This Act adds that the Director or Deputy Director of the Division of Family Services may have a designee consent to voluntary admission and sign for admission to a psychiatric hospital for youth in DFS custody. This reflects best practices and matches the current process for surgical consents for youth in DFS custody, and under DFS policy, a designee may only act as a designee to take such action with the direct approval of the Director or Deputy Director.
This Act updates the terminology used to describe or citations used to reference those who make financial or health-care decisions on behalf of a principal or individual, including when that principal or individual lacks capacity. This Act takes effect on September 30, 2025, to coincide with when the Delaware Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act of 2023 (DUHCDA 2023) takes effect. Section 1 of this Act amends § 3982 of Title 12 by: (1) Removing the phrase “durable power of attorney for health-care decisions” and instead citing to the definition of “advance health-care directive” under DUHCDA 2023. A durable power of attorney for health-care decisions, or other similar variations on that phrase, are synonyms for a power of attorney for health care. A power of attorney for health care is included in the definition of advance health-care directive under DUHCDA 2023. For shorthand, elsewhere in this Synopsis this change will be referred to as “citing to the DUHCDA 2023 to remove synonyms.” (2) Changing "surrogate" to "default surrogate" to align with the new definitions of "surrogate" and "default surrogate" under DUHCDA 2023. For shorthand, elsewhere in this Synopsis this change will be referred to as “aligning the term ‘surrogate’ with the DUHCDA 2023”. (3) Added reference to an agent under a durable power of attorney to § 3983(4)a. since it is in § 3983(4)b. and those paragraphs should mirror each other, as paragraph (4)a. handles a situation when there is no decision maker willing or able to serve and paragraph (4)b. addresses a situation where a decision maker is determined unsuitable. Section 2 of this Act amends § 3983 of Title 12 by aligning the term ‘surrogate’ with the DUHCDA 2023. Section 3 of this Act amends § 1121 of Title 16 by: (1) Completing the list of internal citations. (2) Repealing § 1121(b)(40) because § 1122 defines the decision makers to whom third-party decision making passes when an individual lacks capacity to make decisions. Additionally, § 1121 is where resident rights are listed, not the rights of third parties. Section 4 of this Act revises § 1122 of Title 16 by: (1) Revising the description of legal standards for when decision making authority passes to a third party under the processes listed, including deleting that a standard is when a resident is "unable to communicate with others" and adding a reference to federal law since a representative payee under § 205(j) of the Social Security Act is included in the list. (2) Citing to the DUHCDA 2023 to remove synonyms. (3) Aligning the term ‘surrogate’ with the DUHCDA 2023. Section 5 of this Act amends § 1145 of Title 16 by: (1) Citing to the DUHCDA 2023 to remove synonyms. (2) Aligning the term ‘surrogate’ with the DUHCDA 2023. Section 6 of this Act amends § 2503A of Title 16 by: (1) Citing to the DUHCDA 2023 to remove synonyms. (2) Aligning the term ‘surrogate’ with the DUHCDA 2023. Section 7 of this Act amends § 5530 of Title 16 by: (1) Citing to the DUHCDA 2023 to remove synonyms. (2) Repealing subsection (e) because it refers to a list of individuals that was removed by SB 309 (GA 152) in favor of citing directly to DUHCDA 2023. Section 8 of this Act amends § 5531 of Title 16 by citing to the DUHCDA 2023 to remove synonyms. Section 9 of this Act amends § 2718 of Title 21 by: (1) Correcting the word “advanced” to “advance” in “advance care directive”. (2) Listing the advance planning documents referenced in the citation to § 9706(h) of Title 16. Section 9706(h) allows the promulgation of regulations related to EMS provider compliance with identified advance planning documents. It is not the section that establishes or defines the advance planning documents. Section 10 of this Act amends § 3912 of Title 31 by changing the term “power of attorney” to “agent” because an agent is the actor whereas the power of attorney is the document or grant of authority to act as agent. Section 11 of this Act is an effective date. This Act takes effect on September 30, 2025. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Under Chapter 69 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code, the Section of Government Support Services in the Office of Management and Budget ("Section") is responsible for effectuating the State’s procurement process. This Act is a Substitute for Senate Bill No. 134. Like Senate Bill No. 134, this Act seeks to modernize the definition of reverse auctions. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 134 by providing that the Section is permitted to use reverse auctions only in the procurement of professional services for or related to pharmaceuticals or pharmacy benefits management services.
Section 2527 of Title 16, which will become effective on September 30, 2025, originates from Section 27 of the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. The Uniform Law Commission found that the word “other” was added in error to the final Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. This Act adopts this correction by deleting the word “other” from § 2527 of Title 16. This Act takes effect on September 30, 2025, to coincide with the effective date of § 2527 of Title 16.
