Delaware Bills

signed · Delaware · House Jun 18, 2019

HB 105: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEALTH INSURANCE CONTRACTS.

Step therapy protocols are a mechanism by which health insurance companies require patients to try one or more prescriptions drugs before coverage is provided for the actual drug prescribed by the patient’s health care provider. This Act creates a Step Therapy Exception Process whereby patients who are required by their insurance company to go through step therapy protocols can, under certain circumstances, bypass step therapy to obtain the initially-prescribed medication. This Act does not apply to state or federal governmental plans.

Melissa Minor-Brown (D) Nicole Poore (D) David B. McBride (D) · 20 co-sponsors

signed · Delaware · Senate Jun 13, 2019

SB 27: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NURSING.

This Act, named the Share the Care Act, permits an individual employed by a personal assistance services agency to administer medications to an adult individual who resides in the individual’s own home if a responsible caregiver does the following: 1. Authorizes the direct care worker to do so. 2. Prepackages the medication by date and time. 3. Provides written instructions regarding the administration procedure. 4. Enters into an agreement with a personal assistance services agency governing the administration of the medication by the direct care worker.

Paul Baumbach (D) · 21 co-sponsors

signed · Delaware · House Jun 13, 2019

HB 94: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT LIENS ON INSURANCE CLAIM PAYMENTS.

This Act will increase payments of child support arrears or retroactive support from payments for settlements and awards from negligence, personal injury, and workers compensation cases by requiring that all insurers share information with an insurance claim data collection organization. The Division of Child Support Services ("Division") uses an insurance claim data collection organization to match individuals who are in arrears on child support or who owe retroactive child support with individuals with insurance claims based upon negligence, personal injury, or workers' compensation cases. The data collection organization performs a data match of the claimants provided by insurers and child support obligors provided by the Division. The data collection organization provides reports of matches to the Division so that the Division can issue a lien against the insurance claim to collect the child support arrears or retroactive support. Currently, some insurers voluntarily submit claim information to the insurance claim data collection organization and in 2018, $424,977 in unpaid child support was collected through this process. This Act requires that all insurers submit claim information to the insurance claim data collection organization and is expected to collect an additional $150,000 - $200,000 in unpaid child support. This Act also allows written notice of a lien or action to perfect the lien to be sent by electronically or by first class mail to conform to industry practices. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · Senate Jun 13, 2019

SB 42: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES.

This Act expands applicability of the Delaware State Fair Centennial Limited Edition Special License Plate to vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of up to 26,000 pounds, and clarifies that vehicles owned by artificial entities qualify for this plate. This Act also removes a provision regarding vans, as that language is antiquated and no longer necessary.

signed · Delaware · House Jun 13, 2019

HB 31: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STREET RODS.

This bill defines Street Rods to correspond with the same age requirement as used for antique motor vehicles, and would remove a fender requirement. Historically Street Rods are open-wheeled vehicles. Additionally, no equipment shall be required on a Street Rod if such equipment was not a condition of sale when the vehicle was manufactured unless such equipment is specifically required by this section.

signed · Delaware · House Jun 13, 2019

HB 141: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACT.

New daily persistent headache (NDPH) is a rare headache disorder characterized by daily and unremitting headaches that can last up to 3 days. Headache onset is abrupt and the throbbing, pressure-like pain is usually on both sides of the head. In order to be diagnosed with this syndrome, a patient has chronic daily headaches that are present more than 15 days a month for more than 3 months. The age of onset ranges from 6 to greater than 70 years old. It is found to be more common in females in both the adult and pediatric populations. Currently, there is no specific treatment for NDPH. Instead, most are treated similarly to migraines with prescriptions to opiates or narcotics such as gabapentin. In order to avoid the development of medication overuse or addiction, however, physicians do not advise patients to use pain relievers for more than 9 days a month even though the pain persists for many days more than that. Moreover, NDPH is an intractable headache disorder that is unresponsive to standard headache therapies. This bill adds new daily persistent headache and chronic debilitating migraines to the list of chronic or debilitating medical conditions for which a child under 18 may qualify as a patient to receive marijuana oil upon certification by a physician in accordance with the terms of the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act. This bill also adds new daily persistent headache to the list of chronic or debilitating medical conditions that qualifies an adult to be eligible for the use of medical marijuana.

signed · Delaware · House Jun 13, 2019

HB 45: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MANUFACTURED HOME COMMUNITIES.

