This act adds adult sibling of a decedent to the definition of next of kin in Chapter 47 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code relating to the Division of Forensic Science. This expansion of the definition of next of kin will, for example, allow the Medical Examiner to release the personal property of a decedent to an adult sibling of a decedent, when there is no other next of kin. It will also allow the Medical Examiner to provide a copy of a post mortem examination report to an adult sibling, upon written request, when there is no other next of kin.
This bill provides important consumer protections for property insurance contracts by improving the reliability of mailed notifications of policy cancellation or renewal. Section 1 of this bill requires insurers to deliver any homeowners’ notices of cancellation or nonrenewal by USPS certified mail or USPS Intelligent Mail barcode. Further, whereas currently an insurer can cancel or non-renew a policy because of two non-weather-related claims over the lifetime of the policy, this legislation provides a reasonable claims lookback period for non-weather-related claims, as is already the case for claims in other portions of this subsection of the Code. Section 2 of this bill precludes an insurance carrier from refusing to renew a homeowners’ policy based on non-weather claims unless 2 or more claims occur within the 36-month period immediately preceding the expiration of the current policy period.
This bill allows Delaware residents age 60 and older to deduct their full pensions or other qualified retirement income from State taxable income. This bill contains technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislature Drafting Manual.
This bill creates a new chapter in Title 30 and establishes the STEM Talent Advancement and Retention Program (“STAR Program”) and the STEM Talent Advancement and Retention Fund (“STAR Fund”). The purpose of this STAR Program is to incentivize and attract individuals graduating with an associate, bachelor’s, graduate, or post-graduate degree in STEM to stay and work in Delaware. An applicant must be employed with a Delaware-based employer defined as (1) having its principal place of business in Delaware; or (2) at least 51% of its employees working at a Delaware based location; or (3) registered to conduct business in Delaware and reported Delaware tax liability in the previous year. Successful applicants will receive tax credits for education loan expenses up to a maximum of $1,000 for an associate degree, $4,000 for a bachelor's degree, and $6,000 for a graduate or post-graduate degree for up to 4 consecutive years. The award may not exceed the education loan expense incurred by the applicant. The Department of Finance shall administer the program in conjunction with the Delaware Center for Life Science Education and Training ("Center"). The Department will form a Fund Committee of 5-8 individuals that must include the Executive Director of the Center, or their designee, and individuals with knowledge and expertise in STEM employment in Delaware. The fund shall be funded on an annual basis by the General Assembly in a minimum amount of $100,000. The Department may also seek federal funds, grants, or private contributions to fund the STAR Fund. The Department may not commit to awards that exceed the amount contained in the Fund. This Act is effective 10 days following the date of publication in the Register of Regulations that funds have been appropriated to implement the provisions of this Act and Notice by the Controller General is published with the Register of Regulations. This Act is to be implemented the earlier of the following: (1) 6 months after the Act’s effective date; or (2) Notice by the Secretary of Education in the Register of Regulations that final regulations have been promulgated. This Act expires 5 years after its effective date unless otherwise provided by a subsequent Act of the General Assembly.
This Act creates Chapter 62 of Title 24 to regulate health-care advertisements, defined as any communication or statement that is directly controlled or administered by a health-care professional or a health-care professional’s office personnel. It requires the following 1) Doctorally prepared health-care practitioners using the designation "Doctor" or "Dr." in connection with that person's name or calls themself "Doctor" must specify the educational degree and type of license or other permissible title authorized by that person's professional practice act or regulation. 2) Any health-care practitioner licensed under the professional boards defined in this chapter must wear an identification name tag during all patient encounters which must include the practitioner's name and the type of license or other permissible title authorized by that person's professional practice act or regulation. There are certain exceptions to this requirement: (1) The health-care practitioner is working in a nonpatient care setting and does not have any direct patient care interaction. (2) The wearing of identification would jeopardize the health-care practitioner's safety. (3) The health-care practitioner is in a setting in which the license type and names of all health-care practitioners working in that setting are displayed. (4) The office is an office of a solo health-care practitioner, or of a single type of health-care practitioner. The Boards defined in this chapter are the following: Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals Board of Podiatry Board of Chiropractic Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline Board of Dentistry and Dental Hygiene Board of Nursing Board of Occupational Therapy Board of Optometry Board of Pharmacy Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals Board of Examiners of Psychologists Board of Dietetics/Nutritionists Board of Social Work Examiners Examining Board of Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers 3) An advertisement for health-care services which names any health-care practitioner must identify the type of license held pursuant to the requirements of this statute or other permissible title. Further, the advertisement may not contain deceptive or misleading information. 4) Provides that a health-care practitioner who violates this chapter is deemed to have engaged in unprofessional conduct, which may be grounds for disciplinary action under the licensure provisions governing the respective health-care practitioner; however, The Division of Professional Regulation will only accept or assign a complaint number or investigate a complaint filed by a patient or agent of the patient as designated in a power of attorney or advance health-care directive.
