signed | Hocker | This Act changes the composition of the Council on Recreational Fishing Funding. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FISHING. |
| HS 1 for HB 123 | Signed | Seigfried | This Act allows the Public Guardian to act as a representative payee for Social Security benefits or as a VA fiduciary for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits. This Act also allows the Court to appoint a guardian with limited powers, to act as guardian for specific areas of decision-making or for a specific term. By making these changes, this Act will allow the Public Guardian to serve in a more limited role where appropriate, and assist more Delawareans who need short-term assistance, such as to qualify for Medicaid in order to arrange for long-term care or to handle routine financial matters but not make decisions about the care of the person. The ability to serve in a more limited role will increase the Public Guardian's capacity to assist people while the Non-Acute Patient Medical Guardianship Task Force studies options and develops recommendations to improve non-acute patient transitions from acute care settings to more appropriate locations. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 123 differs from House Bill No. 117 by clarifying that limited guardianships can be ordered for specific purposes, the process for terminating a limited guardianship, and that the Public Guardian serves as a representative payee or VA Fiduciary of last resort. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 12 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIANS AND THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC GUARDIAN. |
| HB 151 | Signed | Griffith | This Act creates a Deputy Secretary position within the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families (“Department”) and exempts the position from the Merit System under Chapter 59 of Title 29. The Secretary of the Department may establish the powers, duties, and functions of the Deputy Secretary.
This Act removes the limit on qualified persons the Secretary of the Department may appoint as special investigators for the Department.
Lastly, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND THEIR FAMILIES. |
| HB 154 | Signed | Chukwuocha | This bill updates the real estate appraisers’ practice act to comply with federal law by clarifying the definition of federally-related transaction and adding a definition for federal financial institutions regulatory agencies. Changes to these definitions would render Delaware’s definitions consistent with federal law. Section two of the bill changes the renewal for appraisal management companies (AMC) from every two years to annually to facilitate the renewal procedure for the Division of Professional Regulation. Section three of the bill eliminates the current allowance in Delaware for a revoked or suspended real estate appraiser to have an ownership interest in an AMC, and section four disallows AMCs from removing an appraiser from its appraiser panel without prior notice. Delaware’s law currently allows AMCs to do so if the appraiser was only added to the panel in the previous 60 days. Federal law does not have any such allowance. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS. |
| SB 97 | Signed | Ennis | This Act ratifies the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, 34 U.S.C. §40316 (formerly cited as 42 U.S.C. § 14616), a requirement that allows Delaware to join the Compact as a Party State. The Compact serves as the infrastructure by which states can exchange criminal records for noncriminal justice purposes according to the laws of the requesting state and provide reciprocity among the states to share records without charging each other for the information. | AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 85, TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION AND PRIVACY COMPACT. |
| SB 98 | Signed | Poore | This Act amends the Municipal Charter of the City of Delaware City by allowing the Mayor and Council to impose a lodging tax of no more than 3%. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DELAWARE CITY RELATING TO THE POWER TO RAISE REVENUE. |
| HB 197 | Signed | Lynn | This Act is a recommendation following the comprehensive analysis of the Family Court Adjudicated Drug Court Program conducted by Family Court, the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families, the Department of Justice, and the Office of Defense Services. Repeal of the Family Court Adjudicated Drug Court Program is also supported by the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review Board as noted in its 2018 Annual Report.
After a comprehensive analysis of the program, it was determined that the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services (YRS) had implemented practices, including the use of an assessment tool, that are identifying and then effectively and efficiently addressing the needs of justice involved youth with substance use disorders. The review found that YRS’ active case management practices allowed YRS to be responsive to each child’s service needs and to involve the Court as necessary. Recent juvenile justice reforms, including civil citation, are also keeping many youth from entering the justice system while simultaneously ensuring that any identified substance use disorders are addressed.
Given the high level of individualized treatment services and case management youth are currently receiving inside and outside the juvenile justice system, repeal of the program was recommended.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE FAMILY COURT ADJUDICATED DRUG COURT PROGRAM. |
