The Delaware House and Senate each had a pre-file of new bills this week. A ‘pre-file’ is when bills are introduced while the General Assembly is out of session. Here is the entire list, all bills dated 4-3-2025:
https://legis.delaware.gov/Legislation/RecentLegislation.
Here are the bills of most interest to me:
The Momo had asked whether anybody would introduce the bill providing for higher tax brackets for Delaware’s wealthiest earners. The answer is yes. Although, the bill is technically a substitute for a similar bill that was introduced in January. When you look at the sponsors, you will notice the absence of any members of the Joint Finance Committee on the bill as sponsors. OK, kids, here’s why this could be the most fiscally-fraught year in recent Delaware memory. Millions of dollars are being cut at the federal level for programs that Delawareans have come to rely on. Either the state generates additional revenue to pay for these programs and to continue to fund essential services, or the safety net is cut. This should be an easy one. No, it doesn’t replace all the lost revenue, doesn’t, in fact, come close. But it’s a key element in closing that gap. BTW, if you want to see how useless fiscal notes are, check the one out for HB 83. Since fiscal notes don’t consider how much revenue will be generated by legislation, it projects a loss of revenue due to the extremely modest tax cuts for lower income brackets in the bill. In fact, it would generate a significant amount of revenue. Why the fuck doesn’t the General Assembly change this?
Another significant revenue driver would come from legalized marijuana sales if everybody in the state save the legislators who voted for it wasn’t playing rope-a-dope. We need this bill, we need this revenue. Will the General Assembly, out of necessity, step up?
One potential source of low(er) cost housing is/are ADU’s, accessory dwelling units. We have one, for my wife’s parents. SB 87 (Huxtable) ‘requires local governments to permit the construction of ADUs within their jurisdictions without prohibitive barriers or onerous application or zoning requirements’. Good bill.
HB 110 (Osienski) attempts to break the logjam concerning criminal background checks concerning people working in retail marijuana establishments. Who knows whether what now passes for the FBI will sign off on this? But we gotta do it.
SB 91 (Sturgeon) is a good bill that could be rendered obsolete by wholesale destruction of civil rights protections at the Federal level. Ths bill ‘requires schools that receive federal funding ensure students, staff, and faculty are protected from sex-based discrimination and sex-based harassment. The Act further requires schools to communicate to students, through their website, the existence of Title IX administrators as required by federal law…(and) ensures that students have access to the appropriate forms to start a complaint and access to the FAQ link provided by U.S. Office of Civil Rights. (That, of course, assumes that there will still be an office of civil rights. I’m guessing there won’t be.)
In general, I pretty much like every bill that was introduced yesterday. Check ’em out and report back on what you think.