CHAPTER 202
DELAWARE COMMISSION ON INTERSTATE COOPERATION
AN ACT TO FACILITATE THE COOPERATION OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE WITH OTHER UNITS OF GOVERNMENT AND TO ESTABLISH AN UNPAID COMMISSION FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. There is hereby established a standing committee of the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of Delaware, to be officially known as the Senate Committee on Interstate Cooperation, and to consist of three Senators. The members and the chairman of this Committee shall be designated by the President Pro Tempore of said Senate.
Section 2. There is hereby established a similar standing committee of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Delaware, to be officially known as the House Committee on Interstate Cooperation, and to consist of three members of the House of Representatives. The members and the chairman of this committee shall be appointed by the Speaker of said House of Representatives.
Section 3. There is hereby established a committee of administrative officials and private citizens of Delaware to be officially known as the Governor's Committee on Interstate Cooperation, and to consist of three members. The governor shall appoint one of the three members of this Committee as its Chairman. In addition to the regular members, the Governor shall be ex-officio an honorary non-voting member of this committee.
Section 4. There is hereby established the Delaware Commission on Interstate Cooperation. This Commission shall be composed of nine regular members, namely:
The three members of the Senate Committee on Interstate Cooperation;
The three members of the House Committee on Interstate Cooperation; and,
The three members of the Governor's Committee on Interstate Cooperation.
Section 5. The said standing Committee of the Senate and the said standing Committee of the House of Representatives shall function during the regular sessions of the legislature and also during the interim periods between such sessions; their members shall serve until their successors are designated; and they shall respectively constitute for this State the Senate Council and the House Council of the American Legislators' Association. The term of each administrative member of this Commission shall extend until the first day of February of each year of the regular biennial session of the General Assembly, and until his successor is appointed.
Section 6. It shall be the function of this Commission:
(1) To carry forward the participation of this State as a member of the Council of State Governments.
(2) To encourage and assist the legislative, executive, administrative and judicial officials and employees of this state to develop and maintain friendly contact by correspondence, by conference, and otherwise, with officials and employees of the other States, of the Federal Government, and of local units of government.
(3) To endeavor to advance cooperation between this State and other units of government whenever it seems advisable to do so by formulating proposals for, and by facilitating
(a) The adoption of compacts,
(b) The enactment of uniform or reciprocal statutes,
(c) The adoption of uniform or reciprocal administrative rules and regulations,
(d) The informal cooperation of governmental offices with one another,
(e) The personal cooperation of governmental officials and employees with one another, individually,
(f) The interchange and clearance of research and information, and
(g) Any other suitable process.
(4) In short, to do all such acts as will, in the opinion of this Commission, enable this State to do its part--or more than its part--in forming a more perfect union among the various governments in the United States and in developing the Council of State Governments for that purpose.
Section 7. The Commission shall establish such delegations and committees as it deems advisable, in order that they may confer and formulate proposals concerning effective means to secure intergovernmental harmony, and may perform other functions for the Commission in obedience to its decisions. Subject to the approval of the Commission, the member or members of each such delegation or committee shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Commission. The Commission may provide such other rules as it considers appropriate concerning the membership and the functioning of any such delegation or committee. The Commission may provide for advisory boards for itself and for its various delegations and committees.
Section 8. The Commission shall report to the Governor and to the General Assembly within fifteen days after the convening of each regular legislative session, and at such other times as it deems appropriate. Its members and the members of all delegations and committees which it establishes shall serve without compensation for such service, but they shall be paid their necessary expenses in carrying out their obligations under this act. The Commission may appoint one of its members its secretary and may employ a stenographer, and may incur such other expenses as may be necessary for the proper performance of its duties, and it may, by contributions to the Council of State Governments, participate with other states in maintaining the said Council's district and central secretariats and its other governmental services.
Section 9. The Committees and the Commission established by this Act shall be informally known, respectively as the Senate Cooperation Committee, the House Cooperation Committee, the Governor's Cooperation Committee and the Delaware Cooperation Commission.
Section 10. For the payment of wages and other compensation of employees; for the payment of expenses of members in attending conferences; and for the payment of general expenses necessary to the proper conduct of the work of the Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin, operating under the jurisdiction of the Delaware Commission on Interstate Cooperation and similar agencies of the other participating states, there is hereby appropriated from the general funds in the State Treasury, the sum of Twenty-five Hundred Dollars ($2500.00) for the year beginning July 1, 1939 and a like sum of Twenty-five Hundred Dollars ($2500.00) for the year beginning July 1, 1940.
Payments of said appropriated sums shall be made on warrants signed by the Commission by its President and Secretary.