This Joint Resolution directing the Artificial Intelligence Commission to work in collaboration with the Secretary of State to create a regulatory sandbox framework for the testing of innovative and novel technologies that utilize agentic artificial intelligence.
This Act exempts from state child care licensing requirements a military family child care provider that serves only children eligible for Department of Defense subsidized care that is either located on a military base or federal property, certified as a family child care provider by a branch of the U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. Coast Guard, or both.
The Delaware National Guard provides financial assistance to eligible service members for certain postsecondary education tuition and fees. Under the current education benefits program, the Delaware National Guard reimburses service members for tuition and fees the service members have already paid. But young service members often cannot take advantage of this program because they cannot afford to pay upfront for tuition and fees. This also hurts Delaware National Guard recruiting efforts because potential service members may choose to join National Guard programs in other states that do not require service members to pay upfront for tuition and fees. Keeping the Delaware National Guard fully staffed is essential to responding to state emergencies. Lack of staff also leads the Department of Defense to shift positions from the Delaware National Guard to other states that can recruit at higher levels than Delaware. This results in reduced mission capability in Delaware and less federal funding coming to Delaware. This Act amends the existing code relating to Delaware National Guard education benefits by switching from a system that reimburses service members to a system that pays certain tuition and fees, on behalf of a service member, directly to a Delaware postsecondary institution. This change allows more service members to use education benefits, which will improve Delaware National Guard recruiting and retention, and enhance the professional education qualifications of its members. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and clarifies that the tuition assistance provided for Delaware private postsecondary institutions is based on the average tuition for state-supported postsecondary institutions. This Act is effective immediately and is implemented on July 1, 2026, to allow updates to rules, regulations, and forms for the Delaware National Guard tuition assistance program.
This Act is intended to supplement protections under federal law for members of the military, their families, and veterans by adding “military status” as a protected class for purposes of the State’s public accommodations, housing, insurance, education, and employment laws. Technical corrections are also made to existing statutory language to conform with the requirements of the Legislative Drafting Manual. This House Substitute No. 1 adds language to clarify that distinctions or differential treatment based on military status that are allowed by State law or regulation, federal law or regulation, or government contract, are not unfair or discriminatory practices. It also updates existing statutory language that was changed by 84 Del. Laws c 429.
This Joint Resolution designates August 31, 2025, as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware and requires that in observance, the State flag be flown at half-staff at State facilities. By recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day, this Joint Resolution affirms the importance of overdose awareness, remembers those who have died from overdose, and acknowledges the grief suffered from losing a loved one to overdose.
This Senate Joint Resolution establishes the Juvenile Justice Educational Transitions Task Force to propose a plan to ensure more successful transitions of youth from Delaware’s secured post-adjudicatory residential placement back into middle school or high school, including consideration of a new educational facility specifically targeted at transition of those youth.
Excess skin and subcutaneous tissue can create a risk of rashes or infections, make walking and movement difficult, and make everyday chores difficult. An example of treatment that removes excess skin and subcutaneous tissue is a panniculectomy. A panniculectomy is an operative procedure that contours, or changes the shape and form, of the abdomen by removing significant excess skin and subcutaneous tissue. Removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue can improve a patient’s health and quality of life. This Act requires individual health insurance plans delivered under Chapter 33 of Title 18 and group and blanket health insurance plans delivered under Chapter 35 of Title 18 to cover medically necessary removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue, including panniculectomies. This Act also requires the State employee health insurance plan and State Medicaid plans to cover medically necessary removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue, including panniculectomies. Medically necessary means as defined in § 3371(8) for individual health insurance plans and as defined in § 3581(8) for group and blanket health insurance plans, State employee health insurance plans, and State Medicaid plans. This Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certicates issued, renewed, modified, alterered, amended, or resissued after December 31, 2026.
This Act bans the sale of Tianeptine in the State by identifying it as a Schedule I controlled substance. Tianeptine, also known as “gas station heroin,” is an antidepressant drug that is not approved by the FDA and is being sold as a dietary supplement in gas stations and other shops. This Act requires approval by a two-thirds vote because the statutory change will result in the expansion of an existing misdemeanor.
This Act makes changes to Chapter 103 of Title 16, pertaining to the Delaware Health Information Network (“DHIN”). Section 1 makes a technical correction. Section 2 updates the composition of DHIN’s Board of Directors (“Board”) to reflect recent practice with respect to Governor-appointed boards. It removes the concept of positions held for certain groups or industries and replaces it with a general obligation to appoint members broadly representative of DHIN’s stakeholder groups and the general public, with an emphasis on individuals with particular expertise that will benefit DHIN and its public mission. It also reduces the size of the board from 19 to 13 members to align with the historical size of DHIN’s Board and to implement current best practices with respect to Board size, and specifies that a member’s term may end before 3 years if the member resigns or is removed. Sections 3 and 4 are cleanup provisions that remove references to the rules and regulations of the Health Care Commission that previously governed DHIN’s operations, but that have been replaced by DHIN’s own rules and regulations. Section 3 also updates the statute to reflect DHIN’s preferred nomenclature as it relates to data senders, data recipients, and other users of DHIN’s service. Section 3 does not change DHIN’s ability to charge fees for services. Section 5 removes a reference to the Delaware Center for Health Innovation, which is no longer operating, and replaces it with a reference to the State. Section 5 also defines “Triple Aim”. Section 6 removes a reference to Statement 6 of the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Policy as it relates to antitrust regulations on the exchange of price and cost information. Statement 6 was withdrawn by the Biden Administration in February 2023. The new language leaves open the possibility that additional guidance will be provided in the future and provides that any release of information will need to comply with the antitrust rules and regulations in effect at that time.
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 requires the Department of Health and Social Services, in consultation with the Department of Education, to post existing materials on type 1 diabetes to their website. Each local education agency shall make the informational materials available to the parents or guardians of students enrolled in their schools.
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.
