| SA 1 to SB 325 | Passed | Hoffner | This Amendment adds reference to Regulation 709 of Title 1 of the Delaware Administrative Code. | |
| SS 1 for SB 214 | Out of Committee | Hoffner | This Act requires the State to preserve all biological evidence in its custody that is secured in relation to an investigation or prosecution of a crime, for the period of time that the crime remains unsolved or the period of time that a person convicted of the crime remains in custody, regardless of whether the person pleaded guilty. “Biological evidence” in this context includes any item that "contains" some kind of biological material that was collected as part of a criminal investigation or may reasonably be used to incriminate or exculpate any person for an offense.
The State may destroy evidence that is likely to contain biological evidence before the expiration of those time periods if all of the following are true: (1) more than 5 years have elapsed since the criminal conviction became final and all appeals are exhausted; (2) the evidence is not in relation to an investigation or prosecution of a Class A to Class E felony; (3) no other provision of federal or state law requires the State to preserve the evidence; (4) the State sends certified delivery of written notice of its intent to destroy the evidence to certain specified recipients, including any person who remains in custody as a result of the criminal conviction, delinquency adjudication, or commitment related to the evidence; and (5) no person who has received such notice, within 180 days of receiving the notice, files a motion for testing of evidence under § 4504 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code or submits a written request for retention of the evidence. In addition, the State is not required to preserve physical evidence that is of a size, bulk, or physical character that makes retention impracticable, but in that case, the State must remove and preserve portions of the evidence that is likely to contain biological evidence related to the offense.
If the State is called upon to produce biological evidence that cannot be located and whose preservation was required under the Act, then the court must hold a hearing to determine whether the failure to produce evidence was the result of intentional and willful destruction. If so, the court then must order a postconviction hearing, at which the court will presume that the results of the postconviction DNA testing would have been exculpatory to the petitioner, and impose other appropriate sanctions and order appropriate remedies. If the court determines that the failure to produce evidence was the result of negligence or non-willful destruction, it may provide the appropriate recourse, including ordering a postconviction hearing; at the hearing, presume that the results of the postconviction DNA testing would have been exculpatory to the petitioner; and impose other appropriate sanctions and order appropriate remedies.
In addition, the Act requires the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission and Division of Forensic Science to study, promulgate, and implement procedures that effectuate the legislative intent of the Act regarding the proper preservation of biological evidence.
The Act takes effect 2 years after its enactment into law.
This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 214 in that it revises the definition of biological evidence to include evidence that is likely to contain biological material; requires the State to preserve evidence in a manner consistent with best practices at the time of collection, that prevents contamination, degradation, or reduction of any biological material contained on the evidence; provides that the State may not destroy evidence that is likely to include any biological evidence before the expiration of a certain time period or unless certain conditions are satisfied; and provides examples of remedies that the court may order if the court determines that a failure to produce evidence was the result of intentional and willful destruction or of negligence or non-willful destruction; and takes effect 2 years after enactment, rather than 30 days. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE. |
| SA 2 to SB 287 | Passed | Hoffner | This Amendment makes a clarification that it is only a prohibition on knowingly commingling the contents of waste and recyclable containers in collection as well as a technical correction in the sentence. It also makes clear that recycling collectors may report to the Department instances of repeated contamination of recyclable containers. It also clarifies who should be included in the periodic stakeholder meetings convened by the Department. | |
| HS 1 for HB 376 | Out of Committee | Gray | This Substitute for House Bill No. 376 removes provisions in the existing Town of Millville Charter that have been preempted or otherwise regulated by State law and makes technical changes.
The original Bill reorganizes the Town Charter’s sections into corresponding articles, adds a preamble, and modernizes wording. Also, the Bill removes sections related to a Town-only assessment process, given the Town’s use of county assessments and adds a property tax cap of 3% of the total assessed value in the Town. The municipal election process is amended to include an ultimate tie-breaking mechanism.
| AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF MILLVILLE. |
| HA 2 to HB 273 | PWB | Morrison | This Amendment adds exceptions to the prohibition on political affiliation discrimination in employment practices. Specifically, this Amendment excludes the following:
(1) Political activity during working hours, on the employer’s premises, or using the employer’s equipment that violates a content-neutral employment rule or policy.
