| HB 16 | Signed | Baumbach | Section 1 of this Act modifies Delaware’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to allow recipients to choose the most beneficial credit to be applied against their Delaware Personal Income Taxes. Under this Act, recipients can choose between a non-refundable credit of up to 20% of the value of the corresponding federal EITC or a refundable EITC credit of up to 4.5% of the value of the corresponding federal EITC.
Section 2 of this Act makes the change to Delaware’s EITC effective for the tax year in which the Secretary of Finance provides the Registrar of Regulations with notice that the personal income tax release of the Integrated Revenue Administration System is implemented. This delay in effective date is necessary to ensure that tax law changes can be properly and efficiently implemented in the Division of Revenue’s modernized Integrated Revenue Administration System, which is currently under development.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TAXES ON PERSONAL INCOME. |
| HB 200 w/ HA 2 | Signed | Longhurst | Many of the State’s waters do not meet water quality standards to support their designated uses, such as for drinking, swimming or supporting aquatic life. The Clean Water for Delaware Act establishes a framework for assessing needs and planning and implementing projects that support Delaware’s efforts to improve the quality of the State’s water supply and waterways. A Delaware Clean Water Trust account is created as a funding source for executing projects highlighted by this framework.
The Trust account will have oversight from the Clean Water Trust Oversight Committee (the “Committee”). The Committee will draw upon recommendations from the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council, (WIAC), the county Conservation Districts’, experts in the effected Cabinet agencies and other public input with the goal of assisting municipal and county governments and others in implementing affordable water quality projects. The Committee is required to develop and publish an Annual Report and multi-year Strategic Plan for Clean Water with annual updates. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CLEAN WATER FOR DELAWARE. |
| HB 21 | Signed | Minor-Brown | This Act adopts the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact. The Compact benefits the public by improving continuity of care, increasing license portability for advanced practice registered nurses, and increasing access to APRN care. Under the Compact, APRNs licensed in a Compact member state may practice in another Compact member state. In adopting the Compact, the state-based licensure system is preserved but communication between states is enhanced.
This Act takes limited effect for the purpose of establishing and convening the Interstate Commission of APRN Compact Administrators (Commission) to adopt rules relating to its operation when 7 states have enacted it into law. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO AN ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSE COMPACT. |
| HB 79 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Brady | This Act provides that the amount of ordinary or disability pension payable to a 9-1-1 operator includes 2.45% of the 9-1-1 operator's final average compensation multiplied by years of service above 25 years, the same multiplier as applied to corrections officers and specified peace officers.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing language to the standards of the Delaware Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STATE EMPLOYEES' PENSION PLAN. |
| HB 86 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act provides increased funding for kindergarten through third grade students identified as eligible for basic special education services. Currently, basic special education is provided for students in fourth through twelfth grade who are identified as eligible for basic special education and related services; there is no additional unit funding for students in kindergarten through third grade who may be eligible for basic special education services. The Act adds a designation of “K-3 Basic Special Education (basic)” and over three years reduces the number of students comprising a unit from the current 16.2 to 8.4.
This Act will increase the unit count funding for K-3 Basic Special Education (basic) students by School Year 2023-2024, Fiscal Year 2024, to be consistent with the 8.4 unit of pupils currently available to students in grades 4 through 12. Sections 1 through 3 of this Act change the funding chart currently in the Code to subsections and provides for a decrease in the ratio between the number of students enrolled and the unit count for basic special education from 16.2 currently to 12.2 in Fiscal Year 2022, 10.2 in Fiscal Year 2023, and 8.4 in Fiscal Year 2024. Section 4 of this Act delays the effect of each Section until the start of each new fiscal year in the 3-year cycle over which this Act’s changes are intended to occur. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING. |
| HB 90 | Signed | Brady | This Act permits a candidate committee established by a candidate for public office to pay reasonable and necessary expenses for the care of a candidate’s child or children when care is necessary in connection with the candidate’s campaign activities. This Act also makes changes to the current law to make it consistent with the Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO AUTHORIZED CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES. |
| HB 98 | Signed | Bush | This Act would allow importers to take orders from retailers any day including Sundays and holidays and process them for delivery. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 4 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. |
| HS 1 for HB 92 | Signed | Baumbach | House Bill No. 92 reduces the term of a member elected to a school board from 5 years to 4 years for members elected after December 31, 2021.
