Bill Text: DE HB256 | 2015-2016 | 148th General Assembly | Draft

Delaware House Bill 256 (Prior Session Legislation)

Draft

Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 2 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Deposit Of Settlement Proceeds Into The Transportation Trust Fund.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-26 - Introduced and Assigned to Transportation/Land Use and Infrastructure Committee in House [HB256 Detail]

Download: Delaware-2015-HB256-Draft.html

SPONSOR:	Rep. Matthews & Sen. Peterson
	Reps. Lynn, Ramone; Sens. Hocker, Richardson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 256

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 2 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DEPOSIT OF SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS INTO THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Chapter 14, Title 2 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§1419. One-time settlement money.

Upon receiving a written joint certification from the Secretary of Finance and the Attorney General that a state agency is in receipt of a one-time non-tax settlement or judgment for the state, of which the net value to the state of the proceeds of that settlement or judgment, after all restitution or other remedial payments are made pursuant to the settlement or judgment, exceeds $2,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year, the Office of the State Treasurer shall transfer said proceeds from the General Fund to the Transportation Trust Fund established pursuant to this chapter.Any agency or department in receipt of such a non-tax one-time settlement or judgment shall notify the Attorney General not later than 10 days after receipt of such settlement or judgment. This section does not apply to penalties or fines that are appropriated by statute to the enforcing department or agency.

Section 2. This Act shall be effective 90 days from the date of its enactment.

SYNOPSIS

This bill requires that any one-time settlement money that has a value to the state (after payments and distributions required by the terms of the settlement) of more than $2 million shall be deposited to the Transportation Trust Fund.This promotes fiscal responsibility and integrity by curtailing the use of settlement moneys to offset deficiencies in the General Fund in a manner that is unsustainable � while at the same time providing additional moneys for the chronically under-resourced Transportation Trust Fund. The bill is modeled on a Massachusetts statute requiring similar settlement moneys to be deposited to the state's rainy day fund. This section does not apply to penalties or fines that are appropriated by statute to the enforcing department or agency.