| SB 106 w/ SA 2 + HA 2 | Passed | Buckson | This Act requires each school district and charter school to adopt a policy, with educator input, about cell phone use by students during school hours. Each policy must contain:
(1) Clear guidelines about what constitutes acceptable cell phone use at school.
(2) A requirement that limits cell phone use during instructional time.
(3) The designation of times and places during which students may use their cell phones at school.
(4) Guidelines that encourage communication between the schools, parents or guardians, and students about the cell phone use policy.
(5) A system of appropriate consequences for violations of the cell phone use policy.
(6) Exceptions that address, and are applicable to, emergency situations and medical or educational accommodations.
Each school district and charter school shall provide the Department with its policy. Each school district and charter school shall post its policy on its website by August 1, 2025. School districts and charter schools are free to amend their cell phone use policies as needed. If a school district or charter school adopts an amended cell phone use policy, it must be provided to the Department and posted on that school district or charter school’s website. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CELL PHONE USE IN SCHOOL. |
| SB 185 w/ SA 1 | Passed Senate | Lockman | This Act would allow valid on-premise license holders to sell 1 bottle of a private label spirit purchased from a Delaware licensed importer that is either limited availability or limited allocation.
The Act also corrects a typographical error and changes 2750 ML bottles of wine to 2 750 bottles of wine. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 4 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS SOLD FOR OFF-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. |
| SS 1 for SB 67 | Passed Senate | Hoffner | This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 67. It differs from the original bill by changing the period of time that a criminal history report obtained by the Background Check Center is valid for 1 year, instead of 3 years. The 1-year period of time is now applicable to both applicants of long-term care facilities as well as home-care agencies.
This Act also removes the requirement that a current employee of a long-term care facility or home-care agency would need to get another criminal background check if they seek a promotion with their current employer.
Because this Act codifies the time frame in which a criminal background check is required, this Act removes the administrative discretion previously provided to the Department of Health and Social Services to determine the frequency in which fingerprints must be obtained. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE BACKGROUND CHECK CENTER. |
| HCR 82 | Passed | Minor-Brown | This House Concurrent Resolution establishes the purpose and protocol for the creation of a state of the state report on perinatal mental health in Delaware. The report is to be prepared by the Behavioral Health Consortium in consultation with its Maternal Mental Health Working Group, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Delaware Health Commission’s Health Workforce Subcommittee, the Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative, and the Maternal and Child Death Review Committee for review by the Governor, the Delaware State Senate, the Delaware House of Representatives, the Senate Health and Social Services Committee, the House Health and Human Development Committee, and the Director and Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services by December 1, 2026, and is to include a summary of current state programming, training and education, gaps in services, funding streams, demographic information, performance outcomes, and utilization data as well as any recommendations for addressing access and racial and socioeconomic disparities. | DIRECTING THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONSORTIUM TO PRODUCE A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON THE STATE OF PERINATAL MENTAL HEALTH IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HCR 90 | Passed | Ross Levin | This Concurrent Resolution recognizes January 27, 2026, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and encourages education and remembrance in observance of the day. | RECOGNIZING JANUARY 27, 2026, AS INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY. |
| HCR 89 | Passed | Gorman | This concurrent resolution designates February 2026 as “Career and Technical Education Month” in the State of Delaware to urge all citizens to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by the career and technical education programs in their communities and to support and participate in these programs to enhance their individual skills and productivity. | DESIGNATING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2026 AS “CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION MONTH” IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| SS 1 for SB 228 w/ HA 2 | Passed | Cruce | This Act is a substitute bill for Senate Bill No. 228. It combines Senate Bill No. 228 and Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 228. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 228 by intending to maximize the amount of time New Castle County will have in 2026 to conduct a quality control review of non-residential property assessments and make any adjustments to assessed values while also ensuring sufficient time for the preparation of county and school tax bills in New Castle County with a December 31, 2026 payment deadline:
1. Adjusts the date by which New Castle County must complete its Quality Control review and make any adjustments to assessed values to September 30, 2026.
2. Adjusts the tax "due and payable" date, which is an existing statutory term that is different from a payment deadline, to October 12, 2026.