House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 92 differs from House Bill No. 92 because it clarifies that under § 1052(c) of Title 14, 2 members of a school board may be elected in the same year when the terms of both members expire the same year.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE TERM OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS. |
| HB 31 | Signed | Longhurst | This bill repeals certain provisions in Title 11 relating to abortion including provisions which treat abortion differently than other medical procedures, and provisions which criminalize women and the sale of medical devices and medicines. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE BY REPEALING PROVISIONS RELATING TO ABORTION. |
| HB 7 w/ SA 1 + HA 1 | Signed | Minor-Brown | This Act makes permanent and temporary changes to the Adult Correction Healthcare Review Committee ("ACHRC") which is a committee that serves in an advisory capacity to the Governor, General Assembly and the Commissioner of the Department of Correction on all matters relating to the provision of inmate health care services. The permanent changes include adding to ACHRC a healthcare professional who by virtue of the professional's training, education, and specialization hold expertise in correctional health and allowing either a psychiatrist or forensic psychologist to serve as a member.
The temporary changes address the Department's response to COVID-19 from March 12, 2020 to March 30, 2021. This Act requires ACHRC to provide a report to the Governor, General Assembly and Commissioner a report regarding the efficacy and appropriateness of the Department's response identifying total numbers of correctional officers and inmates who tested positive and died from COVID-19 or COVID-19 related illnesses. The report also identifies the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement and assesses the medical treatment provided to inmates who tested positive for COVID-19. The Act authorizes ACHRC to request records, consult with additional medical professionals and engage additional staff. Finally, for 2021 and 2022, the Chairpersons of the House and Senate Corrections Committees will be voting members of ACHRC, but cannot designate another individual to attend meetings or vote. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE ADULT CORRECTION HEALTHCARE REVIEW COMMITTEE. |
| SB 96 w/ SA 1 + HA 1 | Signed | Ennis | This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture to update the Delaware Commercial Fertilizer and Soil Conditioner Law of 1971. Changes to this law include updating language to align with current industry terminology and includes applicable language from the most recent version of the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO) Uniform State Bill, which is designed to create uniformity amongst states. This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture to impose product registration and tonnage fees to better reflect current market rates and to assist the Department in funding costs associated with inspections, sampling and analysis for this chapter; to adjust requirements for current registering of Delaware mixing facilities and custom fertilizer blends. The proposed changes will give clarity to distributers and Department staff regarding product labeling, registration, and deficiencies as well as providing updated terminology to make regulating this program more efficient. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 3 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS AND SOIL CONDITIONERS. |
| HB 141 | Signed | Minor-Brown | This Act is a Companion Bill to House Bill No. 21. It aligns the Delaware Board of Nursing statute with the APRN Compact to advance APRN practice through elimination of barriers and improving access to care for Delawareans. The Act removes the requirement for a collaborative agreement for licensure purposes although employers and health care organizations may still require one.
The Act amends the definitions of “APRN” and “full practice authority” so that they are consistent with national standards. The Act also removes the definition of “independent practice” since ,nationally, “independent practice” means having “full practice authority”. This Act grants full practice authority in conjunction with licensure and removes the current requirements for obtaining independent practice.
