Delaware General Assembly

CHAPTER 310

FORMERLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 518

Section 1. Amend 29 Del. C. § 5916 by redesignating existing subsections (b) and (c) as subsection (e) and (f) and by adding new subsections (b), (c) and (d) to read as follows:

“(b) No agency shall engage a consultant or authorize expenditures of any General or Special Funds for the purpose of studying personnel policies and/or the wage and salary classification of employees without the written authorization of the Personnel Director, the Budget Director and the concurrence of the Controller General.

(c) No State employee, whose salary is designated in the annual appropriations act, shall receive compensation whether in wages, salary, wages-in-kind, food allotment bonuses, or overtime from agencies of this State in excess of said salary regardless of the source of funds involved, except as provided in 29 De. C. § 5105 (c), § 5112 (b) and § 5123. In the event that an employee shall receive excess compensation, the amount of the appropriation from the General Fund shall be reduced by the amount of such excessive compensation and the Attorney General shall take such steps as necessary to recover from such employee any such excessive amount as has actually been paid. In the event the “All Other” part of the salary is made up entirely of federal funds, and such federal funds are terminated or reduced, that state appropriation is hereby increased to provide the “Total Salary” indicated.

(d) A state employee may perform additional duties for a state agency other than his/her principal employing agency, with the consent of his/her principal employing agency, and may be paid additional compensation, provided such additional duties are not a part of his/her regular duties for the principal employing agency and not rendered during the time paid for by the principal employing agency. All wage payments resulting from the performance of such additional duties, including FLSA overtime, shall be the responsibility of the secondary employing agency unless otherwise authorized by the Budget Director and the State Personnel Director.”

Section 2. Amend 29 Del. C. §8810(i) , by adding the following to the end of said subsection:

"If appropriate, the Director of Support Services may award a contract in accordance with 29 Del. C. c. 69. The acquisition of copiers in state buildings which are managed by the Department of Administrative Services, Facilities Management shall have the approval of the Secretary of Administrative Services.”

Section 3. Amend 29 Del. C. §6102 (k) by designating the existing subsection as (k)(1) and adding thereto a new subsection (k)(2), to read as follows:

“(k)(2) The Indirect Cost Recovery Program is authorized to recover indirect costs from non-federal special funded regulatory and service agencies. Costs that are allocated to a state agency under this authority shall be billed to the state agency, and the cost is payable to the Office of the Budget. The source of payment for the billed indirect cost shall be any revenue source except the General Fund. If the billed agency is authorized to bill and recover direct expenses, the agency shall recover indirect costs in the same manner.”

Section 4. Amend 29 Del. C. §5112 (b) by adding new subsections (5) and (6) to read as follows:

“(5) State Police recruits during the period of their training.

(6) Circumstances where approval has been granted by the Budge director and the Controller General”

Section 5. Amend 29 Del. C. c. 51 by adding a new section to read as follows:

Ҥ 5123 Employee Housing

An agency may provide housing for an employee without reduction in salary provided such housing is on the site of the principal location of employment and further provided that the head of the department or agency has determined that such location of the employee is necessary to the operation of the agency and that the employee has no other employment. No agency shall provide an employee with a housing allowance or compensation for housing.”

Section 6. Amend 29 Del. C. §5903 (16) by adding the sentence “The Staff Attorney and law clerk positions in the Court of Common Pleas and the Justices of the Peace Courts shall be exempt positions and shall be excluded from classified service.” after the sentence ending with “Court Administrator.”

Section 7. Amend 29 Del. C. §5911 by designating existing subsections (4) and (5) as new subsections (6) and (7) and by adding new subsections (4) and (5) to read as follows:

“(4) Designate an employee to act as the Staff Development Officer for the Office of State Personnel, funded through Appropriated Special Funds. This individual will support statewide training programs for state managers, supervisors and employees. Statewide training programs will be supported with funds generated from the assessment of charges for courses on agencies participating in certain classes held by the Office of State Personnel. The Office of State Personnel may set charges for courses to sustain or create training programs with the funds placed in an Appropriated Special Fund account established by the Budget Director.

(5) Administer and manage a statewide human resource information system, and upon implementation, serve as the administrator of all data and processes supported by the system throughout the State, including all government agencies, school districts, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College.”, and by redesignating each succeeding subsection accordingly.

Section 8. Amend 29 Del. C §2906, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:

“(h) The Auditor of Accounts shall conduct audits of the state funded portion of the finances of the University of Delaware as authorized by 14 Del. C. §5109. The contractor conducting the audit shall be selected jointly by the University of Delaware and the Auditor of Accounts.”