3. Adjusts the date by which New Castle County must mail out tax statements to November 16, 2026.
4. Adjusts the deadline for payment of tax bills to December 31, 2026.
5. Confirms that penalties for unpaid amounts do not begin until January 1, 2027.
This Act also differs from Senate Bill No. 228 by changing the date by which a school board in New Castle County must deliver its warrant to New Castle County to October 22, 2026, and clarifying the State shall advance monies to any school district that experiences a shortfall as a result of the changes in this Act.
Like Senate Bill No. 228, this Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill No. 228 is designed to promote fairness in property assessments and property taxation in New Castle County. The Act provides New Castle County the authority to conduct a quality control review of a tax parcel’s new assessed value after a general reassessment when any of the following conditions exist:
1. A clerical, mathematical, or factual mistake occurred during the new general reassessment.
2. A non-residential tax parcel whose assessed value from the general reassessment is at least $300,000 but decreased from its previous assessed value.
3. A non-residential tax parcel’s assessed value from the new general reassessment is at least $300,000 and the percentage change in its newly assessed value from its assessed value prior to the new general reassessment is no greater than 50% of the median increase of non-residential properties in that county from the new general reassessment.
4. A non-residential tax parcel’s assessed value from the new general reassessment is at least 25% less than the actual sale price from the parcel’s most recent sale within the 5 years preceding the new general reassessment, whenever the actual sale price is determinable by public records.
The quality control review grants the Office of Finance the power to make revisions and corrections to a tax parcel while adhering to the standards of §§ 8306(a), 8312, and 8321 of Title 9. The Act sets deadlines for the Office of Finance to make adjustments to assessed values and to finalize and mail tax statements.
This Act also amends Title 14 to provide a deadline for school boards in New Castle County to deliver their warrants and directs the State to advance funding if a school district experiences a shortfall of funding as a result of the changes in this Act.
This Act expires on March 31, 2027, unless otherwise provided by a subsequent act of the General Assembly. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 9 AND 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COUNTY ASSESSMENTS AND TAX COLLECTION. |
| HB 270 | Signed | Heffernan | This Act amends the Fiscal Year 2026 Bond and Capital Improvements Act to (1) add the Department of Labor, Sussex Facility, to the Transfer to the State Treasurer’s Agency Bond Reversion Account; (2) add the Delaware Veterans Cemetery Expansion to the list of OMB Projects in the Transfer from the State Treasurer’s Agency Bond Reversion Account; (3) allow the Legislative Building Committee to develop design standards and plans for Legislative Hall; (4) authorize the Office of Management and Budget, Division of Facilities Management, to utilize residual funds for the Delaware State Police Firing Range Improvements; (5) allow for funds appropriated to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to be used for the construction of a mixed-species exhibit; (6) authorize the Department of Transportation to use Community Transportation Funds for one-time reimbursements for various projects; (7) reprogram funding from the Community Redevelopment/Reinvestment Fund from Downtown Milford, Inc. to the City of Milford, Delaware Nature Society, Kent Sussex Industries, the Milford District Fee Public Library Commission, and the Milford Housing Development Corporation; (8) update Delaware Code to make a language change from a stationary source reporting propane and ammonium nitrate to a stationary source reporting propane or ammonium nitrate; (9) require the Diamond State Port Corporation and the Department of Transportation to conduct a study of rerouting truck traffic on Hay Road; (10) correct a reference to the Historic Tax Credit; (11) allows that the activation timing of amber warning lights shall not apply to Red Clay School District school buses equipped with, and operating stop arm cameras; (12) authorize the Office of Management and Budget, Division of Facilities Management, to utilize residual funds from the Ferris Window project for the Cleveland White project, (13) authorize the Office of Management and Budget, Division of Facilities Management, to utilize any residual funds from the Department of Correction for the W1 Building HVAC project at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (14) authorize the transfer of Warwick School No. 203 to Indian Mission Properties, Inc.; (15) amend Delaware Code to require the Diamond State Port Corporation Executive Director to be selected by majority vote of the Board. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAWS OF DELAWARE RELATING TO THE BOND AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE AND CERTAIN OF THEIR AUTHORITIES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026. |
| HCR 92 | Passed | S. Moore | This concurrent resolution emphasizes the importance of middle school years and the need for additional investment in programs that serve middle school youth. | ENCOURAGING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO INVEST IN MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTH PROGRAMS. |
| SS 1 for SB 220 | Passed Senate | Seigfried | Among other changes, this Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 220 and does all the following related to the Charter of the Village of Arden:
(1) Adds a preamble to the Charter.