This Act is the product of the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owner’s Act Task Force (“Task Force”), established by HR No. 24 of the 149th General Assembly. This Act makes technical and substantive revisions to the Manufactured Home Owners and Community Owners Act that were approved by all voting and nonvoting members of the Task Force. The specific changes are as follows: 1. Chapter 70 of Title 25 is reorganized so that it is easier to read and specific provisions are easier to identify. • Section 7026 is broken into separate sections in a new Subchapter V, with headings to indicate the topic of the different provisions. The reorganized subsections of § 7026 are shown with strike through where the subsection is currently located and underline in the new location, but no substantive changes are made to the subsections. 2. Technical corrections that improve consistency, clarity, and conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including all of the following: • Oxford commas added. • “Shall not” is replaced by “must not” or “may not.” • “Pursuant to [reference to paragraph, statute, title]” replaced by “under.” • “Including, but not limited to,” is replaced with “including.” • Long paragraphs that contain lists are revised into outline form. • Semi-colons at the end of items in a list are replaced with periods. • “And/or” is replaced by “and” or “or.” • “All of the following” or “any of the following” is inserted prior to lists. • Corrects the references to the Department of Justice. • Corrects spelling errors and inconsistent hyphenation and phrasing of terms. • Moves all definitions to the definitions section. 3. Corrections that, while substantive, provide clarity and codify current practices, including all of the following: • Removes the definition of “hold over” because the term is not used in Chapter 70. • Clarifies language regarding the content of a rental agreement summary. • Clarifies language regarding lease renewals. • Clarifies language regarding holdover tenancies. • Eliminates inconsistent language about the amount of notice required before a rent increase. • Provides specific authority for Delaware Manufactured Housing Relocation Authority (“DEMHRA”) to spend funds for DEMHRA’s responsibilities under Subchapter VI. • Corrects an incorrect statement in the penalty provision of Subchapter VI because DEMHRA does not, under existing law, have the authority or responsibility to approve rent increases. 4. The following substantive changes are made: • Requires that a receipt be provided to a tenant for a cash payment of rent within 3 days of the payment and that records of cash receipts for rent be maintained for 3 years. • Revises the procedure for scheduling a meeting when a rent increase is proposed and adds requirements for the content of the notice provided to homeowners of the deadline to request arbitration. • Removes the model bylaws because they are no longer necessary. • Simplifies the amount of relocation assistance provided to home owners. • Explicitly permits relocations assistance for a home moved out of State or to land that is not in a manufactured home community. This Act takes effect 180 days from enactment.

signed · Delaware · Senate Jun 12, 2019

SB 34: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE CREATING A PRESCRIPTION OPIOID IMPACT FUND.

