A bill to increase business fees and taxes passed the Senate May 12, following an extended discussion over the vote threshold needed to pass it.

House Bill 400 would raise annual taxes and transactional fees for entities incorporated in Delaware, all of which have not been raised in decades, said Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, Senate sponsor of the bill.

“In total, the fee package will raise a projected $140 million,” he said.

The bill passed the Senate 15-6, but before the vote, Senate Minority Leader Brian Pettyjohn, R-Georgetown, questioned whether the bill should be a two-thirds vote instead of a three-fifths vote since it requires changes to Title 8 in Delaware Code.

“Normally when we’re dealing with Title 8 changes … that’s a two-thirds vote,” he said.

But Pettyjoin noted that in researching past changes to fees within Title 8, it was a hodgepodge of vote threshold requirements. Some were simple majority, while others were two-thirds or three-fifths, he said.

“Part of the concern is that there is no clear consistency,” he said. “I wanted to get an idea if there was any rationale between that and what we should be doing from a constitutional vote threshold process."

Senate attorney Mark Cutrona said fee increases proposed in the bill are for the use of the state, and should be a three-fifths vote because the bill is increasing or establishing a fee. 

The number of votes needed to pass would have implications for the previous House vote held in April when the bill was approved 25-11 with five absent – a three-fifths majority. A two-thirds vote would require 28 votes in the House to pass. 

Cutrona said he does not believe the fee increases are part of General Corporation Law under Title 8, which would require a two-thirds vote to make changes.

“My opinion is they are not, therefore a three-fifths vote is appropriate,” Cutrona said.

The bill now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.

Bartending bill 

A bill that would allow supervised young people ages 18-20 to serve drinks passed the House May 12 by a 32-6 vote with two absent, and awaits the governor’s signature to become law.

House Bill 195 passed the House March 12 by a 31-5 vote with five absent, but returned after the Senate added an amendment May 6, when it approved the bill 14-5 with two not voting. The amendment clarified that an 18-year-old still in high school cannot work in a bar or bartend.

The bill allows older teens and 20-year-olds to bartend or work in a drinking establishment under the supervision of someone older than 21. The bill prohibits them from working in sexually oriented establishments such as strip clubs or gentlemen’s clubs.

Net metering cap

A bill reversing the 2022 cap on utility bill credits for residential solar systems received final approval by the House May 12, and is now ready for the governor’s signature to become law.

Senate Bill 239 removes the 8% cap placed on residential solar credits, but still allows a utility to determine whether its system can accommodate solar energy – a variable source of energy that is considered clean, but provides energy only when the sun is out.

In 2022, bill sponsor Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, released a statement after her legislation capped net metering for residents with solar units, saying it was needed because those credited are not paying for maintenance and improvements of transmission lines, or societal benefit programs. Programs include bill surcharges for the Low-Income Fund and the Green Energy fund, which all Delmarva Power and Light customers pay.

The bill passed the House by 39 votes with two absent, and previously passed the Senate with 18 votes and three absent on March 17.

EV rebates

A bill giving the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control flexibility in issuing rebates for electric vehicles passed the House May 12 by a 26-13 vote with two absent.

House Bill 348 would allow DNREC to set rebate amounts and eligibility for its clean vehicle rebate program, a change from the $2,500 rebate for EVs and $1,000 rebate for hybrids previously set in law. HB 348 also removes the $50,000 maximum for eligible vehicles.

In 2025, DNREC put $4 million into its EV rebate program – money that trickled down from its $6 million for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Projects that comes from Delaware’s $60 million in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative proceeds. Overall in 2025, DNREC received $18 million from RGGI proceeds for several energy-related programs and their administration, including the EV rebate program.