| SB 310 | Committee | Hoffner | This Act updates the procedures governing the transfer of a manufactured home located in a manufactured home community in order to provide a clearer process and reduce ambiguities that allowed some community owners to prevent the transfer of a lease or a home as well as prevent family members from inheriting the investment made by a deceased family member in a home. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MANUFACTURED HOME TITLE TRANSFERS. |
| SA 1 to SB 306 | Passed | Poore | This Amendment clarifies that the Delaware Department of Insurance is the entity that will review workplace safety inspection procedures submitted by insurance carriers issuing workers compensation insurance in Delaware. In addition, the Amendment clarifies that in order to remain in the workplace safety program, an employer must apply for the workplace safety program each year. | |
| SA 1 to HB 282 | Passed | Townsend | This Amendment requires that the State Employee Benefits Committee must provide the meaningful opportunity for public comment required under § 10004(a)(2) of this title before voting on whether to approve a request for proposals to select a carrier or third-party administrator for the health care insurance plan for State employees or eligible pensioners. | |
| SA 1 to HB 281 | Passed | Townsend | This Amendment shifts the transparency and procedural protections that are in House Amendment No. 3 to this Act to those under House Bill No. 282 (152nd), which in tandem with Senate Amendment No. 1 to HB 282, ensure public comment is held before, not after, a vote by the State Employee Benefits Committee relating to the selection of a Medicare Advantage plan (plan), if offered to eligible pensioners who were first employed on or after January 1, 2025, rather than requiring that the plan be selected and adopted as a regulation under the Administrative Procedures Act.
This Amendment also changes the term "hired" to "employed" to correspond with other sections in Chapter 52 of Title 29. | |
| SS 3 for SB 169 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Hoffner | This Act creates the Delaware Wrongful Conviction Compensation and Service Act. The Act provides compensation and reintegration services to individuals who have served sentences of incarceration, wrongful incarceration in a psychiatric institution, parole, probation, and sex offender registration in the State for crimes that they did not commit. An individual claiming wrongful conviction or, if deceased, that individual's heirs, may bring a petition for compensation in Delaware Superior Court. A petitioner who makes the required showing is entitled to damages based on the type and period of wrongful incarceration, probation, parole, or registration, and other amounts, such as reasonable attorney fees in obtaining relief, subject to requirements of proof. However, a petitioner is not entitled to such compensation if the Department of Justice establishes that the petitioner was an accomplice in the commission of the crime or that the petitioner intentionally and voluntarily caused the conviction at issue by committing perjury or fabricating evidence at trial in order to prevent the conviction of the true perpetrator. In addition, an individual released from incarceration as the result of the reversal, overturning, or vacation of a conviction is entitled to emergency assistance and services.
Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 differs from SS 2 for SB 169 in that it provides that a petitioner who served time in a psychiatric institution is eligible to apply for relief.
Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 also provides that in all cases, in order to be compensated, a petitioner must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner did not commit the crime that resulted in the conviction or that there was no crime committed. This provision differs from Senate Substitute 2, which required this showing only for a petitioner who entered a Robinson plea or entered a plea of no contest.
In addition, Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 provides that persons who were pardoned are not eligible for post-release services under the Act.
Finally, Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 provides that any award under the Act must be offset by any amounts the petitioner has recovered in a civil action or settlement of a civil action for wrongful conviction or imprisonment. If, after receiving an award under the Act, a petitioner subsequently recovers in such a civil action or settlement, the petitioner must reimburse the State to the extent of the amounts awarded in the civil action or settlement of the civil action. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO WRONGFUL CONVICTION COMPENSATION AND SERVICES. |
| SS 1 for SB 23 | Committee | Huxtable | Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as in-law units or garage apartments, are valuable and convenient forms of housing that can help to increase Delaware’s housing supply. In order to expand affordable housing opportunities, this Act requires local governments to permit the construction of ADUs within their jurisdictions without prohibitive barriers or onerous application or zoning requirements.
This substitute differs from the original by removing requirements related to the size of the single-family dwelling, clarifying requirements related to additional parking, making exceptions for aesthetic requirements within historic districts, allowing water and sewer impact fees, and allowing for local regulations that do not otherwise violate this Act.
This Act carries a 2/3 vote requirement as it may indirectly affect municipal charters.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HOUSING. |
| SA 1 to SB 275 | Passed | Townsend | Senate Bill No. 275, except in certain circumstances, restricts a vehicle from traveling in the left lane on the parts of State Route 1 and Interstate 495 that are defined as controlled access facilities or express highways. This amendment adds an additional exception; a vehicle may travel in the left lane so long as there is no other vehicle traveling in the same lane less than 100 feet behind the vehicle.
Senate Bill No. 275 further requires a vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of more than 26,000 pounds to only travel in the right-hand lane on the parts of State Route 1 and Interstate 495 that are defined as controlled access facilities or express highways, except in certain circumstances. This amendment updates the citation to account for the additional exception added, while indicating that this new exception does not apply to vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of more than 26,000 pounds. | |
