Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf

This resolution designates August 31, 2023, as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware, affirms the importance of overdose awareness, and encourages expanded efforts to keep Delaware residents properly informed of the grief that comes from losing a loved one to overdose.

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 creates a special license plate for retired state legislators. This Act shall be known as "The Senator Margaret Rose Henry Act".

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.

This Act expands eligibility for the investment and employment credit against corporation income tax available under 30 Del. C. § 2011 to the operators of climate-controlled fruit or vegetable growing facilities with at least 400,000 square feet of enclosed space. Eligibility for the expanded tax credit is conditioned on a qualified investment of at least $40 million.

This Act amends Chapter 23, Title 13 relating to guardianship and permanent guardianship of a child. The Act does all of the following: 1. Repeals § 351, Title 31, and embeds the requirement for assessments of non-relative guardianship petitioners in Chapter 23, Title 13, the statute for guardianship of a child. 2. Revises the definition of relative for Chapter 23, Title 13, to include the relationships outlined in § 351, Title 31 for whom assessment is not required. This revision also expands eligibility for relative permanent guardianship petitioners. 3. Clarifies that when a parent consents to guardianship, a reason for establishing the guardianship is still required. 4. Moves the parental consent provision previously in § 2353(c) to § 2353(a)(1). 5. Creates separate grounds for granting guardianship when parental rights have been terminated and are vested in DSCYF or a licensed agency. 6. Requires parental consent or a Court order for a guardian or permanent guardian to relocate a child if it will materially affect a parent’s visitation. This provision mirrors the relocation provision in § 734, Title 13. 7. Adds an individual with whom a child in DSCYF custody is placed as a person eligible to serve as a permanent guardian. 8. Clarifies that either a TPR ground or a parent’s consent is required to grant a permanent guardianship. 9. Clarifies that a permanent guardianship petitioner must have the child placed with them for 6 months immediately preceding the filing of the petition. This requirement is also expanded to include relatives, unless the court finds just cause to waive the requirement for a relative petitioner. 10. Provides judicial discretion, where extraordinary circumstances are found, to grant permanent guardianship to a foster parent or individual with whom a child in DSCYF custody is placed when none of the other exceptions apply. 11. Makes minor technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including replacing "and/or" with the appropriate conjunction and using gender silent language.

This Act clarifies when reports of child abuse or neglect, including suspected human trafficking of a child, are required to be made orally to the Department’s report line and when they may be made via the Department’s online reporting portal. This Act also clarifies that licensed professionals who make reports may not remain anonymous.

This Act revises the existing crime of endangering the welfare of a child by providing or permitting a child to consume or inhale unprescribed controlled substances in the following ways: 1. Prohibits a person from intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly making controlled substances or prescription drugs available to a child through exposure, consumption, or inhalation. 2. Creates new penalties for endangering the welfare of a child through exposure, consumption, or inhalation of drugs. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, or Justice of the Peace Court.

Sections 1 through 6 of this Act revise the State's existing child abuse laws as follows: (1) Revises Child Abuse in the Third Degree by removing extraneous language and redesignating it as Child Abuse in the Fourth Degree. (2) Revises Child Abuse in the Second Degree by redesignating it as Child Abuse in the Third Degree and making it a class D felony. (3) Revises Child Abuse in the First Degree by removing extraneous language, adding a sentence enhancement for certain aggravating factors, and redesignating it as Child Abuse in the Second Degree. (4) Creates a new crime of Child Abuse in the First Degree, a class A felony, when a person intentionally or recklessly causes serious physical injury to a child and that injury causes permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment of health, or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily organ. (5) Creates a new crime of Child Torture, a class B felony. (6) Creates a new crime of Continuous Child Abuse when a person intentionally or recklessly engages in 3 or more acts of child abuse or child torture over a period of time not less than 3 weeks in duration. Sections 7 through 9 and 11 through 14 of this Act make conforming amendments to the Delaware Code based on the revisions made by Sections 1 through 6 of this Act. Section 10 of this Act designates Child Abuse in the First Degree and Child Abuse in the Second Degree as violent felonies.