Rep. Krista Griffith

This Senate Concurrent Resolution requests that the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance study the extension of Medicaid coverage through the first year postpartum. Insurance coverage is a critical factor in determining women's access to affordable postpartum care and is a key strategy for reducing preventable maternal mortality and to close the disparity in the maternal mortaility rate among black women and women of other races.

Section 1 of this bill moves the date of primary elections for statewide office, county office, and municipal office to the fourth Tuesday in April, which is the date of the presidential primary (in presidential election years). The dates for submitting and withdrawing notification of candidacy have been adjusted accordingly. Section 2 of the bill changes the deadline for a minor political party selecting its candidate at the party’s convention. Section 3 of the bill changes the deadline for filing certificates of nomination from September 1st to April 1st. Section 4 changes the “closed” period in which a voter is not allowed to change his or her political affiliation to match the 60-day limit in 15 Del. C. § 3189 for presidential primaries.

This Act simplifies Delaware’s drug code with a goal of providing more fairness in its application. This Act removes geographic-based enhancements that disproportionately impact those living in urban areas as opposed to suburban and rural areas. This Act reduces the number of weight tiers from 5 to 3 with adjustments to accompanying sentences while retaining higher felony levels for weights that indicate drug dealing. This Act reflects the reality that the road to recovery from a drug addiction is difficult by removing automatic sentence enhancements based on prior drug offenses, and instead allowing discretion during sentencing to determine when a repeat offender requires substantive additional penalty. Specifically, Sections 1 through 14 of this Act do the following: (1) Eliminate most aggravating factors, some of which may cause Delaware’s controlled substance laws to be applied unfairly, while maintaining an aggravating factor for those who violate Delaware’s drug dealing laws within 300 feet of and on school property. (2) Eliminate enhancements based on the commission of prior drug offenses. (3) Simplify Delaware’s controlled substance laws by reducing the number of weight tiers that are used to categorize the severity of controlled substance offenses. (4) Provide statutory guidance for the weighing and sampling procedures used at criminal trials for controlled substances. Sections 15 through 20 of this Act make conforming amendments to the Delaware Code based on changes made by Sections 1 through 14 of this Act. This Act takes effect 90 days after its enactment into law. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act prohibits a pelvic, rectal, or prostate examination by a health care practitioner or professional on an individual who is anesthetized or unconscious. This Act provides exceptions and they are if informed consent is provided, the examination is for diagnostic or treatment purposes, an emergency exists and the examination is necessary, or the examination is ordered by a court. The Act also defines informed consent as a signing of a consent form that is written in plain language, is dated, includes a description of the procedure to be performed and states that a medical student or resident may perform or be present during the examination. Finally, this Act provides that a health-care practitioner or professional who violates the section may be subject to discipline by the appropriate professional licensing board.

The Delaware Equal Accommodations Law, Chapter 45 of Title 6 of the Delaware Code, prevents discrimination against people because of their race, age, marital status, creed, color, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. This Act enhances the protections under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law by prohibiting retaliatory discrimination against an individual for either of the following: (1) Opposing an act or practice that is an unlawful practice under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law. (2) Making a charge, testifying, assisting, or participating in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing to enforce the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law.

This Act allows law-enforcement officers to share an individual's identifying information with the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health ("DSAMH") if the officer suspects the individual is suffering from an overdose or a mental health crisis, allowing DSAMH to connect the individual with behavioral health treatment services.

This Act expands the membership of the Primary Care Reform Collaborative and creates an Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery in the Department of Insurance to reduce health care costs by increasing the availability of high quality, cost-efficient health insurance products that have stable, predictable, and affordable rates. The Office of Value-Based Health Care Delivery will work with the Primary Care Reform Collaborative and the State benchmarking process. This Substitute Bill differs from Senate Bill No. 116 as follows: 1. Adds the Insurance Commissioner to the Primary Reform Collaborative. 2. Limits the definition of "carrier" to health insurers licensed under Title 18 or certified as a qualified health plan on the Delaware Health Insurance Marketplace. 3. Requires the Insurance Commissioner to promulgate regulations to implement Section 2 of this Act instead of adopting policies and procedures. 4. Removes the deadline to adopt the initial policies under this Act.

This legislation is based on information technology (“IT”) recommendations of the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (“GEAR”) Board established by Governor Carney’s Executive Order Four. This act modernizes Chapter 90C of Title 29 of the Delaware Code and authorizes the establishment of a shared IT services model for state agencies. The shared services model centralizes the following duties and related executive branch personnel under DTI: technology end user support, cyber security, network management, server management, data management, IT project management, software application development/support, IT procurement oversight, IT fiscal planning, IT standards, and technology governance. This bill also reconstitutes the Technology Investment Council to increase state agency representation. The bill authorizes DTI to establish a transparent chargeback process for technology services in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Controller General. In addition to facilitating the delivery of technology services in a consistent and comprehensive manner, technology centralization will position the State to stay abreast of technologies to enable innovation and enhance services to Delawareans. IT centralization also supports regulatory compliance requirements (e.g. IRS, CJIS), network and data security, and provides controls for the overall State IT landscape and spend.

State economic development officials pursue economic development opportunities that, if realized, would have significant impact on Delaware's future economic health and competitiveness. Such situations frequently require expeditious action and the need to enhance Delaware's transportation infrastructure on a timeline and schedule that is outside the 6 year Capital Transportation Program. To meet these challenges, this Act establishes the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund to provide economic assistance for renovation, construction, or any other type of improvements to roads and related transportation infrastructure in order to attract new businesses to Delaware, or for the expansion of existing Delaware businesses, when such an economic development opportunity would create a significant number of direct, permanent, quality, full-time jobs.

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.