| SCR 52 | Passed Senate | Paradee | This concurrent resolution recognizes February 15, 2025, as “Angelman Syndrome Awareness Day” in the State of Delaware. | RECOGNIZING FEBRUARY 15, 2025, AS “ANGELMAN SYNDROME AWARENESS DAY” IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| SA 1 to SB 48 | PWB | Sturgeon | This Senate Amendment adds bus attendants as follows:
(1) Identifies that bus attendants may be giving the order to exit the school bus and therefore adds that a person may be guilty of disorderly conduct if they refuse to comply with the lawful order made by the bus attendant.
(2) Adds that a person may be guilty of disorderly conduct if they threaten a bus attendant.
This Amendment specifies that it is not a “threat” for purposes of paragraph § 1301(a)(3)b.3. if a person makes a statement that they plan to hire an attorney, seek a legal remedy, or inform others about concerns.
This Amendment also gives additional protections for the parents of students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 plan to address a health or safety concern. | |
| SB 108 | Committee | Walsh | This Act removes prohibitions in Title 11 of the Delaware Code related to owning or possessing certain types of knives that may be opened by one hand. Such cutting implements are lawfully used as tools by many working in the trades, and are also popular among outdoor, hunting, and camping enthusiasts. Currently, despite common and myriad lawful purposes, such knives are treated as deadly weapons in Delaware, and therefore subject otherwise law-abiding Delawareans engaged in law-abiding activities to criminal prosecution in the justice system. Removing the prohibitions would permit individuals to lawfully use such tools, but would still subject them to prosecution for deadly weapons-related offenses where an individual uses such a knife in the course of an attack or assault aimed at causing death or serious injury. | AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 2, TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMES AND DEADLY WEAPONS. |
| HCR 31 | Passed | Kamela Smith | This concurrent resolution designates April 10th, 2025, as “Youth Author Day” in the State of Delaware. | DESIGNATING APRIL 10TH, 2025, AS “YOUTH AUTHOR DAY” IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| SB 109 | Committee | Pinkney | This Act enters Delaware into the Social Work Licensure Compact. This will allow social workers to obtain a multistate license among the member states. Delaware will join the Compact Commission that is comprised of membership of all states that have enacted the Compact. Enough states have enacted the Compact that the Commission has been created and the applications for licensure could start in late 2025. Currently, at least 24 states have joined the Compact, while another 18 have pending legislation to enact the Compact, including Maryland and Pennsylvania. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO A SOCIAL WORK LICENSURE COMPACT. |
| HA 1 to HJR 2 | Passed | Neal | This Amendment to House Joint Resolution 2 adds to the required reporting requirement that DHSS shall provide a comparison of the costs and benefits of implementing the Restaurant Meals Program in some zip codes as opposed to statewide, and if the decision is that starting with tailored zip codes is preferable, the steps that will be taken to ensure statewide implementation is possible in the future. This Amendment breaks the reporting requirements into 2 clauses for readability and also corrects a typographical error. | |
| HA 1 to HB 125 | PWB | S. Moore | This Amendment incrementally increases the number of students who qualify for a free breakfast and lunch based on a student's household income over 5 years. After 5 years, any student, regardless of household income, is eligible for a free breakfast and lunch. | |
| HA 2 to HB 125 | PWB | S. Moore | This Amendment provides that, if the funding through the Community Eligibility Provision ("CEP") is eliminated in Delaware, the Department of Education will continue to reimburse public schools for the costs of the Free School Meals Program that the CEP formerly reimbursed. | |
| HB 120 | Committee | Michael Smith | This bill names the hill west of Mill Creek situated on New Castle County parcel number 0803100018 where the Spring Grove Mill House sits as “General Washington’s Hill of Deception”. This is the site of one of the most impactful combat event that occurred on Delaware soil during the Revolutionary War. | AN ACT TO NAME THE HILL ON THE WEST BANK OF MILL CREEK LOCATED ON NEW CASTLE PARCEL NUMBER 0803100018 AS “GENERAL WASHINGTON’S HILL OF DECEPTION”. |
| HS 1 for HB 55 | Committee | Chukwuocha | This Act is intended to supplement protections under federal law for members of the military, their families, and veterans by adding “military status” as a protected class for purposes of the State’s public accommodations, housing, insurance, education, and employment laws.
Technical corrections are also made to existing statutory language to conform with the requirements of the Legislative Drafting Manual.