(2) Amends the boundaries of the Village to include the Sherwood Forest Addition and the Mill Race Addition and, in Section 2 of this Act, makes clear the General Assembly’s inherent power to set the boundaries of a municipality.
(3) Adds definitions of certain terms.
(4) Provides that regular meetings of the Town Assembly are to be held at the Gild Hall or other suitable public physical or virtual venue in the village.
(5) Clarifies and amends the procedures for Special Town Meetings.
(6) Clarifies and revises the procedures for enacting, amending, and repealing ordinances.
(7) Provides that a referendum may be called by a majority vote at a Town Assembly Meeting.
(8) Adds a non-voting, alternate member to the Board of Assessors; removes a provision for the election of the Board of Assessors, which is transferred to an ordinance.
(9) Requires the Board of Assessors to assess the community standard of living, in addition to the full rental value of leased lands.
(10) Removes provisions for the election of the Budget Committee and the budget referendum voting process, which are transferred to an ordinance.
(11) Updates language relating to responsibilities of the Budget Committee.
(12) Provides that if a budget referendum fails, then the town will use the previous year's budget until a new budget can be approved.
(13) Removes provisions relating to the election of the Registration Committee, which are transferred to an ordinance.
(14) Revises the fines and penalties that may be imposed by a Justice of the Peace for violations of the Charter or village ordinances and revises the appeals process for convictions thereof.
(15) Simplifies the Charter's provisions for town law enforcement officials.
(16) Requires that town contracts must be witnessed by a second Village official, in addition to signed by the Chair of the Town Assembly.
(17) Deletes the section of the Charter relating to fire, zoning, and housing codes, as those subjects are already handled by New Castle County.
(18) Replaces gender-specific language with gender-neutral language.
(19) Makes other, minor changes to the language of the Charter. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE VILLAGE OF ARDEN. |
| HCR 86 | Passed | K. Williams | This Concurrent Resolution recognizes January 2026 as "Human Trafficking Awareness Month" in Delaware. | RECOGNIZING THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2026 AS "HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH" IN DELAWARE. |
| HCR 88 | Passed | Chukwuocha | This resolution recognizes January 2026 as “National Mentoring Month” in the State of Delaware. | RECOGNIZING JANUARY 2026 AS “NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH” IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HCR 95 | Passed | Wilson-Anton | This Concurrent Resolution designates January as “Muslim Heritage Month” and recognizes Ramadan and Muslim residents of this State as they observe it.
| DESIGNATING JANUARY AS “MUSLIM HERITAGE MONTH” AND RECOGNIZING THE HOLY MONTH OF RAMADAN AND MUSLIM RESIDENTS OF DELAWARE AS THEY OBSERVE RAMADAN. |
| SA 1 to SB 185 | Passed | Lockman | This Amendment replaces the word "spirit" with "whiskey or whisky” to clarify that alcohol to-go under the Liquor Control Act may include 1 bottle of private label whiskey or whisky. | |
| HCR 93 | Passed | Griffith | This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes February 28, 2026, as "Rare Disease Day" in Delaware. | DESIGNATING FEBRUARY 28, 2026, AS "RARE DISEASE DAY" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE. |
| HCR 94 | Passed | Burns | This concurrent resolution urges PJM Interconnection to extend price collars for 2 years at the current rate of $325/mw-day and to implement reforms to its interconnection queue to allow for increased generation capacity to come online faster and prevent the need for price collars in the future. | URGING PJM INTERCONNECTION TO MAINTAIN PRICE COLLARS AT THE CURRENT RATE AND ENCOURAGING REFORMS TO THE INTERCONNECTION QUEUE. |