(2) An investigation against an employee because of a violation of state, local, or administrative law where the law concerns ethics, conflicts of interest, potential conflicts of interests, or the proper discharge of employee duties.
This Amendment also makes technical corrections to conform the Act to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | |
| HA 1 to HB 344 | Passed | Morrison | This Amendment prohibits the submission of a campaign finance report with a negative ending balance. | |
| HB 454 | Committee | Phillips | Because Delaware lacks an adequate amount of emergency shelter beds, housing support services, and affordable housing units, only 952 out of 7,131 households that contacted the Housing Alliance Delaware’s homelessness hotline in 2024 were referred to housing assistance. Without adequate shelter available, thousands of individuals experiencing homelessness are forced to seek shelter on the streets, parks, parking lots, and sidewalks, which puts them in constant conflict with local residents, businesses, and the police. Instead of providing adequate housing, local governments are using emergency services, hospital services, and the criminal justice system to remove unhoused individuals from public spaces, exacerbating the barriers unhoused individuals face to achieve stable housing and wasting taxpayer money. This Act seeks to incentivize localities to coordinate or create adequate emergency housing, permanent housing, and wrap-around services for individuals experiencing homelessness, which will ease the financial burden placed on emergency services, hospitals, and the criminal justice system, while providing unhoused individuals stability and dignity.
To that end, this Act does the following:
1. Permits an individual experiencing homelessness to conduct life sustaining activities in public, so long as such activities do not obstruct the normal movement of pedestrian or vehicular traffic in such a manner that creates a hazard to others, unless adequate alternative indoor space is available to the individual in a given jurisdiction and has been offered to the individual, including transportation for the individual and their belongings.
2. Mandates that an individual experiencing homelessness receive the same degree of protection for personal property stored in public places as personal property stored in a private dwelling, which includes protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
3. Prohibits the State or local jurisdiction from requiring an individual experiencing homelessness to move a motor vehicle or a recreational vehicle provided that the vehicle is parked on public property and the vehicle is not parked in a position to obstruct the normal movement of traffic or create a hazard to other traffic upon the highway.
4. Provides that, if a motor vehicle or recreational vehicle must be moved because the vehicle is obstructing normal movement of traffic or creates a hazard to other traffic on the roadway, the individual experiencing homelessness must be permitted to relocate the vehicle before a parking ticket is issued or the vehicle is towed.
This Act does not prohibit State and local governments from making and enforcing reasonable time restrictions on public spaces (including public parks and parking lots) so long as those time restrictions apply to everyone and are not disproportionately enforced against individuals experiencing homelessness.
The Attorney General may commence a civil action against any State or local government, government agency, or government official that violates this Act and this Act also contains a private right of action. No monetary or punitive damages may be awarded under this Act. This Act specifically waives sovereign immunity.
This Act is named in honor of Dr. DeBorah Gilbert White.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS. |
| HA 1 to HS 1 for HB 368 | Passed | Gorman | This House Amendment to House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 368 replaces 3 or more DUI convictions, with 2 or more DUI convictions in the list of detainer exceptions. | |
| HA 1 to SB 18 | Stricken | Bush | This House Amendment No. 1 amends Senate Bill No. 18, as amended by Senate Amendment No. 1, by doing the following:
1. Clarifying the meaning of “Virtual currency.”
2. Clarifying the meaning of “Virtual-currency business activity.”
3. Clarifying the meaning of “Control of virtual currency.” | |
| HA 1 to SS 2 for SB 19 | Stricken | Bush | House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill 19 makes the following changes:
1.Removes “registered agent” from the definition of “resident.”
