| HB 2 | Committee | Carson | Section 1 of this Act increases the burial benefit under the State Employees' Pension Plan from $7,000 to $8,000. The amount of this benefit has not been increased since 2001 (See 73 Del. Laws, c. 146, § 5).
Section 1 directly increases the amount of the burial benefit for individuals receiving a pension under the State Employees’ Pension Plan, § 5546 of Title 29, and also increases the funeral benefits under additional pension plans because the amount of the benefits under the following pension plans is the same as the amount under § 5546 of Title 29:
• The State Police Pension Plan, Chapter 83 of Title 11.
• The Delaware County and Municipal Police and Firefighter Pension Plan, Chapter 88 of Title 11.
• The early retirement option for state employees, Chapter 53 of Title 29.
In addition, Section 1 increases the reasonable funeral expenses permitted in a wrongful death action under § 3724(d)(4) of Title 10 because the maximum for these damages is the amount under § 5546 of Title 29.
Section 2 of this Act increases the funeral expenses paid for a deceased member of a volunteer fire company, volunteer fire company ladies auxiliary, or volunteer ambulance and rescue company from $7,000 to $8,000. The amount of this benefit has not been increased since 2004 (See 74 Del. Laws, c. 339, § 1).
Consistent with a legal interpretation of the existing law by state agencies, this Act continues to enable the payment of funeral expenses for the funeral of a deceased member of a volunteer fire company, volunteer fire company ladies auxiliary, or volunteer ambulance and rescue company even if the member was also a state employee entitled to burial benefits under § 8331 of Title 11, § 8395 of Title 11, § 8846 of Title 11, § 5316 of Title 29, or § 5546 of Title 29. However, this Act makes changes to existing law to make this legal interpretation clear and to specifically identify the state employee burial benefits to which this provision applies.
This Act takes effect on October 1, 2025, to provide time to implement this Act after the enactment of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations act containing the funding for this Act.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEATH BENEFITS. |
| HB 292 | Committee | Morrison | This Act requires the Department of Elections to review every political committee’s contribution and expense report and to note the report, on the Department’s website, as either “Submitted but Not Reviewed” or “Reviewed and Final”. If the Department discovers any violations of this chapter, it must work with the candidate to rectify the violations. Once the violations are corrected and the candidate submits an amended report, the report’s status shall be updated on the Department’s website and clearly marked as “Reviewed and Final”. This Act will apply to all contribution and expense reports submitted after March 1, 2026. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REVIEW OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES. |
| HB 3 | Committee | Neal | This Act creates a breastfeeding and lactation program within the DOC to provide lactation support to women in DOC custody. Among other things, it permits women to collect breast milk for later retrieval and delivery to an infant or toddler by an approved person. It also requires the DOC to provide nutrition information and a meal plan specific to pregnant, post-partum, or lactating women, based on national best practices. This Act further requires that DOC publish an annual report regarding the number of participants in the program and the nature of services provided. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BREASTFEEDING. |
| HB 40 | Committee | Griffith | This Act modifies the effective date of Chapter 459, Volume 84 of the Laws of Delaware from February 1, 2025 to June 2, 2025, which was enacted to allow One-Stop business registration by making trade name registrations fully online. It codifies existing practice with respect to the registration of trade names for corporations and LLCs and adds a $25 annual license fee for Delaware corporations and LLCs not doing business in Delaware but desiring a Delaware trade name registration. | AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 459, VOLUME 84 OF THE LAWS OF DELAWARE AND TITLES 6, 29, AND 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE REGISTRATION OF TRADE NAMES. |
| HB 33 | Committee | Romer | This Act allows criminal charges of using, consuming, or possessing other than a personal use quantity of a marijuana or other substance containing tetrahydrocannabinols and charges of public consumption of the same, where the offense is committed in the City of Newark by a person over 18 years of age, to be heard initially at either the Alderman’s Court or in the Court of Common Pleas. This Act likewise allows a civil violation for a person under the age of 21 using, consuming, or possessing a personal use quantity of a marijuana or other substance containing tetrahydrocannabinols to be heard initially at the Alderman’s Court where the violation is committed in the City of Newark by a person over 18 years of age. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATED TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IN THE CITY OF NEWARK. |
| HB 34 | Committee | Romer | This Act amends the Newark Charter by authorizing the City of Newark to levy and collect a per student, per semester tax on Colleges and Universities that host in person classes which are located within the boundaries of the City of Newark. This tax applies to all colleges and universities including any organizations that are considered subdivisions or agencies of the State of Delaware or are otherwise tax exempt, including but not limited to the University of Delaware. The amount of the tax will be adjusted annually in an amount not to exceed the change in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, not seasonally adjusted). It also limits the available payment methods to restrict the use of credit cards for the payment of the aforementioned tax. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF NEWARK AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF NEWARK TO LEVY A TAX ON COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WITHIN THE CITY OF NEWARK. |
| HB 5 | Committee | Spiegelman | This Act requires that an enacted state agency regulation will automatically expire unless explicitly reauthorized by the General Assembly to continue. This Act creates the Joint Committee on Oversight of Agency Regulations (“Committee”) to engage in review and oversight of regulations adopted by State agencies and recommend to the General Assembly whether or not the regulations should be allowed to expire.
Like laws in states such as Colorado and Utah, this Act does all of the following:
(1) Requires that all regulations adopted by an agency during the 12-month period preceding each October 31 expire at 5:00 p.m. on the following June 30 unless the General Assembly enacts a law to remove the expiration of the regulation.
(2) Establishes criteria for the Committee’s review of State agency regulations.
(3) Establishes a process for the Committee’s review and oversight of State agency regulations, including the requirement of a staff report, public hearings, and Committee recommendations to the General Assembly.
(4) If the Committee recommends a regulation not be allowed to expire, requires the Committee to draft and introduce a bill that removes the expiration of each regulation the Committee recommends not be allowed to expire.
(5) The Committee Chair, Vice Chair, and members receive the same additional compensation as the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT OF AGENCY REGULATIONS. |
| HB 4 | Committee | Spiegelman | This Act amends Chapters 1, 5, 7, and 17 of Title 7 of the Delaware Code to be consistent with the recent legislative change of the definition of a firearm in Title 11. This Act is needed to address public safety and enforcement concerns. Archery equipment and air guns are no longer classified as firearms and the proposed amendments would continue to make certain actions and activities with these “projectile weapons” prohibited, such as having these weapons loaded or discharged from a vehicle, road, or within a designated safety zone. The Act recognizes that there are certain actions and activities with “projectile weapons,” that should continue to be prohibited even though they are no longer classified as “firearms.”
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, or Justice of the Peace Court. Section 1309 of Title 7 of the Delaware Code provides that the Justice of the Peace Court has jurisdiction of the offenses being amended by this Act. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO WEAPONS. |
