Rep. Sean Matthews

This Act requires that doula services be covered by Medicaid in Delaware by January 1, 2024. It follows up on HB 343 from the 151st General Assembly which required the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance to submit a plan for implementing this coverage, and draws on that completed report.

This Act requires physicians who are discontinuing business, leaving the State, or terminating a patient-physician relationship for any other reason to notify affected patients at least thirty days prior to the discontinuation of services via first class mail and an electronic message if electronic communication is available. It removes the requirement that physicians ending a patient-physician relationship publish a notice in a newspaper of daily circulation. Notice sent to patients must include information about how the patient may obtain their medical records and information about other physician services in the area that are available to patients who will require continued medical care. This Act further adds that a patient receive notice by electronic message, if available, when a physician dies and has not transferred patient records to another health-care provider. Finally, this Act makes technical changes to create consistency with those sections being amended by SB 74 of the 152nd General Assembly, relating to the transfer of medical records in other health-care professions.

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.

This Act establishes targets for annual purchase of electric school buses through fiscal year 2030, and requires the Department of Education to submit an annual implementation report through 2029 as well as a comprehensive report in 2030 detailing future recommendations for electric vehicle purchases and other measures to reduce the carbon and environmental impact of the State’s school transportation fleet.

This Act creates an Electric Vehicle Rebate Program to incentivize the purchase and lease of new and used electric vehicles by Delaware residents. All-electric vehicles shall receive a rebate of no more than $2,500 and hybrid vehicles shall receive a rebate of no more than $1,000. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control shall develop standards, forms, and procedures necessary to implement this program. This program will be terminated if either of the following occurs and notice is given to the Registrar of Regulations and the General Assembly: (1) Available funds for the program will be exhausted within the following year; or (2) It is determined that the median cost of electric vehicles is comparable with the median cost of similar internal combustion engine vehicles

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 requires new commercial buildings with a foundation footprint of 50,000 square feet or greater to meet certain requirements to ensure that their roof is able to support solar energy infrastructure.

This Act, known as the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023, follows the issuance of Delaware’s Climate Action Plan in 2021, and establishes a statutory target of greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the medium and long term to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on the State. The Act establishes a process of regular updates to the Climate Action Plan to serve as the framework to achieve the targeted emissions reductions and develop resilience strategies for the State, creates Climate Change Officers in certain Key Cabinet-Level Departments who will assist DNREC in the ongoing implementation of the Climate Action Plan, requires State agencies to consider climate change in decision-making, rulemaking, and procurement, and requires an Implementation Report every 2 years on the progress of the State towards meeting the statutory targets.

The bill adds visual impairments including blindness to the list of programs to be conducted on a 12-month schedule.

This Act requires every public school and charter school to provide students enrolled in kindergarten with an oral health screening by the last student attendance day of each school year. Notification to the parent or guardian must be done and a copy of the oral health screening results sent home. A referral to a dentist, if required, will be provided by the Bureau of Oral Health and Dental Services. The Division of Public Health (DPH), through the Delaware Smile Check Program, offers school-based oral screenings, at no cost to the school districts, schools, including charter schools, or the students. This Substitute Bill takes out the requirement to advise teachers of the results of the oral health screenings, including Special Education Coordinators and Educational Diagnosticians of students with an IEP. This Substitute Bill also removes any follow-up requirements, by the school, with the student’s parent or guardian. The Substitute Bill also makes the school requirements, under this Act, contingent on the Delaware Smile Check Program remaining in effect or a comparable program to provide free oral health screenings to all enrolled kindergarten students. This Act takes effect for the 2024-2025 school year.