This House Substitute No. 1 adds language to clarify that distinctions or differential treatment based on military status that are allowed by State law or regulation, federal law or regulation, or government contract, are not unfair or discriminatory practices. It also updates existing statutory language that was changed by 84 Del. Laws c 429. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF MILITARY STATUS. |
| HB 119 | Committee | Griffith | This Act establishes the following principles in regards to public library material: (1) Library material is provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all persons the library serves; (2) Library material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a catalogue because of the origin, background, or views of a persons who created the material; (3) Material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a library because of partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval.
This Act requires that public libraries adopt a library collection development policy consistent with the foregoing principles. The written policy must include the policy and procedure that libraries will follow when receiving and reviewing objections to library material. It further requires that all library material that is under review due to an objection must remain available for use by library patrons until the review process is concluded. It also prohibits the governing body of a library from suspending, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee of a library that acts in accordance with the State principles and media content policy.
This Act also creates similar requirements for school libraries and requires that public schools create policies and procedures for reviewing objections to school library material that conform to the established collection development policy for school libraries. Within these policies and procedures, school libraries must include: (1) a uniform process to submit an objection to material in a school library; (2) a requirement that material under review due to an objection remain available for use by students and school personnel until the review process is concluded; and (3) a reasonable timeline to conduct and conclude the review process.
An appeal of a decision determining whether school library material may remain in the school library may be made to the board of the local education agency. A final appeal from the decision of the board of the local education agency may be made to a School Library Review Committee, which is made up of the following individuals or the individual’s designee:
(1) The President of the School Chiefs’ Association.
(2) The State Librarian.
(3) The Secretary of the Department of Education.
(4) The President of the Delaware State Education Association.
(5) The President of the Association of School Administrators.
(6) The President of the Delaware Association of School Librarians.
(7) The President of the Delaware Library Association.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 9, 14, AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LIBRARIES. |
| HB 147 | Committee | Harris | Delaware currently permits the nonprobate transfer of bank accounts, investments, and vehicles. This Act provides a mechanism for the nonprobate transfer of real estate without creating a revocable trust. This is done by permitting an owner of an interest in real estate to execute and record a transfer on death (TOD) deed designating a beneficiary who will automatically receive the real estate on the owner's death without a probate procedure. During the owner's lifetime the beneficiary of a TOD deed has no interest in the real estate and the owner retains full power to transfer or encumber the real estate or to revoke the deed.
This Act adopts the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act has been enacted in 19 states (including Virginia), the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a substantially similar law has been enacted in 10 states. The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act is pending before 6 state legislatures (including New Jersey and Maryland).
In adopting the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, this Act also makes the following changes to the uniform law and Delaware law:
(1) Provides clarity that a transfer of death deed takes precedence over any contrary instruction in a will to transfer the same property.
(2) Provides in the optional forms included in this Act, which may be used to create a transfer on death deed or revoke a transfer on death deed, that a transferor is a grantor and a beneficiary is a grantee. This change is made to assist the Recorders of Deeds in integrating the forms in their computerized databases.
(3) Authorizes the Registers of Wills to adopt a form to be used by a beneficiary to provide notice of the death of a person whose property has transferred to the beneficiary by transfer on death deed.
(4) Authorizes a beneficiary to file with the Register of Wills the death certificate of a person whose property has transferred to the beneficiary by transfer on death deed.
(5) Makes abundantly clear that which is already permitted under the law of this State, that a person may obtain from the Office of Vital Statistics a death certificate to establish their legal right to property and may disclose that death certificate to the Register of Wills to prove the person’s legal right to property.
(6) Under Section 3 of this Act, clarifies that an individual who executed a transfer on death deed does not die seized of the property and, therefore, the property is not required to be included on an inventory and appraisal to the Register of Wills.
(7) Under Section 4 of this Act, clarifies that the Register of Wills is to furnish the Board of Assessment information related to the property, and the beneficiary of the property, that is transferred by a transfer on death deed.
(8) A number of states have adopted laws to ensure that property subject to a transfer on death deed remains covered by insurance for a period of time after the death of the insured, to enable the beneficiary of the transfer on death deed time to obtain insurance. Section 5 of this Act ensures that when Delaware adopts the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, beneficiaries of a transfer on death deed have insurance coverage for a period of time up to 60 days following the death of the original owner of the property.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 12, TITLE 18, TITLE 25, AND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE UNIFORM REAL PROPERTY TRANSFER ON DEATH ACT. |
| SA 1 to SB 81 | PWB | Lockman | This Amendment clarifies that a valid paraprofessional permit is required for a teacher or specialist to qualify for salary computation pursuant to this section. | |
