Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf

This House Concurrent Resolution reaffirms Delaware's commitment to strengthen the longstanding partnership with Taiwan, supports Taiwan’s efforts to secure the signing of a Bilateral Trade Agreement and an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement with the United States; commends Taiwan’s vibrant full-fledged democracy; supports the reopening of a Delaware Trade Office in Taiwan; and continues to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation and contributions in international organizations.

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to eliminate the limitations on when an individual may vote absentee and authorizes the General Assembly to enact general laws providing the circumstances, rules, and procedures for absentee voting in this State. This Act is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Albence v. Higgins, 2022 Del. LEXIS 377 (Del. 2022). This Act requires all absentee ballots to include an oath or affirmation that the qualified voter’s vote is free from improper influence. This oath or affirmation is in lieu of the oath or affirmation required under Section 3 of Article V of the Delaware Constitution. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.

This Act requires the Delaware State Housing Authority to establish and administer Low Barrier Navigation Centers (LBNCs). LBNCs are non-congregate, interim housing facilities designed to rapidly transition individuals or families into permanent housing.

This resolution designates June 12, 2024, as “Loving Day” in the State of Delaware and reaffirms a commitment to the principles of equality, freedom, and justice for all. “Loving Day” contributes to building a society that values and respects the fundamental human rights of all individuals, regardless of their race or ethnicity.

This Act updates the Grace Firestone Act to strengthen regulations for member schools regarding sudden cardiac arrest. The Act requires member schools to develop an athletic emergency action plan and have an automated external defibrillator (“AED”) less than 3 minutes from any venue where practices and competitions are held. It further requires all coaches, physical education teachers, referees, health teachers and at least one staff member delivering student behavioral health services or at least one school administrator per school to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and trained in the use of an automated external defibrillator. The Act requires regular maintenance checks of AED equipment to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for routine checks. The Act mandates all member schools to establish a cardiac emergency response plan and provide Stop the Bleed training to staff once every year. The Act requires the Department of Education and the Office of Emergency Medical Services to develop a survey that member schools must complete every two years to ensure compliance with these regulations.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution designates the month of June 2024, as "Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Month" in Delaware and encourages the Department of Health and Social Services to research methods to raise awareness of, prevent, and treat eating disorders.

This Concurrent Resolution commends the 2024 Delaware Behavioral Health Professional of the Year, Shannon Gronau, and all of the District/Charter Network Behavioral Health Professionals of the Year.

With 60% of U.S. households living paycheck to paycheck, 40% of Americans having less than $300 in savings, 33% of Americans having saved nothing for retirement, 95% of Americans having not saved enough for retirement, and 87% of American teens admitting not understanding their finances, financial literacy education in Delaware high schools is needed. This Act, which may be cited as “The Equity and Inclusion in Financial Literacy for All High School Students in Delaware Act”, requires high schools to provide, at a minimum, a half credit course on financial literacy. And, beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2025 through 2026 school year, successful completion of the course will be required to obtain a high school diploma. This Act requires the course to include instruction which meets the financial literacy standards for high school students adopted by the Department of Education and on all of the following financial literacy topics: (1) Introduction to behavioral economics, including enabling students to understand the impact of life experiences on personal money management decisions and habits. (2) Enabling students to understand the benefits of disciplined and regular savings to achieve financial goals and the power of compounding returns and interest. (3) Introduction to the why and how of different types of risk assessment and investing strategies that lead to sustainable and long-term financial success and a self-sufficient retirement, including introduction and explanation of the Delaware EARNS Program established under Chapter 38 of Title 19. (4) Enabling students to understand personal budgeting. (5) Enabling students to understand and manage credit and debt, including credit scores; types of credit to include credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, student loans, payday loans, and title loans; the benefits and methods of debt avoidance and repayment; and the rule of 72. (6) Enabling students to understand financial institutions, including banking services, brokerage services, account fees, and the difference between fiduciary and non-fiduciary advisors. (7) Enabling students to understand personal and payroll-related taxes and their impact on disposable income. (8) Enabling students to understand career options, including college vs. trade or technical school and entrepreneurship vs. employment. (9) Enabling students to understand philanthropy. (10) Insurance options.

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 180. Like Senate Bill No. 180, this Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that does all of the following: (1) Under Section 1 of this Act, limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. (2) Brings Section 1 of this Act into conformity with the United States Constitution and federal law. Like in Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 180, Section 1 of this Act specifically does all of the following: (1) Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of the right of suffrage as a punishment for a crime. (2) Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. (3) Prohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind. (4) Makes a conforming change based on proposed changes in Section 2 of this Act. (5) Updates the age at which a resident of this State is granted a right to vote to be 18 years or older, to conform the Delaware Constitution to the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (6) Removes the durational residency requirements necessary to qualify to vote in this State. Durational residency requirements have been found unconstitutional because these requirements infringe on both the constitutional right to vote and the constitutional right to travel. See Dunn v. Blumstein, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972) (finding 1-year residency requirement in a state and 3-month residency requirement in a county unconstitutional) and Marston v. Lewis, 93 S. Ct. 1211 (1973). A voter will still be required to be a resident at the time the voter registers. (7) Removes the literacy test requirement to qualify to vote in this State. Literacy tests have been used to disqualify Blacks and individuals who are immigrants or poor. Because of the discriminatory use of, and often subjective nature of, literacy tests, literacy tests are prohibited under federal law, see 52 U.S.C. § 10501, and likely unconstitutional under the 14th or 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, see Oregon v. Mitchell, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970). (8) Makes a technical correction to remove an unnecessary comma. Like in Section 2 of Senate Bill No. 180, Section 2 of this Act removes the suspension of the right to vote as a punishment for violation of certain election offenses. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 180 by removing “work release” from the list of criminal sentences not included in the definition of “imprisonment” for purposes of Section 1 of this Act. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.

This Act encourages patients to choose physical therapy, occupational therapy, and neuromuscular massage therapy as a safe alternative to opioid use for managing acute and chronic pain by doing the following: 1. Eliminating cost-sharing for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and neuromuscular massage therapy services. 2. Expanding the prohibition on annual or lifetime numerical limits on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and neuromuscular massage therapy services to the treatment of any chronic or acute musculoskeletal pain or post-surgical therapy. This Act applies to individual health insurance policies under Chapter 33 of Title 18, group and blanket health insurance policies under Chapter 35 of Title 18, the State employee health plan under Chapter 52 of Title 29, and Medicaid under Chapter 5 of Title 31. This Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2025. This Act expires December 31, 2030. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.