| HB 233 | Committee | Ramone | This Act raises the minimum income to be subject to income tax from $2,000 to $2,500.
Also, the current 6 income tax brackets are collapsed into 3 brackets, each with a slightly reduced tax rate for most taxpayers. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PERSONAL INCOME TAX. |
| HB 234 | Committee | Ramone | This Act amends the Senior Tax Credit to $1000 for Real Property valued less than $500,000, $500 for Real Property valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000. This Credit will not be extended to Real Property valued above $1,000,000. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE ELDERLY PROPERTY TAX RELIEF AND EDUCATION EXPENSE FUND. |
| HB 238 | Committee | Lynn | This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to require that at least 1 member of the Court of Chancery must be a resident of Kent County and at least 1 member of the Court of Chancery must be a resident of Sussex County.
Because the Court of Chancery currently consists of 6 residents of New Castle County and 1 resident of Sussex County, this Act applies beginning with the next vacancy of a member of the Court of Chancery who is a resident of New Castle County to occur, whether by expiration of term or otherwise, or with the next new Vice-Chancellor position created by Act of the General Assembly, whichever occurs first.
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.
Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IV OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO THE COURT OF CHANCERY. |
| HB 239 | Committee | Lynn | This Act exempts a notary public employed by, and working under the direct supervision of, an attorney licensed to practice law in this State from the requirement to keep a journal of all notarial acts performed by the notary public. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NOTARIES PUBLIC. |
| HB 240 | Committee | Lynn | This Act requires that parents and other persons under investigation for child abuse and neglect be given written and oral notice of the allegations made against them; the right to consult counsel prior to speaking with a DSCYF investigator; the right to refuse entry to the DSCYF investigator; the right to withhold consent to medical examinations of the children except as provided in Title 16, Section 906(e)(3); the right to refuse to submit to a drug test; and the right to consult legal counsel prior to signing a safety plan. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT INVESTIGATIONS. |
| HA 1 to SS 1 for SB 87 | Stricken | Baumbach | This Amendment delays the effective date of the Act until 6 months after enactment. | |
| HS 2 for HB 160 | Signed | Longhurst | The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 established 988 as the universal phone number for "the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline." This Act provides the framework to maximize the benefits of 988 and provide crucial support to Delawareans in need through the implementation of a practical, modern, and comprehensive, integrated crisis care system.
This Act is a second substitute for House Bill No. 160. Like House Bill No. 160 this Act does the following:
(1) Created the Behavioral Health Crisis Services Board (“Board”) to provide oversight and input on the development of an integrated behavioral health crisis care system in this State.
(2) Imposes a behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge on business and residential telephone services, wireless telephone services, and prepaid wireless telephone services. The surcharge will create a dedicated funding source for behavioral health crisis services. The Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services Fund is created to receive the surcharge funds. Specifically, this Act establishes a 60-cent per month per line fee on phone lines and a 60-cent one-time fee on prepaid services.
Like House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 160, this Act does all of the following:
(1) Models the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge after the existing E-911 surcharge and prepaid wireless E911 surcharge created under Chapter 101 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code.
(2) Removes the creation of the Behavioral Health Crisis Communication Center and instead directs the Board to develop and recommend a plan for establishing, operating, and maintaining a behavioral health crisis communications center. The Board must submit the plan to the Governor and General Assembly within 12 months from the effective date of this Act.
(3) Makes changes to the definition of “mobile crisis team”.
(4) Makes changes to the composition of the Board to add the Executive Director of the Ability Network of Delaware and the Executive Director of each of Delaware’s Lifeline Centers.
This Act differs from House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 160 as follows:
(1) Exempts State government from the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge.
(2) Removes a provision that would permit an increase in the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge collected for prepaid wireless telecommunication services if the General Assembly increased the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge collected for residential and business telephone service, wireless service, and nontraditional communication service.
(3) Removes the “crisis intervention service” definition.
(4) Removes "Providing crisis intervention services." from the list of eligible expenditures for the Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services Fund and replaces it with "Establishing, operating, or contracting for crisis teams for adults and children.".
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose or levy a tax or license fee | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO 988 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES. |
