The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 established 988 as the universal phone number for "the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline." This Act provides the framework to maximize the benefits of 988 and provide crucial support to Delawareans in need through the implementation of a practical, modern, and comprehensive, integrated crisis care system. This Act is a second substitute for House Bill No. 160. Like House Bill No. 160 this Act does the following: (1) Created the Behavioral Health Crisis Services Board (“Board”) to provide oversight and input on the development of an integrated behavioral health crisis care system in this State. (2) Imposes a behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge on business and residential telephone services, wireless telephone services, and prepaid wireless telephone services. The surcharge will create a dedicated funding source for behavioral health crisis services. The Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services Fund is created to receive the surcharge funds. Specifically, this Act establishes a 60-cent per month per line fee on phone lines and a 60-cent one-time fee on prepaid services. Like House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 160, this Act does all of the following: (1) Models the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge after the existing E-911 surcharge and prepaid wireless E911 surcharge created under Chapter 101 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code. (2) Removes the creation of the Behavioral Health Crisis Communication Center and instead directs the Board to develop and recommend a plan for establishing, operating, and maintaining a behavioral health crisis communications center. The Board must submit the plan to the Governor and General Assembly within 12 months from the effective date of this Act. (3) Makes changes to the definition of “mobile crisis team”. (4) Makes changes to the composition of the Board to add the Executive Director of the Ability Network of Delaware and the Executive Director of each of Delaware’s Lifeline Centers. This Act differs from House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 160 as follows: (1) Exempts State government from the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge. (2) Removes a provision that would permit an increase in the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge collected for prepaid wireless telecommunication services if the General Assembly increased the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge collected for residential and business telephone service, wireless service, and nontraditional communication service. (3) Removes the “crisis intervention service” definition. (4) Removes "Providing crisis intervention services." from the list of eligible expenditures for the Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services Fund and replaces it with "Establishing, operating, or contracting for crisis teams for adults and children.". This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose or levy a tax or license fee
This Act authorizes paramedics and other EMS providers to provide medical care to police dogs injured at the scene of an emergency. This Act also grants civil immunity to paramedics and other EMS providers who provide medical services to police dogs, so long as their efforts to assist the police dog were in good faith. However, this Act clarifies that in a situation where a human and a police dog need emergency medical care at the same time, the medical services personnel are prohibited from providing care to the police dog over the human, if the care of the police dog would hinder the human’s care.
This Act requires that an owner be reimbursed up to $1,500 annually for veterinary care expenses paid by the owner for the care of a retired law-enforcement canine. The Department of Safety and Homeland Security shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines from the State Police and Capitol Police. The State Fire Prevention Commission shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines from the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The Department of Correction and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines that assisted their respective divisions. This Act is effective immediately and shall be implemented 6 months after enactment. This Act does not apply to law-enforcement canines that retire before the implementation date of this Act.
