Rep. Sean Matthews

Under current law, the possession, use, or consumption of a personal use quantity of marijuana remains a crime for those under the age of 21 despite being a civil violation for adults. This Act makes the possession, use, or consumption of a personal use quantity of marijuana a civil violation for juveniles. This Act also makes conforming amendments to subsection (i), regarding expungement of a single criminal offense under subsection (c), as, after the effective date of this Act, subsection (c) will no longer contain a criminal offense.

This Act establishes standards for data security for Title 18 licensees and standards for the investigation of and notification to the Commissioner of a cybersecurity event affecting Title 18 licensees.

This Act requires the Secretary of the Department of Transportation to publish the transaction history for funds allocated to each member of the General Assembly under the Community Transportation Fund.

Over 80% of pharmaceuticals in the United States are purchased through pharmacy benefits manager (“PBM”) networks. PBMs serve as intermediaries between health plans, pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies, and PBMs establish networks for consumers to receive reimbursement for drugs. Given the scope of PBMs in the healthcare delivery system, this Act is designed to provide enhanced oversight and transparency as it relates PBMs. Specifically, this Act does the following: (1) Requires PBMs to register with the Insurance Commissioner. (2) Permits the Insurance Commissioner to issue cease and desist orders based on fraudulent acts or violations of Chapter 33A of Title 18 committed by PBMs. (3) Requires PBMs to maintain certain records. (4) Permits the Insurance Commissioner to examine the affairs of PBMs. (5) Grants the Insurance Commissioner the authority to enforce Chapter 33A of Title 18 by imposing fines, requiring PBMs to take affirmative actions, and suspending, denying, or revoking a PBM’s registration. In addition, this Act updates existing law regarding maximum allowable cost lists and establishes a more transparent appeals process for a pharmacy to rely on if a PBM does not reimburse the pharmacy the amount owed under their contract or the maximum allowable cost list. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act expands the collection procedures available to the Division of Unemployment Insurance to more closely match the collection procedures currently available to the Division of Revenue providing the Division of Unemployment Insurance with streamlined procedures to allow it to more quickly and easily execute on judgments for unpaid unemployment insurance tax assessments. These procedures include obtaining warrants for the levy and sale of property; extending liens; garnishments of wages, bank accounts, and other property; and denying or suspending professional licenses of judgment debtors. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 128 as follows: 1. Provides authority for appeals tribunals to hear protests under § 3368 of Title 19 and hearings under § 3369 of Title 19. 2. Aligns the length of a lien of a judgment under Chapter 33 of Title 19 with the length of a lien of judgment obtained by the Division of Revenue. 3. Removes debts owed due to overpayments from garnishment. 4. Makes clarifications and technical corrections.

This Act changes the penalty for an employer’s failure to file a report required by the Division of Unemployment Insurance from $17.25 to 15% of the total contributions paid or payable by the employer, unless 15% of the total contributions is less than $100 or more than $450. If 15% of the total contributions is less than $100, the penalty is $100. If 15% of the total contributions is more than $450, the penalty is $450. These reports are used to calculate the unemployment tax assessments due from employers. The tax assessments fund Delaware’s Unemployment Trust Fund. The amount of this penalty has not been adjusted for inflation in over 25 years.

This Act authorizes the Division of Motor Vehicles to issue special registration plates to commemorate the Delaware State Education Association centennial. It also allows the Division to collect a 1-time administrative fee of $15 to be deposited into a special fund and used by the Division for administrative costs.

This Act protects consumers from paying high prices for prescription drugs by ensuring competition in the marketplace by doing the following: 1. Prohibiting a pharmacy benefit manager from requiring or providing an incentive for an insured individual to use a pharmacy in which the pharmacy benefit manager has an ownership interest. 2. Requiring that a pharmacy must be owned by a pharmacist or by a majority of pharmacists if owned by an artificial entity. This ownership requirement is modelled on the same requirement in North Dakota law, enacted in 1963, which has kept North Dakota prescription prices among the lowest in the country and provides North Dakotans with more pharmacies per capita than the national average and a high level of care from locally owned pharmacies. This ownership requirement does not apply to current holders of a permit to operate a pharmacy or to hospital pharmacies that furnishes services only to patients and employees.

This Act establishes in-person early voting in Delaware beginning January 1, 2022. Registered voters will be allowed to vote in-person during at least 10 days before an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately before the election at locations determined by the State Election Commissioner. This Act also charges the State Election Commissioner with determining whether such voting should occur by voting machine or paper ballot. All other procedures relating to conducting voting are the same as for general election voting. Further, this Act requires that for statewide elections there must be at least 1 in-person polling place in each county, and an additional location in the City of Wilmington.

This bill would increase the maximum weekly benefit amount that would be payable to claimants seeking unemployment compensation benefits from the Delaware Division of Unemployment Insurance from $330 a week to $400 a week. The funds necessary to pay the increased weekly benefit amounts would be paid from the Unemployment Trust Fund. This bill would also freeze the taxable wage base used by employers to determine what portion of employee’s wages are subject to unemployment insurance tax assessments, for the period July 1, 2019 to October 29, 2020, to allow the Division of Unemployment Insurance and the Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council to analyze whether to revise the taxable wage base formula into the future.