Delaware relies on fees imposed as surcharges by the criminal legal system to generate revenue for government services. These criminal fees can be an unstable revenue generator, especially when there are recessions, pandemics, or other major economic events. This Act repeals three fees that currently fund videophone systems used by state and local agencies, personnel, equipment, and training expenses related to judicial branch security, and victim notification initiatives. The elimination of these fees was recommended by the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group created by House Bill 244, as amended by House Amendment No 2, of the 151st General Assembly, in its December 7, 2023 report. The Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group also recommended replacement of lost revenue for affected agencies as needed with General Funds. In repealing these fees, the General Assembly intends to eliminate any outstanding balances owed on these fees.
This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to eliminate the limitations on when an individual may vote absentee and authorizes the General Assembly to enact general laws providing the circumstances, rules, and procedures for absentee voting in this State. This Act is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Albence v. Higgins, 2022 Del. LEXIS 377 (Del. 2022). This Act requires all absentee ballots to include an oath or affirmation that the qualified voter’s vote is free from improper influence. This oath or affirmation is in lieu of the oath or affirmation required under Section 3 of Article V of the Delaware Constitution. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.
This Act reduces the State's rate of realty transfer tax by .25% per year for 4 years, for residential property conveyances having a property value less than $500,000, and for commercial property convenances having a property value less than $1,000,000, starting January 1, 2025. After January 1, 2028, the State's realty transfer tax rate will be the same rate as it was prior to August 1, 2017 for these conveyances.
This Act allows Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party to vote in a political party's primary election. Currently there are approximately 170,000 registered Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party. Members of a political party are not allowed to crossover and vote in another political party's primary election.
This Act updates the Grace Firestone Act to strengthen regulations for member schools regarding sudden cardiac arrest. The Act requires member schools to develop an athletic emergency action plan and have an automated external defibrillator (“AED”) less than 3 minutes from any venue where practices and competitions are held. It further requires all coaches, physical education teachers, referees, health teachers and at least one staff member delivering student behavioral health services or at least one school administrator per school to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and trained in the use of an automated external defibrillator. The Act requires regular maintenance checks of AED equipment to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for routine checks. The Act mandates all member schools to establish a cardiac emergency response plan and provide Stop the Bleed training to staff once every year. The Act requires the Department of Education and the Office of Emergency Medical Services to develop a survey that member schools must complete every two years to ensure compliance with these regulations.
This Act prohibits gender transition surgery for children due to the potential for an irrevocable procedure occurring when there is a significant probability that children will come to identify with their biological gender. This Act prohibits the use of public funds and insurance coverage for gender transition surgery for children. This Act provides for enforcement of the Act as follows: (1) By providing for compensatory damages, injunctive relief, declaratory relief, or any other appropriate relief. (2) By making a referral for or provision of gender transition procedures to a child unprofessional conduct for which a physician or healthcare professional making the referral for or provision of gender transition procedures to a child is subject to discipline by the appropriate licensing entity or disciplinary review board with jurisdiction over the physician or healthcare professional in this State.
This Act encourages patients to choose physical therapy, occupational therapy, and neuromuscular massage therapy as a safe alternative to opioid use for managing acute and chronic pain by doing the following: 1. Eliminating cost-sharing for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and neuromuscular massage therapy services. 2. Expanding the prohibition on annual or lifetime numerical limits on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and neuromuscular massage therapy services to the treatment of any chronic or acute musculoskeletal pain or post-surgical therapy. This Act applies to individual health insurance policies under Chapter 33 of Title 18, group and blanket health insurance policies under Chapter 35 of Title 18, the State employee health plan under Chapter 52 of Title 29, and Medicaid under Chapter 5 of Title 31. This Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2025. This Act expires December 31, 2030. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