2. For reciprocal recognition, removes the requirement that the Commissioner determine the regulatory framework of the other state is substantially similar to those under the Act and removes the requirement that the other state’s framework have materially equivalent consumer protections. | |
| HJR 12 | Committee | Berry | This House Joint Resolution establishes the Delaware Task Force on Procurement and Contracting Modernization. It also requires the Task Force to submit a report by September 30, 2027, with its findings and recommendations and any recommended legislation to improve Delaware’s procurement, grantmaking, and contracting practices. | ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY AND MODERNIZE DELAWARE’S PROCUREMENT, GRANTMAKING, AND CONTRACTING PRACTICES WITH CONTRACTED SERVICE PROVIDERS. |
| HA 1 to HB 419 | Passed | Griffith | This amendment clarifies that in addition to a child being automatically eligible for Purchase of Care upon placement in foster care, a child is also automatically eligible for Purchase of Care when the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families (DSCYF) certifies that a child is otherwise in need of Purchase of Care. These situations may include when a child’s family is involved with DSCYF’s Division of Family Services (DFS) and the child would be in foster care if not for being in the care of a family member or fictive kin. | |
| HS 1 for HB 394 w/ HA 1 | Committee | Neal | This House Substitute for House Bill No. 394 creates a process for which the Division of Public Health creates signage stating that energy drinks and caffeinated dietary supplements are not recommended for children, individuals sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women, or women who are nursing. Dealers of energy drinks and caffeinated dietary supplements are then required to display the sign in a publicly visible location next to the products. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PURCHASE AND SALE OF ENERGY DRINKS AND CAFFEINNATED SUPPLEMENTS. |
| HS 1 for HB 88 w/ HA 1 | Defeated | Bush | This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to allow the General Assembly to enact laws for the registration of voters without restrictions on the time period in which registration must be closed prior to an election. It also requires the General Assembly to provide by law for means to ensure the accuracy and integrity of voter registration.
This Act is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Albence v. Higgin, 2022 Del. LEXIS 377 (Del. 2022) which found a same-day registration statute to be “incompatible with Section 4 [of Article V of the Constitution]’s registration deadline and its relationship to the appeal and correction process.” Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.
House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 88 restores language requiring voters to be registered in order to vote at a general election that was mistakenly struck from the original bill. It also updates the section to conform to technical revisions made by 84 Del. Laws, c. 281 and 85 Del. Laws, c. 5.
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution. | AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING. |
| HS 1 for HB 396 | Out of Committee | Neal | This Act requires retail food establishments in the State with at least 20 locations in Delaware, and encourages all retail food establishments in the State, to provide warning symbols next to hand-crafted or energy drinks that contain high caffeine. The caffeine symbol must be in the same font size as prices listed on the menu and there must be an explanation of the symbol. This information must also be provided on a third-party platform that displays menu information.
This Act exempts alcoholic beverages.
The Department of Health will notify the applicable retail food establishments of any violations and promulgate rules for investigation and enforcement of this chapter.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CAFFEINE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. |
| HA 1 to HS 2 for HB 111 | Passed | Phillips | This Amendment to House Substitute No. 2 for House Bill No. 111 moves the effective date for the definitions and restrictions on providing single use service items from January 1, 2026 to 1 year after enactment of the bill. This Amendment leaves in place the effective date for the penalty provisions, which is 2 years after enactment, but adds language to the penalties section to further emphasize that the penalties may not be imposed until 2 years after enactment of the Act. | |
| SA 1 to SB 320 | Stricken | Pinkney | This Amendment adds the following provisions related to pharmacist malpractice to Senate Bill No. 320:
(1) Pharmacists practicing under Chapter 25 of Title 24 must inform the Board of Pharmacy of medical malpractice claims that have been settled or adjudicated to final judgment (“judgment”) within 30 days of settlement or judgment. Insurance carriers who have provided coverage on such claims must also notify the Board within that same timeframe.
(2) The Board of Pharmacy must, within 60 days of receiving notice of medical malpractice settlement or judgment, refer the case to the Division of Professional Regulation for investigation.
