A busy day in the House Education Committee Wednesday – headlined by a law that would give students mental health days – ended with five bills sent to the full House. House Bill 3, sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, provides for excused absences for the mental or behavioral health of a student. It requires any student …
If a bill approved Thursday by the Delaware House of Representatives succeeds, residents won’t have to pay state or federal taxes on the $300 rebates issued last year. House Bill 25 would designate that money as qualified disaster payments and therefore untaxable. The 2022 Delaware Relief Rebate Program was a one-time direct payment of $300 per Delaware resident taxpayer who …
The Delaware House of Representatives majority leader started the second day of the 152nd General Assembly Wednesday by apologizing to the new minority leader for the way she phrased a description of her. On Tuesday, Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, had introduced Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown as “the first colored woman in leadership in the House of Representatives.” They hugged after …
Delaware House and Senate Democrats are sticking with the status quo in the next General Assembly. Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, was re-elected Speaker of the House during a caucus meeting Saturday after serving in that position since 2013. Schwartzkopf faced a challenge from Rep. Paul Baumbach, D-Newark. House Democrats would not release a roll call vote to Delaware LIVE …
Delaware will remain the state with the highest realty transfer tax in the nation after a bill to decrease the tax died in the General Assembly. Introduced by Rep. Bill Bush, D-Dover, House Bill 358 would have cut the tax from 4% of a property’s sale price to 3% — the level it was at prior to 2017 when the …
Calls continued to mount Tuesday for Delaware’s auditor, who was convicted Friday of three misdemeanors, including official misconduct, to leave her office by resigning or being impeached. Kathleen McGuiness said after the trial that she planned to stay in the job and run for re-election this year. Gov. John Carney on Friday said McGuiness needs to resign, but that …
A bill that would transform certain loans to scholarships to encourage students to pursue careers in education and other needed career fields was released by the Senate Education Committee Wednesday. It was the committee’s last hearing in this legislative session, which began in January 2021 and spanned two years. The bill already has passed the House and is now eligible …
A bill to establish an “independent and nonpartisan” inspector general’s office moved forward Wednesday in a Delaware House committee. The House Administration Committee also moved along a bill to encourage filming in the state by offering tax credits. The committee started discussion to create a constitutional right of a clean environment, but, citing time, continued discussion to Thursday’s committee meeting, …
A controversial bill to ban the purchase of semi-automatic firearms in Delaware narrowly passed in the House of Representatives Thursday against the objections of every Republican lawmaker as well as some Democrats. The bill passed 22 to 19 and will advance to the Senate for consideration. “The intention of this legislation is simple and clear: to make sure that the …
Bills to ban semi-automatic firearms and restrict the purchase of guns by Delawareans 21 and older were released from a House committee Wednesday and will advance to the House floor for a vote. The hearing attracted a crowd of well over 100 concerned citizens on both sides of the issue, many of whom filled lawmakers’ seats in the House chamber. …
