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Delaware Bills

Track legislation and stay informed about the bills that matter to you.

State Legislature US Congress

All 5,473 Active 1,270 In committee 1,212 Passed 1,743 Signed 2,402 Failed 44

signed · Delaware · House Aug 10, 2021

HB 48: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE HEALTH CARE COMMISSION.

This Act establishes a Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program for new primary care providers to be administered by the Delaware Health Care Commission. Under the loan repayment program, the Health Care Commission may award education loan repayment grants to new primary care providers of up to $50,000 per year for a maximum of 4 years. Priority consideration may be given to DIMER-participating students and participants in Delaware based residency programs. Sites eligible to apply for grants on behalf of their new primary care providers must be located in underserved areas or areas of need and must accept Medicare and Medicaid participants. Grants to hospital sites must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the applicant hospital and the disbursement of grants from the program is contingent upon an initial, one-time contribution to the Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program, in an amount Fiscal Year 21 appropriation of State funds up to a maximum of $1 million, from Delaware health insurers. This Act also provides that the Delaware Healthcare Commission may award Health Care Provider Repayment grants on a prorated annual basis.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 9, 2021

HB 178: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO YEAR-LONG TEACHER RESIDENCY PROGRAMS.

Year-long teacher residency programs are a partnership between an educator preparation program and a Delaware school district or charter school to provide a year-long immersive experience for teacher candidates, allowing them a full and supported, on the ground experience of teaching in a Delaware school. The teacher resident also receives a stipend while participating in the program, which may be used to defray education and living expenses. These programs are the gold standard for teacher preparation and they assist in attracting and retaining quality, diverse educators. For the last several years, the General Assembly has appropriated funds in the annual budget to support and sustain these programs. This bill codifies the program and establishes guidelines for how and when the funds will be awarded and what they may be used for. The Department of Education continues to be charged with administration of the funds.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HB 21: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO AN ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSE COMPACT.

This Act adopts the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Compact. The Compact benefits the public by improving continuity of care, increasing license portability for advanced practice registered nurses, and increasing access to APRN care. Under the Compact, APRNs licensed in a Compact member state may practice in another Compact member state. In adopting the Compact, the state-based licensure system is preserved but communication between states is enhanced. This Act takes limited effect for the purpose of establishing and convening the Interstate Commission of APRN Compact Administrators (Commission) to adopt rules relating to its operation when 7 states have enacted it into law.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HJR 3: ESTABLISHING A LEGISLATIVE BUILDING COMMITTEE FOR THE PURPOSE OF STUDYING AND RECOMMENDING A PLAN TO ADDRESS THE TECHNOLOGY, SECURITY, AND SPACE NEEDS FOR LEGISLATIVE HALL.

This House Joint Resolution establishes the Legislative Building Committee for the purpose of studying and recommending a plan to address the technology, security, and space needs for Legislative Hall.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HB 133: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATOR EVALUATIONS.

This Act changes the current evaluation system for all teachers from the former Delaware Performance Appraisal System II evaluation to a new Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System. The goal of this new evaluation system is to build a culture of professionalism and learning within every school by converting the evaluation system from a teacher-focused to a learning-focused system. It also increases accountability by requiring a beginning, middle and end of the year review of both the teacher’s professional learning goals and student improvement goals. All teachers (not just 4-8 testing subjects) will be held accountable for student growth. The new evaluation system will only apply to teachers. Specialists and administrators will continue to be evaluated under the Delaware Performance Appraisal System II. Under this Act the new evaluation system will be phased in with a minimum of 3 local education agencies participating in a pilot program for academic year 2021-2022, which will sunset on June 30, 2022. Under Section 2 and 3 of this Act, effective academic year 2022-2023, all teachers will fall under the Delaware Teacher Growth and Support System and all specialists and administrators will be evaluated under Delaware Performance Appraisal System II.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HB 227: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

This Act adds child abuse in the third degree to the list of enumerated criminal offenses for which, if convicted, one is by definition considered a “perpetrator of domestic violence” for purposes of this Child Protection From Domestic Violence Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HB 190: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 AND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

This Act updates the domestic violence first offender diversion program to allow the following offenses to be eligible for the program: assault third, terroristic threatening, and criminal contempt of a domestic violence protective order or lethal violence protective order. In addition, the Act makes these same offenses ineligible for probation before judgement in the Court of Common Pleas and Family Court.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HB 141: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES.