The Act changes the composition of the APRN Committee to include 9 APRNs and clarifies the Committee’s purpose which is to make recommendations to the Delaware Board of Nursing regarding: APRN practices, the Compact and licensure.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES. |
| HB 157 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Wilson-Anton | This Act expands the definition of “prescription drug order” to include orders issued electronically. This Act also eliminates the condition on the issuance by a pharmacist, pharmacist intern or pharmacy student of a hypodermic syringe or needle without a prescription to someone who will self-administer medication or administer medication to a minor child by a parent or legal guardian, but only to persons age 18 or older. This Act repeals an existing paragraph in Title 16, § 4762(c) of the Delaware Code which makes it a Class G felony to deliver, dispose of or give away a hypodermic syringe or needle except as prescribed by Title 16, § 4762 of the Delaware Code. The Act also makes corrections to existing law to make it conform to the standards of the Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT. |
| HB 175 w/ HA 2 | Signed | Morrison | This Act allows one excused absence per school year for students grades 6 through 12 to attend civic engagements such as visits to the United States Capitol, Legislative Hall, and sites of political and cultural significance, or participation in a rally, march, protest, or walkout. For a student to attend a civic engagement event, the student’s parent or guardian must provide written permission no later than 3 school days prior to the student’s planned absence. The school shall determine what is acceptable as written permission. If the principal or another school or school district official does not confirm receipt of written permission with the parent or guardian prior to the student’s planned absence, permission for the student to attend the civic engagement event as an excused absence is presumed. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. |
| HB 162 | Signed | Minor-Brown | The 18-month recidivism rate among juveniles released from Delaware’s Level 4 and Level 5 juvenile detention facilities is over 80%. This Act creates a fund to allow the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families to award competitive grants for the targeted provision of services that have been proven effective in helping juveniles avoid contact with the criminal justice system. This Act also allocates $500,000 for FY 2022 to the Fund for provision of cognitive behavioral therapy services and vocational training services. Finally, the bill updates outdated language. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SERVICES FOR YOUTH. |
| HB 164 | Signed | Bush | Section 1 of the Act amends subsection (b)(1) of section 12A-103 of Title 6 to remove a reference to testamentary trusts that is either a redundancy or otherwise might conflict with new section 3550 of Title 12 (which is a part of the Act).
Section 2 of the Act addresses statutes under Chapter 33 of Title 12 and (i) amends section 3315(b) to make clear that a discretionary interest in a trust is not a property right and to define more clearly what constitutes a discretionary interest, and also to make clear that these clarifications do not affect the standard of review applicable to the discretion of a trustee or other fiduciary; (ii) amends section 3326 to expand its application to the resignation of officeholders (such as advisers under section 3313 or designated representatives under section 3339) and not just to the resignation of trustees; (iii) amends section 3327 to expand its application to the removal of officeholders (such as advisers under section 3313 or designated representatives under section 3339) and not just to the removal of trustees, and to permit other officeholders (in addition to trustors and beneficiaries) to petition to remove an officeholder; (iv) amends section 3331 to expand its application to governing instruments (beyond just wills and trust instruments, such that it is not intended to change the statute’s application to wills and trust instruments); (v) amends section 3339 to make clear that a designated representative begins to serve when the representative is appointed (and not merely when authorized) and has accepted the role (whether by written acceptance or through service or other action signifying acceptance), to prioritize appointment methods (that is, to provide that certain appointment methods are available if a designated representative is not appointed under previously-enumerated methods), to define for what purposes a designated representative may be appointed, to provide that the surviving parent or parents or custodial parent of a minor for whom a designated beneficiary has been appointed must be given notice of such appointment, to enable a trustor to appoint a designated representative to represent and bind beneficiaries who are minors or are otherwise described in paragraph (b)(2) of section 3339 in any nonjudicial matter, to enable a beneficiary to appoint a designated representative to represent and bind such beneficiary in any nonjudicial matter, and to provide that a person accepting appointment as a designated representative submits to personal jurisdiction in this State regarding any matter involving the trust (without precluding other methods of obtaining jurisdiction over the designated representative); (vi) amends section 3342 to make clear that, consistent with section 3303 of Title 12, a trustor may opt out of the application of section 3342 by express reference; and (vii) amends section 3344 to make clear that the statute applies unless a governing instrument expressly provides that a trustor may not be reimbursed by the trust for the trustor’s income tax liability, to expand the scope of permissible reimbursement to include county, metropolitan-region, city, local, foreign, and other income taxes (in addition to state income taxes), and to make clear that the statute does not apply if it would eliminate or reduce a marital or charitable deduction available to any person for state or federal income, gift, or estate tax purposes.
