There were 139 traffic fatalities in Delaware in 2021, the highest number of traffic fatalities since 2006. Senate Concurrent Resolution 94 of the 151st Delaware General Assembly set a goal of no more than 100 traffic fatalities per year and tasked state agencies to meet that goal by 2025. Instead of moving towards meeting the General Assembly’s goal, however, traffic fatalities increased to 165 in 2022, deepening the crisis on Delaware’s roads. To reverse this situation, the “Everyone Gets Home Act” makes changes to the Delaware Code to sharpen the Department of Transportation’s focus on the three most common types of fatal crashes: intersection (including driveway); roadway departure; and mid-block pedestrian. This Act clarifies the Department’s authority to designate controlled-access facilities as a safety countermeasure for both intersection and midblock pedestrian crashes and, when the facility designation has received the consent of county government, requires counties to use their own authority to assist the Department in consolidating vehicle entrances and exits to and from the facility. In addition, this Act authorizes the Department to designate roadways as low-speed streets and low-speed local roads in order to address fatal roadway departure crashes related to vehicle speed, and permits counties to request such designations to meet their own traffic safety goals. Finally, this Act expands the Department’s discretion to deploy new traffic-control devices in order to reduce fatal crashes. This Substitute Bill differs from HB 247 in that it does the following: (1) Clarifies that designated low-speed local streets and roads must be designed and operated with a Safe System Approach, as adopted by the United States Department of Transportation. (2) Includes “implementing corridor access management” as a safety countermeasure on designated low-speed local streets or roads. (3) Requires the Department to receive approval from the local law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a road before the Department designates such road a low-speed local street or road pursuant to a county or municipal government request. (4) Clarifies that the Department has discretion to adopt various standards for traffic-control devices or applications, even if they are different from uniform state standards, so long as they reduce fatal or serious injuries or are in accordance with a Safe System Approach. (5) Authorizes the Department to acquire property rights along highways to consolidate commercial entrances or to create new commercial interconnections when the Department determines such consolidation or interconnection would likely improve safety. (6) Removes Section 1 from the bill, which required counties to withhold permits for buildings abutting a controlled-access facility if necessary to obtain consent for vehicle access to and from adjacent properties. (7) Removes language that defined “full” and “partial” controlled-access facilities, and removes these terms from the rest of the bill. (8) Removes Section 7 of the bill that authorized the Department to designate and establish partial or full controlled-access facilities in any unincorporated area where there is a high incidence of fatal crashes related to the presence of highway entrances or exits. (9) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act creates a new license for the use of trotlines in commercial crabbing. This Act prohibits a person from possessing a commercial crab pot license and trotline license at the same time. This Act requires a 3/5 vote by each chamber because it creates a license fee pursuant to Section 11(a) of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution.
This Substitute bill differs from House Bill No. 252 by placing the Delaware Institute of Higher Education year-long teacher residency program under Section 1312 of Title 14 rather than Section 1305.This Substitute bill grants graduates of the Delaware Institute of Higher Education teacher-residency program 1 year of experience credit in addition to any other experience granted under Section 1312. The goal of this Act is to incentivize a new graduate who has completed the year-long Delaware residency program to stay and teach in Delaware by elevating their starting pay grade level by giving them 1 year of experience credit.
School board members are currently required to engage both in financial responsibility training and a training to understand educational and legal issues about due process and special education. This Act will require that a school board president inform each new member of the board of the training obligation. A school board president must also send a letter by January 15 of every year to any school board member who has not fulfilled the training obligation by January 1 following that member’s election or appointment. The Act also makes the special education due process training requirement explicit in the Code for members of a charter school board of directors as well as members of a traditional or vocational technical district school board. This training is already required for charter schools by regulation.
This bill expands line of duty death benefits in Delaware to include 911 dispatchers, who were previously not covered under these protections. By amending the state code, the legislation officially classifies dispatchers as "covered persons" alongside other emergency responders, ensuring their families may receive financial support if they die while performing official duties. The change applies specifically to individuals defined as 911 dispatchers under existing state statutes and does not alter the overall structure of the benefits program.
This Act mandates that employees of institutions of higher education and students receive training in sexual assault prevention. Although the current law makes training available, it has not been required. This Act further changes the reporting period in which academic institutions must report information on campus sexual assaults from the calendar year to the academic year. Finally, this Act requires the DOJ to post the annual reports from the previous 5 years on its website and to include the aggregate data from the previous 5 years in each report so that data trends are easily identified.
This Act requires the Department of Human Resources to develop an executive branch policy restricting nepotism in state employment and prohibiting supervision of a state employee by a relative. It further requires the legislative and judicial branches, as well as offices headed by other elected officials to develop and implement comparable policies.