This Act is a Companion Bill to House Bill No. 21. It aligns the Delaware Board of Nursing statute with the APRN Compact to advance APRN practice through elimination of barriers and improving access to care for Delawareans. The Act removes the requirement for a collaborative agreement for licensure purposes although employers and health care organizations may still require one. The Act amends the definitions of “APRN” and “full practice authority” so that they are consistent with national standards. The Act also removes the definition of “independent practice” since ,nationally, “independent practice” means having “full practice authority”. This Act grants full practice authority in conjunction with licensure and removes the current requirements for obtaining independent practice. The Act changes the composition of the APRN Committee to include 9 APRNs and clarifies the Committee’s purpose which is to make recommendations to the Delaware Board of Nursing regarding: APRN practices, the Compact and licensure.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 4, 2021

HB 104: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TEEN DATING VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT.

This Act moves the date by which the Department of Education shall submit its annual report to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council from August 1 to October 15 of each year. Moving the date to October 15 will better accommodate the data collection, quality control, and certification process utilized by the Department of Education. Schools and districts are required to enter their data by July 1 and the process of verifying the information and making any corrections necessary to certify the data is usually finished by October 1.

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 4, 2021

SB 93: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATED TO CONSUMER CONTRACTS.

This Act provides protections for consumers in connection with contracts with automatic renewal provisions. Multiple states have enacted laws regulating the automatic renewals of contracts, often described as "evergreen" clauses. These state laws are aimed at protecting consumers from unknowingly entering into these types of agreements by requiring that evergreen clauses be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner and that sellers of such contracts provide notice to consumers about an upcoming renewal. This Act also requires sellers of such contracts to provide consumers with a means to cancel the contract that is at least as easy to use as the means available to sign up for the contract. It also updates the language of the enforcement provision in Subchapter IV, Chapter 27 of Title 6 of the Delaware Code. This Act is a substitute for and differs from Senate Bill No. 93 by extending the length of covered contracts from 6 months to 12 months. It also adds audio disclosure to the definition of "clearly and conspicuously" and removes the provision stating that a cancellation that is in the same medium as the medium used to enter the contract is considered "cost effective, timely, and easy to use." It further specifies that a consumer who signs up for a covered contract online must be able to cancel online. The substitute eliminates the requirement that businesses notify consumers the date at which the contract will automatically renew if not canceled and establishes a right to cure. It also adds matters subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission to the exempted entities. Finally, the effective date is changed to January 1, 2022.

signed · Delaware · Senate Jul 30, 2021

SB 79: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROPERTY INSURANCE POLICIES.

This bill establishes the timeframe within which a property insurer must give prior written notice of its intent to cancel a policy. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Jul 30, 2021

HB 3: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STANDARD NONFORFEITURE LAW FOR INDIVIDUAL DEFERRED ANNUITIES.

This Act incorporates recent changes adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to Model Law #805 “Standard Nonforfeiture Law – Individual Deferred Annuities” that address the impact on annuity products by the current low interest rate environment. Generally speaking, the standard Nonforfeiture Law requires that an individual deferred annuity contract provide the contract holder with a paid-up annuity or cash surrender benefits of a minimum amount if the contract holder surrenders the policy (e.g. stops making payments) during the accumulation period. The nonforfeiture amount is the deferred annuity’s accumulated value, minus certain charges (such as prior withdrawals and loans), based on interest rate minimums regulated by statute. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, market interest rates have fallen so low as to render unrealistic the old statutory rates that insurance companies were required to use in determining the amount to return to contract holders. The NAIC has determined this threatens the availability of annuity products to consumers and, as such, adopted a change to the interest rate from 1% to 0.15%.