This Act creates a Prescription Opioid Impact Fund (“Fund”) through a prescription opioid impact fee (“Fee”) that is paid by pharmaceutical manufacturer. The anticipated revenue from the Fee is $2.8 million in 2020, $2.7 million in 2021, and $2.5 million in 2022.: 1. The fee is based on the total of the Morphine Milligram Equivalent (“MME”) in each manufacturer’s products dispensed in Delaware, based upon data already reported to the Prescription Monitoring Program (“PMP”). The PMP data contains the mandatory reports by pharmacists of every prescription opioid dispensed in the State. The PMP data does not include prescription opioids administered in hospitals, provided directly to patients by hospice, or dispensed by veterinarians. 2. The fee is assessed on manufacturers who exceed a threshold of 100,000 MMEs dispensed each quarter. 3. The Fee is calculated at a rate of either 1 penny per MME for a name brand prescription opioid dispensed and reported in the PMP or ¼ of a penny per MME for a prescription opioid that is a generic. The Act also provides that Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services, after receiving recommendations from the Behavioral Health Consortium, the Addiction Action Committee, and the Overdose System of Care Committee, will award grants and contracts from the money in the Fund for the following activities: 1. Opioid addiction prevention. 2. Opioid addiction services, including the following: 3. Inpatient and outpatient treatment programs and facilities, including short-term and long-term residential treatment programs and sober living facilities. 4. Treating substance use disorder for the under-insured and uninsured. 5. Emergency assistance relating to prescription opioids, including purchasing Naloxone. 6. Administrative costs of implementing the Fee and Fund, up to 15% of the amount in the Fund. Finally, this Act expires in 5 years, unless terminated sooner or extended by the General Assembly, so that the Fee is only continued if it is effective and is not creating negative unintended consequences.

signed · Delaware · Senate Jun 7, 2019

SB 48: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTING.

This Act requires that bidders for public works contracts that are above a minimum value and required to provide the prevailing wage include approved craft training programs for journeyman and apprentice levels if the contract is not for a federal highway project. This Substitute Act differs from Senate Bill No. 48 as follows: 1. Creates a definition of "craft training". 2. Eliminates requirements that conflict with the prevailing wage requirements. 3. Increases the number of total employees that require a contractor or subcontractor to provide craft training, from 6 to 10. 4. Requires the craft training requirement to be in the final contract. 5. Requires the suspension of a contractor or subcontractor who fails to comply with the craft training requirement and prohibits a contractor or subcontractor who fails to comply with the craft training requirement from bidding on a public works project for 5 years. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Jun 6, 2019

HB 63: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SAFE STORAGE OF FIREARMS.

This Act revises the crime of "unlawfully permitting a child access to a firearm," an existing class A misdemeanor under Delaware law. The offense is renamed "unsafe storage of a firearm" to place emphasis on firearm safety and proper storage. Under the revised statute, a crime is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly stores or leaves a loaded firearm where a minor or other person prohibited by law, or “unauthorized person,” can access the firearm, and the unauthorized person obtains the firearm. The unauthorized person’s use of the firearm to inflict serious physical injury or death is not an element of the offense, but is an aggravating factor. For the purposes of this offense, “stores and leaves” does not include when firearm is carried by or under the control of the owner or another lawfully-authorized user. Under this Act, the offense is a class B misdemeanor if there are no aggravating circumstances. If, however, the unauthorized person uses the firearm to commit a crime, uses the firearm to inflict serious physical injury or death upon anyone, or transfers the firearm to another unauthorized person, the offense is a class A misdemeanor. It is an affirmative defense that the person stored the firearm in a locked container, disabled it with a tamper-resistant trigger lock, or stored it in a location a reasonable person would have thought was safe from access by unauthorized persons. This Act provides an exception for firearms manufactured in or before 1899, or a replica to such firearms, if the replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition. This Act also makes technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · Senate Jun 5, 2019

SB 28: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR UNLAWFULLY PARKING IN AN AREA DESIGNATED FOR OR USING THE PRIVILEGES OF AN INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY.

This Act increases the penalties for parking in an area designated for a vehicle being used by an individual with a disability. For a first offense this Act increases the monetary penalty from $100 to $200. For a subsequent offense, this Act increases the monetary penalty from $200 to $300. The offenses subject to these increased penalties are included without change in lines 4 through 27 to add context. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Jun 5, 2019

HB 62: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE NURSING HOME RESIDENTS QUALITY ASSURANCE COMMISSION.

This Act revises the Delaware Nursing Home Resident's Quality Assurance Commission by doing all of the following: 1. Restores language regarding staffing and support from the Department of Justice that was repealed in error by House Bill No. 225 as amended by House Amendment No. 1 in the 149th General Assembly. 2. Revises membership to decrease the number of vacancies. 3. Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Bill results