Delaware Bills

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 29, 2018

SB 197: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA, POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA AND EXPUNGEMENT.

This Act provides mandatory expungement eligibility to individuals who were convicted of the possession, use or consumption of marijuana prior to Delaware’s decriminalization of these offenses. To be eligible for the mandatory expungement, the marijuana conviction must be the applicant’s only criminal conviction.

Val Longhurst (D) Gregory F. Lavelle (R) · 16 co-sponsors

signed · Delaware · House Aug 29, 2018

HB 412: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 5 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LIMITATIONS ON PLEDGING OR HYPOTHECATING ASSETS OF BANKS AND TRUST COMPANIES.

This Act amends § 918 of Title 5 of the Delaware Code, which sets forth limitations on pledging or hypothecating assets of banks and trust companies, to modernize these limitations to apply to the current practices of banks and trust companies while not affecting the safety and soundness of banks and trust companies. Section 1. This section amends § 918 of the Delaware Code (i) to clarify that the limitations in § 918 apply to pledges and hypothecations to secure guarantees, credit exposures, or other potential liabilities in addition to borrowings; (ii) to exclude from the limitations in § 918 any pledge, hypothecation, repledge, or rehypothecation by a bank or trust company supervised by a federal banking agency if the pledge, hypothecation, repledge, or rehypothecation is permitted under applicable federal law or regulations or orders promulgated thereunder by the federal banking agency; and (iii) to make technical changes to update § 918 to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 29, 2018

HB 332: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 6 AND 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION.

This bill mandates reporting by certain employees of broker-dealer or investment adviser firms who have a reasonable belief that financial exploitation of an eligible adult has occurred, been attempted, or will be attempted. Reporting will be to both the Investor Protection Director and the Department of Health and Social Services. It also enables broker-dealers and investment advisers to delay disbursement from an account of an eligible adult where financial exploitation is suspected. This also includes definitions of “eligible adult,” “financial exploitation” and “qualified individual” to be inserted into the Securities Act.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 29, 2018

HB 292: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER.

This Act implements the recommendations of the March 2105 Autism Educational Task Force report regarding § 1332 of Title 14, the Program for Children with Autism and its Special Staff. Enacted nearly three decades ago, this law established a network of educational programs initially within a separate school structure known as The Delaware Autism Program (DAP). Today, this network continues as a combination of both separate school programs and within local school district support services. However, the current model does not reflect current practices in special education, especially regarding inclusive education, and parents’ desire to have their children educated in their local communities. In addition, the increase in students with an educational classification of autism spectrum disorder (“ASD”) has made it difficult for the Statewide Director to provide the level of services and support that once was offered. This Act establishes the qualifications and duties of the Statewide Director and enhances the current mandatory committee structure to include a Parent Advisory Committee, in addition to the Peer Review Committee and Statewide Monitoring Review Board, to increase family input, monitoring, and protections. This Act creates a 3 year pilot program that revises the concept of DAP toward a system in which the statewide Director will work in collaboration with a team of experts to provide technical assistance and training to districts and educational entities. It allows for and provides adequate resources for all students with ASD in Delaware by eliminating the distinction between DAP-approved programs and other in-district options and by providing in-state experts at a lower cost than out-of-state residential treatment and consultants. The pilot program created under this Act makes changes that recognize and support the need for specialized technical assistance and training staff to be available to build capacity for teachers in all districts and other programs educating students with ASD. These changes expand available supports so that excellent, evidence-based training and technical assistance can be made available to all Delaware schools and the students who attend them. The pilot program created under this Act establishes a technical assistance team of educational autism specialists numbering a ratio of 1 for every 100 students (currently estimated at 15 positions). The fiscal mechanism to support the pilot program will be accomplished through mandated district participation that is consistent with the current needs-based funding system in Delaware and by redirecting state spending towards lower cost, community-based supports from out-of-state residential placements. The number of training specialists will be phased in over several years or until the pilot program ends. Finally, this Act is known as "The Alex Eldreth Autism Education Law" in memory Alex Eldreth, who passed away unexpectedly on November 24, 2017, and his dedication to this work.