This Act permits an individual who is a reproductive health care services provider or employee to apply for participation in Delaware's Address Confidentiality Program, which allows participants to keep their actual address confidential by applying to the Department of Justice for a substitute address to which all mail will be delivered. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act directs the State’s current needle exchange program to take a needs-based approach. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act allows a practitioner with the authority to prescribe medication to give the unused portion of topical medication used during treatment to a patient upon discharge or the conclusion of the visit. This Act is based on the Model Act created by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which has been adopted in Illinois. During a procedure, practitioners may use only a few drops or small amount of medication from a container. Because regulations governing the ability to dispense the remaining portion of stock-item medications can be unclear or appear overly burdensome, many facilities do not allow the practitioner to dispense that container to the patient to take home with them. Instead, the practitioner must write a prescription for the patient and the medication that remains in the container is discarded. By allowing patients to take home provider-dispensed medication, this Act reduces waste and health-care costs and by eliminating the extra burden of going to the pharmacy to fill a prescription, this Act will better ensure medication compliance. This Act is known as "The Topical Medical Waste Reduction Act". This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act revamps the Council on Police Training, by changing the name of the Council to the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission (or POST) and amending its powers and duties to: (1) more accurately reflect the dual role of establishing training standards for Delaware police officers as well as overseeing allegations of police officer misconduct and conducting hearings for possible suspensions or de-certifications; (2) untethering the Council from the Delaware State Police by deleting the requirement that the Director of the Delaware State Police Academy is responsible for education and training in connection with the Council’s duties and responsibilities; (3) removing the requirement that discipline proceedings be tied to whether the employing department takes action against the officer and increasing the instances when discipline can be issued; (4) advising the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission regarding statewide accreditation standards; (5) issuing guidelines for local police oversight commissions or boards. The Bill improves transparency by increasing required meetings from two to four per year, clarifying that decisions of disciplinary panels are public documents, requiring that departments form public accountability commissions with non-officer members, and requiring a public comment period and an official website with publication of pertinent records and documents of the POST. By amending the definition of “police officer,” the bill also requires that officers employed only part-time are subject to the regulatory oversight of the POST. The Bill proposes that the Council’s day-to-day functions be provided through professionals retained by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Finally, the Bill makes minor technical and other non-substantive changes, including deleting outdated provisions of the Code. This includes striking the provision that required body-worn camera standards to be in place by 2022 – since those regulations are now in place – and instead requiring the POST to “periodically review and propose updates as needed to regulations and standards” for body-worn cameras in cooperation with other stakeholders. Sections 2 through 16 make conforming changes to other parts of the Code that referenced the Council on Police Training.
This bill increases the amount of money the Town of Delmar is permitted to raise from levying and collecting taxes from $1,000,000.00 to $2,500,000.00.
This bill transfers the placement of the Cash Management Policy Board from within the Department of Finance to the Office of the State Treasurer and provides that support for the Board shall be determined by the State Treasurer as is currently done.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more and more popular. Between 2012 and 2016, EV sales grew at an annual rate of 32%. In 2017, growth in sales reached 45%. Batteries for EVs have become much cheaper in the last 10 years, enabling EVs to compete with traditional, fossil-fueled vehicles. In addition, major vehicle manufacturers are pledging to go all electric. Some researchers are predicting that EV sales will outnumber those of traditional, combustion engine vehicles by 2040. However, only minimal electrical charging infrastructure is available today. This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 103. Like Senate Bill No. 103, this Act will make it easier and more convenient to own an electric vehicle in this State in the years to come, resulting in increased purchases of electric vehicles, promoting cleaner air and water, and resulting in improved health outcomes for Delawareans and a reduction of greenhouse gases to curtail global warming. Also like Senate Bill No. 103, this Act achieves these goals by doing the following: (1) Requiring that newly constructed single-family and multi-family residential dwellings include certain electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (2) Providing county and municipal government enforcement of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure requirements of this Act. Additionally, like Senate Bill No. 103, this Act expires on the date of publication in the Register of Regulations of a notice by the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control that the Regulations for State Energy Conservation Code, Regulation 2101 of Title 7 of the Delaware Administrative Code, which are adopted under § 7602 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code, have been updated to match or exceed the standards adopted by this Act. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 103 as follows: (1) Removes language from the definition of “electric vehicle capable parking space” for clarity. (2) Clarifies that “multi-family residential dwelling” includes only boarding houses, hotels, and motels with nontransient occupants. (3) Clarifies that this Act applies to the construction of a multi-family residential dwelling for which an application for final site plan approval is submitted on or after January 1, 2025. (4) Clarifies that if the single-family residential dwelling does not have an attached or detached garage, an electric vehicle capable parking space must be provided in the driveway, assigned parking space for the dwelling, or at an unassigned non-street residential parking space constructed as part of the project.
This Act clarifies to whom the annual report must be sent and the date that the report must be submitted.
This Act directs the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to work with PJM Interconnection, LLC to study the transmission impacts of offshore wind development, to work with neighboring states on offshore wind transmission, and to study and report back to the Governor and the General Assembly on a process for procuring offshore wind power.