Section 3 of the Act addresses statutes under Chapter 35 of Title 12 and (i) amends section 3536 to add to the flush language of subsection (c) to provide that a person who becomes a beneficiary of a trust due to the exercise of a power of appointment by someone other than such person is not considered under this title to be a trustor of a trust—even if the person who so became the beneficiary created and funded the trust and granted the power of appointment of another, such that if the trustor did not otherwise retain a beneficial interest in the trust that was otherwise reachable (e.g., the trustor did not name himself as a beneficiary of the trust at the time it was created), the mere fact that some other person exercises a power of appointment to later make the trustor a beneficiary will not create an interest that is reachable by the trustor’s creditors—which change would abrogate the common law relation back doctrine as it pertains to who is to be deemed the trustor of a trust created upon exercise of a power of appointment, if such doctrine were extant in Delaware, although the applicability of the common law relation back doctrine to this particular issue does not appear to have been adjudicated or acknowledged in any decisional case law in Delaware; (ii) amends section 3545 to add a new subsection (c), which confirms that other writings that create, modify, or revoke trusts and that are not described in subsection (a) of section 3545 are validly executed if they are executed in conformity with subsection (a), but also confirms that subsection (c) does not limit the creation, modification, or revocation of a trust by other means that Delaware law permits, and further confirms that subsection (c) does not apply to trusts formed under Delaware’s Statutory Trust Act and other trusts formed for the purpose of consummating a commercial transaction; and (iii) adds a new section 3550 providing that governing instruments and certain other trust-related documents, if validly executed under the sections of the Delaware Code that apply to those documents, may also be executed under Chapter 12A of Title 6 of the Delaware Code (the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act).
Section 4 of the Act provides that Sections 2 and 3 apply to trust whenever created. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 6 AND 12 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DECEDENTS’ ESTATES AND TRUSTS. |
| HB 173 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Chukwuocha | This Act allows the parent or guardian of a military-connected student to preliminarily enroll the student by remote registration in a school district where the parent or guardian is in the active military of the United States or in full-time status during active service with a force of the Delaware National Guard, if the parent or guardian is being transferred to Delaware under military orders and is transferred to or is pending transfer to a military installation within Delaware. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATION ENROLLMENT OF MILITARY-CONNECTED STUDENTS. |
| HB 178 w/ HA 1 | Signed | K. Williams | Year-long teacher residency programs are a partnership between an educator preparation program and a Delaware school district or charter school to provide a year-long immersive experience for teacher candidates, allowing them a full and supported, on the ground experience of teaching in a Delaware school. The teacher resident also receives a stipend while participating in the program, which may be used to defray education and living expenses. These programs are the gold standard for teacher preparation and they assist in attracting and retaining quality, diverse educators. For the last several years, the General Assembly has appropriated funds in the annual budget to support and sustain these programs. This bill codifies the program and establishes guidelines for how and when the funds will be awarded and what they may be used for. The Department of Education continues to be charged with administration of the funds. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO YEAR-LONG TEACHER RESIDENCY PROGRAMS. |
| SB 181 | Signed | Sokola | This Act makes clear that the Town of Delmar, Delaware is a public employer for purposes of the Police Officers' and Firefighters' Employment Relations Act, Chapter 16 of Title 19 of the Delaware Code, and Chapter 16 of Title 19 applies to the Town, including in a cooperative agreement between the Town of Delmar, Delaware and the Town of Delmar, Maryland. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE AND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF DELMAR RELATING TO THE POLICE OFFICERS' AND FIREFIGHTERS' EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT. |