This Substitute bill adds 5 additional speech-language diagnosis to the 2 diagnoses listed in H.B. 273 and references that all 7 speech-language diagnoses are classified in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) for billing purposes. This Substitute bill broadens the definition of “child” from 1 year to first grade to include all children from birth to age 18. This Substitute bill deletes the definition of carrier since the term is not referred to in these new sections and clarifies that Section 2 refers to group and blanket health insurance policies not individual health policies. This Substitute bill also clarifies that the Act applies to all health insurance contracts delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed after December 31, 2024.
This Act codifies the teacher academy pathways program that prepares students for careers in elementary and secondary education. Among other things, it requires the DOE to update and revise statewide standards and guidelines for teacher academies and provide technical assistance to local education agencies to meet those standards and guidelines. This Act further requires that teacher academies offer (1) value-added credits to students who have completed the credits required by the initial program of study; and (2) work-based immersion options. Finally, the DOE must publish an annual report summarizing each teacher academy program in the State, including the number of participants in the program and the number of participants who successfully transition to a program or institute of higher learning in the field of education.
This Act sunsets the Provider Advisory Board (“Board”) and is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of the Board. The Board was created in 2011 at JLOSC's recommendation when it reviewed the Office of Child Care Licensing ("OCCL"). The original purpose of the Board was to advise the OCCL regarding the adoption, promulgation, and amendment of rules and regulations required to carry out the Delaware Child Care Act, focusing on early care and education, family child care homes, and school age centers. In 2019, the Board's purpose was expanded to encourage OCCL to communicate with providers and encourage OCCL to enforce the Delaware Child Care Act in a manner that recognizes that most child care providers are private businesses that need stable and reasonable regulations. In 2020, both the Board and the OCCL were moved from the Department of Service for Children, Youth and their Families to the Department of Education. The move has increased the frequency of communication between licensed child care providers and agency units, including the Office of Early Learning and the Delaware Early Childhood Council. JLOSC sponsored Senate Bill No. 135 of the 152nd General Assembly, which added the Board's duties to those of the Delaware Early Childhood Council. Before and since SB 135 was enacted, the OCCL has adopted, promulgated, or amended regulations in the absence of the Board's advice. The OCCL is meeting the needs the Board was intended to address, without the Board's assistance. For these reasons, JLOSC concluded that the Board is not fulfilling its statutory duties or meeting a state need, and that the Board should be sunsetted. This Act therefore sunsets the Provider Advisory Board. Because the Extended Learning Opportunities Subcommittee included a member from the Board, this Act also replaces that member with a licensed provider that serves children not yet kindergarten age. Otherwise, sunsetting the Board would have the unintended consequence of making the subcommittee a member short. Separate legislation fulfills JLOSC's recommendation that a third center-based early care and education provider be added to the Delaware Early Childhood Council.
This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of the Provider Advisory Board ("Board"). Based on its findings, JLOSC recommended sunsetting the Board, which is addressed in separate legislation. This Act fulfills JLOSC's related recommendation, to add a third center-based early care and education provider to the Delaware Early Childhood Council ("DECC"). In 2023, JLOSC sponsored Senate Bill No. 135 of the 152nd General Assembly, which consolidated the functions of Board into the functions of DECC. The Board's review was held over to 2024, when JLOSC evaluated the implementation of SB 135. JLOSC concluded that consolidating the Board's duties into DECC was successful. JLOSC also concluded that, given the findings of its 2023 review of the Board and evaluation of the Board's activities since the enactment of SB 135, the Board is not meeting a state need. JLOSC therefore recommended sunsetting the Board and adding a third center-based early care and education provider to DECC. This Act fulfills the addition to DECC.
This Act is the product of the work of the Firearms Definition Task Force (“Task Force”), which was created by this General Assembly under Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 102. The Task Force found that while a more limited definition of “firearm” that is consistent with the common understanding of the term is required, a more nuanced approach than that taken in House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 224 is also required. As a result, this Act does the following: (1) Adopts the definition of “firearm” proposed by House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 224. (2) Creates a definition for a new term, “projectile weapon”, defined as those weapons previously included in the definition of a firearm, but which are not within the common understanding of a firearm. (3) Makes clear that a “projectile weapon” is a deadly weapon. (4) Amends the Criminal Code, criminal procedure provisions of Title 11, the Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act (§ 1448C of Title 11 of the Delaware Code), the protection from abuse proceedings law (§§ 1041 through 1048 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the sexual violence protective order law (Chapter 72 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the lethal violence protective order law (Chapter 77 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), and other provisions in Title 6, Title 10, and Title 24 of the Delaware Code to appropriately distinguish between when a law is intended to just apply to a firearm or to a firearm and a projectile weapon.