Section 9. Amend 29 Del. C. §2706, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:

“(c) The State Treasurer shall establish and maintain a special fund appropriation to be credited with stale check write-off amounts. Use of this account is limited to the processing of stale-check reissues by the State Treasurer. On June 30 of each fiscal year, the unexpended stale check write-off balance in excess of $100,000 shall be credited to the General Fund. If during a fiscal year, there is an insufficient amount to process reissues, a revenue refund shall be made from the General Fund to the special appropriation.”

Section 10. Amend 29 Del C. c.27, by adding a new section to read as follows:

Ҥ 2719 Expense of Issuing Bonds

The annual operating budget shall authorize an appropriation for the Expense of Issuing Bonds in State Treasurer, Debt Management for payment of expenses relating to the issuance of State long-term debt. Disbursement from the Expense of Issuing Bonds appropriation shall not be made without the prior approval of the State Treasurer and the Secretary of Finance.”

Section 11. Amend 29 Del. C. §2512 by designating the existing section as subsection (a) and by adding new subsections (b), (c) and (d) to read as follows:

“(b). The Attorney General is authorized to collect and use revenues from the fees realized by 29 Del. C. §2512 (a) and 6 Del. C. c 73 (Delaware Securities Act) to support the Department of Justice’s Securities Division. Balances at the end of any fiscal year in excess of $100,000 collected from these fees shall be deposited into the General Fund.

(c) The Department of Justice is authorized to publish and sell the opinions of the Attorney General; to deposit the proceeds of any sales in a special fund to be established and designated “Attorney General Opinion Fund”; and to expend all monies deposited in such fund for any expense connected with the publishing or sale of opinions of the Attorney General. Copies of the published opinions will be distributed at no cost to the General Assembly, the Governor and state agencies. If at the end of the fiscal year, the amount deposited in this fund exceeds $15,000, the amount exceeding $15,000 shall be deposited into the General Fund.

(d) Notwithstanding any other laws to the contrary, including, but not limited to, 29 Del. C. Part VI, the Attorney General is authorized to enter into a contract for the production, distribution and marketing of educational videos on such terms and conditions as the Attorney General deems appropriate. All revenues received by the Attorney General from such contract shall be deposited in a Non-Appropriated Special Fund. Revenues received and deposited into said account shall be used for the purpose of reproducing, marketing and distributing copies of these videos.”

Section 12. Amend 29 Del. C. §8705 by designating said section as subsection (a) and by adding a new subsection (b) to read as follows:

“(b) The Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is hereby authorized to retain revenue received from land and building rentals including but not limited to Buena Vista, Belmont Hall, Dayett Mills, The Lindens, McCrone House, John Dickenson Plantation and the Meeting House Galleries to support these operations. The Division is further authorized to use revenues derived from future property and building acquisitions for operational support of those facilities and properties as they are acquired. Spending authority shall be subject to the requirements of the annual appropriation act.”

Section 13. Amend 29 Del. C §8305 by adding a new subsection to read as follows:

“(8) The Division is authorized to require payment of fees for issuance of certificates or other documents reflecting the status of taxes, if any owed, by the tax payer requesting such certificate. In addition, the division is authorized to specify payment of fees for collection of debts owed to claimant agencies. Payment of these fees shall be deemed to reduce the contractual services expenditures of the division and shall be recorded as expenditure reducing items.

Section 14. Amend 29 Del. C. §8810(b)(3) b, by adding a sentence to the end of said subsection:

“Funds generated by Delaware Surplus Services and deemed to be surplus by the Secretary of Administrative Services shall be transferred to Facilities Management by the Office of the Budget for maintenance and restoration of state buildings and grounds maintained by the Department of Administrative Services.”

Section 15. Amend 29 Del. C. §7904, by adding a new subsection as follows:

“(g) The Division is authorized to operate the following programs for which a fee for service is charged to cover the cost of the program: Child Health, Vanity Birth Certificate, Public Water, Medicaid Enhancements, Infant Mortality, Medicaid Aids Waiver, Children with Special Needs, Family Planning, Newborn, Indirect Costs, Vaccines, Food Inspection, Medicaid Contractors/Lab Testing and Analysis, Tuberculosis (TB), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), Child Development Watch, Preschool Diagnostic and Development Nursery (PDDN), Home Visits, Food Permit, Water Operator Certification, Long Term Care Prospective Payment, Long Term Care IV Therapy and Health Statistics. Notwithstanding the provisions of 29 Del C. Section 6102, the Division shall be allowed to collect and expend fees from the aforementioned accounts except that the Children with Special Needs and Child Health programs shall continue to deposit 30 percent of program collections to the General Fund.”