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 29, 2018

SB 189: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 26 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE UNDERGROUND UTILITY AND SAFETY ACT.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has recently found Delaware to be non-compliant with enforcement of underground excavation violations. This jeopardizes federal funding for the Commissions pipeline safety program. Two principal reasons for this have been the lack of notification to State agencies and the lack of enforcement when damage is known. This bill updates Title 26, Chapter 8 by ensuring notification of excavation damage to the appropriate State agencies for potential penalties or other enforcement proceedings. It provides that either the Attorney General or the Public Service Commission may enforce penalties appropriate for the circumstances and gravity of the violation.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 29, 2018

HB 401: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.

Currently the US FDA is reviewing a New Drug Application (NDA) of a pharmaceutical product containing cannabidiol (CBD) to treat patients with rare pediatric seizure disorders. If approved, this drug will be required to be prescribed and dispensed like other FDA approved products. However, to make sure that this product and future FDA approved marijuana containing products are available to patients as soon as possible, a change in Delaware law is required. This bill would exempt federally lawful FDA approved marijuana containing products from Schedule I of the state’s Controlled Substances Act until they are rescheduled under Delaware law. This would allow patient access to new therapies without an administrative delay, and allow FDA approved marijuana containing medicines to be prescribed, dispensed and regulated like other FDA approved pharmaceutical products. Illegal possession or sale of these drugs would be prosecuted as any other violation of the Controlled Substance Act.

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 29, 2018

SB 172: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL FUNDING TRANSPARENCY.

This bill will increase the public transparency of education funding information by directing the Department of Education to: 1. Establish, in collaboration with stakeholders, a statewide approach for districts and charter schools for reporting expenditures at the school level and the school’s share of central office expenditures so that per-pupil expenditure data is consistent and comparable across the State. 2. Report per-pupil expenditure data with key information that provide context on differences in funding such as school type, student demographics, and student outcomes. 3. Provide optional trainings to increase understanding of the data. As a result, this bill is intended to enable all taxpayers, parents, and schools to understand their school spending and resources in order to make data-driven decisions for students.

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 29, 2018

SB 7: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL POLICE/FIREFIGHTER PENSION PLAN.

This Act provides county and municipal police and firefighters with the same pension burial benefit that is provided to state employees effective July 1, 2016. This Act is named for Wilmington Firefighters Captain Christopher M. Leach, Lieutenant Jerry W. Fickes, and Lieutenant Ardythe D. Hope, who lost their lives fighting a house fire on September 24, 2016.

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 29, 2018

SB 212: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION TAX CREDIT.

This Act increases the maximum tax credit available for owner occupied historic property by $10,000. This Act also makes a technical correction to the existing law.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 29, 2018

HB 368: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE GREEN ALERT PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN MISSING PERSONS.

This Act creates the Green Alert Program to aid in locating missing members of the armed forces, including veterans, who have a physical or mental health condition that is related to their service. This Act is modeled after Delaware’s existing Gold Alert and Blue Alert Programs.

signed · Delaware · Senate Aug 29, 2018

SB 11: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPECIAL FUNDS.

This Act relates to police and fire pension funds created under Title 18 of the Delaware Code. The General Assembly created a special fund in the hopes of ensuring adequate pensions for affected police officers and firefighters, and their surviving spouses. This has not come to pass with regard to all pensions, however. By way of example only, the average surviving spouse in the Wilmington Police and Fire retirement plan receives a pension of only $10,080, which is $1,090 dollars below the 2012 poverty level. Moreover, there have been only five disbursements under the special fund in its 48 year history. To address this, the Act would allow for an additional manner of providing distributions from the related special fund established for Police and Fire pensions. Specifically, disbursements from the fund to be made under this Act would be biennial and structured in 3 categories. The 3 categories are based upon length of retirement and whether the eligible individual is a surviving spouse or receiving a disability pension.

signed · Delaware · House Aug 29, 2018

HB 386: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18, TITLE 29, AND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COVERAGE FOR TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC AUTOIMMUNE NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH STREPTOCOCCAL INFECTIONS AND PEDIATRIC ACUTE ONSET NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SYNDROME.

This Act requires that individual, group, State employee, and public assistance insurance plans provide coverage for treatment of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. This Act suspends this requirement for individual and group insurance plans if, under the Affordable Care Act, the State is required to assume the cost of this coverage.

Bill results