Senate Bill 166, passed in 2022, created the Prescription Opioid Impact Fund as part of an overall structure that would both maximize the monies paid by settling Opioids defendants to Delaware and to create a structure whereby those settlement monies could be managed and distributed on a statewide basis through a stakeholder-informed process. The complete legislation is found at Title 16 of the Delaware Code, Chapter 48B, Sections 4801B through 4809B. Chapter 48B applied to settlements with entities, and did not apply to bankruptcies. This is because the bankruptcy process itself extinguishes claims and thus provides the necessary “global peace” for settling parties. At the time SB 166 was passed, it was contemplated that, in the context of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy, the Sackler family members would obtain this type of bankruptcy-style discharge and release. However, in the summer of 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that such a discharge was impermissible. This decision thus required that the states negotiate a non-bankruptcy settlement with the Sacklers, which the Delaware Department has since been pursuing diligently. As announced on January 23, 2025, the Delaware Department of Justice has reached a proposed settlement-in-principle with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. In order to once again maximize the amount of Sackler money that Delaware will receive, it is now necessary to update the statutory bar created by the SB 166 to account for the fact that the Sackler family members are “individuals” not “entities." Consequently, the Delaware Department of Justice is recommending the amendments to Chapter 48B of Title 16 reflected in this Act.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 101. It makes no substantive changes to Senate Bill No. 101 other than substituting the synopsis language from the prior bill for the new synopsis, as follows: This Act resolves a conflict between the Uniform Controlled Substances Act which requires an in-person examination to prescribe controlled substances for treatment of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and Delaware's telehealth regulations, the Telehealth Access Act which does not require an in-person examination. This bill connects and clarifies the two regulations by modifying the "patient-practitioner relationship" definition in Chapter 47, Title 16, the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, to include a practitioner treating OUD via telemedicine with Schedule III through V medication. The guardrails included in this short addition include: limiting the medication to only Schedule III through V, which has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of OUD and citing to the thorough requirements for establishing a provider-patient relationship under Section 6003 of Title 24, the 2021 Telehealth Access Act, which addresses requirements such as standard of care, medical record keeping, consent, and medical board oversight.
This Act allows drug manufacturers or their agents and wholesalers to ship dialysate drugs and devices directly to home dialysis patients without a pharmacy license.
Energy Storage Systems provide benefits to the electric grid, including grid stabilization, managing peak energy demand, and providing backup power during outages. Energy Storage Systems can provide substantial cost savings to residential, commercial, and industrial electricity customers. The construction of Energy Storage Systems will promote economic growth and job creation in Delaware. This resolution directs the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU) to initiate and undertake a study to assess and analyze the costs and benefits of the adoption of Energy Storage Systems, both in front of and behind the meter, by all electric public utilities in Delaware. The resolution also directs the DESEU to conduct a pilot program and provide guidance and a level of funding, to be determined by the DESEU, to support Delmarva Power & Light Company, the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, the Delaware Electric Cooperative, and one independent power producer to deploy at least one battery storage pilot project in Delaware to serve their Delaware service territory. The DESEU is to submit a comprehensive report detailing the findings from the battery storage pilot program and the cost-benefit study and analysis of Energy Storage Systems in Delaware on or before June 1, 2026.
This Act requires the Delaware Public Service Commission to ensure that all regulated utilities do not use customer funds to subsidize unregulated activities for example, lobbying activities, political contributions, charitable contributions, and certain advertising and public relations activities. This Act places a cap on annual capital expenses in the amount of $125 million for electric distribution companies. This Act also contains a severability clause.
SB 61 requires Delaware's representatives on the PJM Interconnection (a regional electricity grid operator) to publicly disclose their votes during PJM meetings or when considering specific matters. This applies directly to Delaware's utility regulators or officials serving on PJM's governing body. The bill mandates that all votes cast by Delaware representatives be made publicly available, increasing transparency about how the state participates in regional energy decisions. The policy change is procedural, focusing solely on disclosure requirements without altering voting rules or outcomes.
Public utilities are regulated monopolies. Practically speaking, a public utility has no competition in its service territory and, therefore, does not face the economic risks that a for-profit, non-utility company must face. By law, a public utility is authorized the opportunity to earn a reasonable rate of return on the costs it incurs in operating its business. Under the current Public Utilities Code, in determining the rates that public utilities may charge customers, the Delaware Public Service Commission must apply the “business judgment rule” standard in deciding which costs may be included in a utility’s rate base. Forty-eight (48) states in the United States apply the “prudence” standard when setting utility rates, not the "business judgement rule" standard that is applied in Delaware. The more costs that are included in rate base, the higher the rates that are charged to utility customers. Under the “business judgment rule” standard, the Public Service Commission may not disallow the inclusion of a cost in rate base, even though the cost was incurred imprudently. For example, a utility may decide to expand the size of its facilities, but overbuilds those facilities at a cost of $3 million, even though a smaller $1 million expansion would be adequate to serve its customers and anticipated future growth. Under the business judgment rule, the Public Service Commission is not able to deny recovery of any part of the cost of the expanded facility and it will be included in rate base. Consequently, customer utility bills have been increasing and could continue to increase significantly. Amending the Public Utility Code so that the “prudence” standard applies, would give the Public Service Commission the ability to deny, in whole or in part, certain expenses and costs, which can lead to less frequent and less impactful rate increases.
HB 189 designates the Red Knot shorebird as Delaware's official state migratory bird. This symbolic bill amends Delaware Code to formally recognize the Red Knot, a migratory species, as the state's representative bird. It has no regulatory or financial impact, as it solely changes a ceremonial designation. The bill directly affects Delaware's identity and symbolic representation of its natural heritage. This is a procedural measure with no substantive policy changes or direct effects on residents or regulations.
