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Delaware House passes slate of bills before month-long legislative break

Delaware Legislative Hall
Delaware Public Media
Delaware Legislative Hall

The Delaware House passed several bills on its final day of session Thursday before a month-long break for budget hearings.

Here's a summary of some of the major pieces of legislation that now head to the Senate or await approval from the governor:

House Bill 29: Streamlining data published by the Department of Education on Delaware schools

The Delaware Department of Education annually publishes data regarding all Delaware public schools known as School Performance Data Reports.

These reports are available on the Department's website as the Delaware Report Report Card, which provides information like school-wide attendance, proficiency and graduation rates, student to teacher ratios, demographics, school expenditures and revenues and extra curricular offerings.

State Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford) is looking to expand the reported data to include a list of career pathways a school offers and the Title IX Coordinator’s contact information and to make all of that data easier to locate.

"This bill simply says that the Department of Education will place all of these data points on a single web page for each of the schools so that parents and the community can find these data points very quickly," Shupe said.

The bill would require that there is a link to these reports on the school choice website and the homepage of the department’s website.

Additionally, State Rep. Melanie Ross-Levin (D-Brandywine) added an amendment to include reporting a school's sports offerings.

"For example, my old office used to get phone calls about students that were very interested in golf and really wanted to go to a school that offered golf, so I just thought it would be helpful for parents and students to have that information when they're assessing schools," she said.

The bill passed unanimously among members present in the House and awaits consideration in the Senate Education Committee.

House Bill 33: Giving jurisdiction over adult marijuana offenses committed in Newark to the Alderman’s Court

State Rep. Cyndi Romer's (D-Newark) bill would allow criminal charges of using, consuming or possessing other than a personal use quantity of marijuana — when committed in the City of Newark by a person over 18 — to be heard initially at either the Alderman’s Court or in the Court of Common Pleas.

Likewise, the bill allows a civil violation for a person under the age of 21 using, consuming, or possessing a personal use quantity of marijuana to be heard initially at the Alderman’s Court where the violation is committed in the City of Newark by a person over the age of 18.

New Castle County's Court of Common Pleas is in Wilmington, and Romer explains allowing the Alderman's Court in Newark to hear these cases will help streamline the legal process.

"Students who may commit these crimes often don't have cars. It's difficult for them to get to Wilmington, and we have loss of officer time to have to go to Wilmington to the Court of Common Pleas," she said.

Romer says Family Court will retain jurisdiction for these cases for anyone under the age of 18 and the bill does not change the nature or severity of the financial penalties.

She says the court system, the Delaware Department of Justice and the Delaware Office of Defense Services are all in support of the bill.

It passed unanimously among members present and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Senate Bill 42: Correcting previous changes made to the State Judicial Pension Plan.

In 2024, former state representative and now Lt. Gov. Kyle Evans Gay introduced a bill that added Justices of the Peace, Commissioners and Magistrates in Chancery to the State Judicial Pension Plan, which was ultimately signed into law by former Gov. John Carney.

The act also increased the amount of annual compensation in excess of $6,000 up to the Social Security wage base that a State judicial officer who is covered by the State Judicial Pension Plan on or after, Jan. 1, 2025 must contribute to the State Judicial Plan from 3% to 4%.

It was later discovered that Evans Gay's bill would, if implemented, jeopardize the qualified federal tax status of the Delaware Public Employees Retirement System by giving individuals who are Justices of the Peace, Commissioners and Magistrates in Chancery an election to participate in the Judicial Pension Plan at a different rate of pre-tax contribution than presently required for those individuals under the State Employees’ Pension Plan — 3% or 5%, depending on their start date.

Because of this, the Board of Pension Trustees voted unanimously on December 10, 2024, to delay implementation of Evans Gay's bill.

On Thursday, the House passed a clean up bill to correct this oversight.

Senate Bill 42 allows for Justices of the Peace, Commissioners and Magistrates who first qualify for the State Judicial Pension Plan on Feb. 9, 2025 to remain in the State Employees’ Pension Plan or participate in the State Judicial Pension Plan at the same pre-tax rate each individual was contributing under the State Employees’ Pension Plan (3% or 5%).

It also sets the mandatory pre-tax contribution rate of any subsequently appointed State judicial officer at 5%. Any Justice of the Peace, Commissioner or Magistrate as of the effective date who is appointed to a new position within the state judiciary after the effective date will also be subject to the mandatory 5% contribution rate.

The bill passed unanimously among members present in both chambers and awaits Gov. Matt Meyer's signature.

Senate Bill 50: The Mini Bond Bill

Every year, the General Assembly passes a Mini Bond Bill, which does not designate any new funding, but reallocates capital funding to existing projects.

While the bill has sometimes been subject to partisan contention in the past, it passed with ease in both chambers this session.

Some of the changes made include authorizing the local share of capital funding for William Penn High School early, which changes the initial allocation from $2 million to $27 million.

This will allow the school to begin its expansion plans to create a three-story STEM learning environment early.

Dollars within the School Construction Market Pressure Contingency Fund are being reallocated to Smyrna School District for a roof replacement project totaling around $168,000.

At the request of all 19 public school district superintendents, language is also being changed to allow schools to access enhanced minor capitol improvement (MCI) funds at any time — previously, schools had to obligate existing MCI funds before qualifying for new MCI funds.

The Mini Bond Bill also authorizes any funds from existing Legislative Hall improvement projects to be used on the somewhat controversial capitol building renovation.

Prior projects like window replacements, roof replacement and drainage improvements are expected to have residual funds, which could now be transferred to help fund the roughly $150 million parking garage and expansion project.

Several entities are receiving reimbursements from the Community Investment Fund, including up to $295,000 to the City of Dover for road and sidewalk improvements on Route 8, up to $63,100 to the Ellendale Volunteer Fire Company for a command vehicle and up to $165,000 for a Smyrna-Clayton Little League parking lot project among others.

Funding within the Community Reinvestment Fund is also being reallocated, including $250,000 to the Delaware State Fair to complete the Grove Restroom and Shower Facility project, $69,645 to the Milford District Free Public Library Commission for updating and refurbishment of the Milford Public Library and $100,000 to Kent Sussex Industries for capital improvements to the Skill Development Center among others.

The Mini Bond Bill cleared both chambers with unanimous support among members present and awaits final approval from the governor.

The General Assembly will return on March 11 following five weeks of Joint Finance Committee hearings to go over the fiscal year 2026 state budget.

Before residing in Dover, Delaware, Sarah Petrowich moved around the country with her family, spending eight years in Fairbanks, Alaska, 10 years in Carbondale, Illinois and four years in Indianapolis, Indiana. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 2023 with a dual degree in Journalism and Political Science.
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