Section 16. Amend 29 Del. C. §6435 by designating said section as subsection (a) and by adding new subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g) to read as follows:

“(b) The Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health is able to bill for additional Medicaid revenue due to a waiver of the Institution for Mental Diseases exclusion, as part of the Medicaid Managed Care waiver. This additional revenue shall be deposited to the General Fund, and the Division shall make every effort to ensure that these bills are submitted to the appropriate entities in an expeditious manner.

(c) The Division of Social Services is permitted to use Title XIX Federal Programs (Medicaid) funds when necessary to reimburse the federal government for its portion of overpayments not collected within sixty days of identification. When such overpayments are collected, the funds shall be deposited back into the Division’s Medicaid Non-State account.

(d) The Division of Social Services is authorized to establish bank accounts to advance funds from the Employment and Training program to clients or vendors in a timely manner. These advances are to be for supportive services or welfare diversion services in the nature of clothing and transportation allowances and other services, to advance client self-sufficiency, as proposed in Delaware’s A Better Chance Welfare Reform Program.

(e) Members of the Council on Hispanic Affairs shall serve without compensation, except that they may be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incident to their duties not to exceed five hundred dollars annually.

(f) The Division of State Service Centers is authorized to collect and deposit tenant user fees from its 14 facilities throughout the State to the holding account entitled Facility Reimbursement. These fees are charged to partially offset the costs of service center operations.

(g) Appropriations for emergency assistance within the Division of State Service Centers may be used for programs of longer than 30 days duration.”

Section 17. Amend Section 29 Del. C. §7929, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:

“(d) The State accepts the provisions and benefits of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112), as amended. The Department of Health and Social Services shall act as the sole state agency with the Secretary of the Department as the State Officer, and Visually Impaired as the Designated State Unit for all monies from the Act that are designated for persons with visual impairment and blindness. This is defined in a Cooperative Agreement dated December 1985, between the Department of Labor, Visually Impaired and Vocational Rehabilitation. The Department shall cooperate with the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration and, in accordance with all State laws, prepare the State Plan and carry out the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and amendments thereto.”

Section 18. Amend 29 Del. C. §5903 by adding new subsections (24) and (25) to read as follows:

“(24) One position within the Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Social Services, for a Dental Director.

(25) One position within the Division of Social Services, Department of Health and Social Services, for a Chief Physician.”

Section 19. Amend 29 Del. C. § 9003 by renaming the current subsection (16) to (17) and by adding a new subsection (16) as follows:

“(16) To certify annually on January 31, to the Governor and the General Assembly, that the mixing of adjudicated and non-adjudicated youths shall not take place in the Ferris School.”

Section 20. Amend 29 Del. C. c. 80 by adding a new section to read as follows:

Ҥ 8027. Notification

Except for land acquired by approval of the Open Space Council or approved through a Bond and Capital Improvements Act, land shall not be purchased by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control without prior approval of the Co-Chairs of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Capital Improvement Program provided, however, that the department is not prohibited from conducting studies, surveys or other contractual arrangements that would normally precede land acquisition procedures. The Department is also required to provide cost estimates to the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee and the Bond Bill Committee, these estimates will include costs to develop infrastructure, maintenance and the number of positions needed to maintain the land and the associated personnel costs.”

Section 21. Amend 29 Del. C. § 8507 by adding a new subsection to read as follows:

“(i) The Office of the Commission for Women is authorized to enter into a contract for the production, distribution and marketing of videos and printed materials, on such terms and conditions as deemed appropriate by the Department of Labor. All revenues received by the department from such contract shall be deposited in an appropriated special fund, and shall be used for the purpose of reproducing, marketing and distributing copies of video and printed materials.”

Section 22. Amend 29 Del. C. § 6340 by designating existing subsections (e) through (h) as (f) through (i) and by adding a new subsection (e) to read as follows:

“(e) The University of Delaware shall pay on a regularly scheduled basis as determined by the Secretary of Finance to the State Treasurer, at a rate determined under 29 Del. C. § 6340, or otherwise by the Secretary of Finance, the amount of all fringe benefits applicable to salaries and wages paid to employees of the University as the term “employee” is defined in §5501(a) and §5505 of this chapter, or any other fringe benefit costs applicable to the University.”

Section 23. Amend 29 Del. C. §6904 by inserting a new subsection to read as follows:

“(m) This chapter shall not apply to the Department of Education in the procurement of goods and/or services from the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and Delaware Technical and Community College.”