This Amendment also adds “pharmacist” to the definition of “health-care practitioner” in § 3002G of Title 16. This addition conforms § 3002G of Title 16 with line 149 of Senate Bill No. 320, which gives pharmacists independent prescriptive authority with respect to opioid antagonists. | |
| SR 21 | LOT | Hansen | In this Simple Senate Resolution, the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU) is requested to engage in a study and analysis of the safety and utility of portable solar generation devices more commonly known as “Balcony Solar” and “Plug-in Solar”. In conducting the study, the DESEU is requested to collaborate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the public electric utilities in Delaware. The Resolution requests that the DESEU issue a report on the study to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Director and Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services on or before January 26, 2027. | REQUESTING THE DELAWARE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY UTILITY TO ENGAGE IN A STUDY AND ISSUE A REPORT ASSESSING THE SAFETY AND UTILITY OF PORTABLE SOLAR GENERATION DEVICES. |
| SB 344 | Committee | Lockman | This Act establishes that a fingerprint-based criminal background check and Child Protection Registry check completed for a volunteer for one public school is valid at any other public school in the State for the duration of the check’s validity period. This Act also includes public school volunteers in the State's continuous "Rap Back System" for ongoing monitoring and provides that the State must bear the costs associated with obtaining these checks for approved volunteers.
This Act is effective immediately and is to be implemented on the earlier of 1 year from the date of enactment or publication of notice by the Department of Education that final regulations have been promulgated. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 AND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BACKGROUND CHECKS. |
| HB 464 | Committee | Cooke | This Act creates civil penalties for vehicles that obstruct pedestrian right-of-ways. Fines range from $100-$300 depending on the number of offenses committed within a 12-month span. This bill also prohibits individuals from using public spaces, such as streets or public parking, to sell, store, service, detail, or work on cars. It also allows law enforcement to issue a ticket or tow a car that is in violation of this law. Civil penalties range from $100-$300 per violation. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES. |
| HB 410 | Committee | Griffith | This Act establishes an Early Childhood Education Endowment. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the State Treasurer is directed to transfer 1% of the annual revenue from the Corporate Franchise Tax to initially fund the Endowment. The Endowment is invested by the State Treasurer under a fiduciary standard. Programmatic administration and disbursement of released funds is the responsibility of the Department of Education in consultation with the IRMC to oversee the operation, expansion, and disbursements of the Endowment.
Annual draw rates are capped at the prior fiscal year's net investment return on endowment assets and may not exceed 7.5% of total endowment balances in any year. The State Treasurer sets the draw rate after reviewing investment performance, endowment growth projections, and long-term sustainability. The State Treasurer may commingle endowment assets with other State Treasurer-managed investment portfolios for efficiency, provided that the endowment's proportionate share of income and gains is separately accounted for.
"Expansion costs" include expenses to increase early child care and education program provider payment rates, increase equitable access and affordability of high quality early childhood education, extend the hours of operation covered, or to sustain such services.
"Programmatic costs" include costs for parent and early child care and education enrollment campaigns, local governance partners, needs assessment technical assistance, facilities program technical assistance, and workforce recruitment and scholarships for educators.
Not later than June 30 of each year, the State Treasurer must submit to the IRMC and the General Assembly an annual endowment report including: (1) total endowment market value; (2) net investment return for the prior fiscal year; (3) the draw rate authorized for the current fiscal year and the basis for that determination, including a 10-year sustainability projection; (4) total funds released to DOE and the purposes for which such funds were expended; and (5) any recommended adjustments to the draw rate for the ensuing fiscal year.
Not later than January 1, 2033, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of DOE must prepare an impact analysis concerning the operations of the Early Childhood Education Endowment and the effect that the expenditure of funds from the endowment has had on the availability, affordability, and quality of early child care in the State.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ENDOWMENT. |
| SA 1 to SB 321 | Passed | Hansen | This amendment makes the following changes to Senate Bill No. 321:
1) Makes minor changes to the dates in the Bill.
2) Requires Commission-regulated electric public utilities to offer consolidated billing to all customer classes.
3) Allows a community-owned energy generating facility with a Final Certificate to Operate issued by the Public Service Commission on or before September 2, 2026, to elect not to participate in consolidated billing provided that the facility submits a formal request in writing to the utility on or before October 1, 2028.
4) At lines 79-80 of the Bill, clarifies that the community-owned energy generating facility or the Subscription Coordinator are the parties responsible for managing their customer subscriptions.
5) At lines 108-110 of the Bill, clarifies the language about the fee that utilities may charge to hold accounts in escrow to cover instances of customer arrearages.
6) Inserts technical corrections. | |
