Rep. Val Longhurst

This Act creates the Delaware Health Insurance Individual Market Stabilization Reinsurance Program & Fund (the “Program”). The Program will be administered by the Delaware Health Care Commission in order to provide reinsurance to health insurance carriers that offer individual health benefit plans in Delaware. The Program will be funded with passthrough funds received from the federal government under the Affordable Care Act, funds provided by the Federal Government for reinsurance, and through a 2.75% annual assessment based on insurance carrier’s premium tax liability.

This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of June 2019 as “Caribbean American Heritage Month” in the State of Delaware.

United States Supreme Court case law and scientific research has changed how we think about juvenile delinquency. We know now that an adolescent’s brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties which makes juveniles especially prone to poor decision-making. In the landmark case of Miller v. Alabama, in which the United States Supreme Court prohibited mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles on the rationale that children are inherently different than adults, the Court relied not only scientific research but on common sense and what any parent knows: kids will be kids. Children in Delaware have minimum ages set for many things: getting a driver’s license, enlisting in the military, applying for a loan or opening a credit card, using a tanning bed, drinking alcohol, and buying tickets to an R-rated movie. This legislation sets a minimum age at which a child may be prosecuted, except for the most extreme offenses. This Bill prohibits the prosecution of children under the age of 12. It also bars the transfer of juvenile prosecution to the Superior Court unless the child is aged 16 or older. The exception to the prohibition on prosecuting children under 12 and transfer to Superior Court for children under 16, is only for the most serious of charges: murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, rape in the first and rape in the second degree. However, the bill allows for the prosecution of children under 12 for title 11 violent felonies and misdemeanor crimes of violence until January 1, 2021, when prosecution of such children will expire and thereafter children under the age of 12 who are suspected of committing a Title 11 violent felony or misdemeanor violent felony will be referred to the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program.

This Bill requires the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families ("DSCYF'') to have exclusive jurisdiction over all aspects of a child’s care, custody and control when a child is convicted of a Superior Court offense. The Act establishes that from a date certain, no more juveniles would be transferred to the custody of the Department of Correction upon their adjudication and Level V sentence in Superior Court.

This joint resolution is designed to establish a task force to study and make findings concerning the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.

In 2009, New Hampshire was the first state to develop a statewide “Gun Shop Project,” reaching out to gun shops regarding the role they can play in suicide prevention. In the years since, at least 21 other states have implemented similar campaigns. This Act establishes the Delaware Gun Shop Project (“Project”), under which the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (“Division”) must develop relevant materials that may be posted conspicuously and available for distribution at Delaware gun shops. This Act requires the Division to promulgate regulations that establish and govern a mechanism to track participation in and efficacy of the Project, and authorizes the Division to promulgate other regulations, such as how the training will be offered and taken, as needed.

In order to promote the development of pyrolysis and gasification facilities in Delaware and realize environmental benefits, this Act creates a classification of post-use polymers and other recoverable feedstocks and acknowledges their distinction from solid waste.

Step therapy protocols are a mechanism by which health insurance companies require patients to try one or more prescriptions drugs before coverage is provided for the actual drug prescribed by the patient’s health care provider. This Act creates a Step Therapy Exception Process whereby patients who are required by their insurance company to go through step therapy protocols can, under certain circumstances, bypass step therapy to obtain the initially-prescribed medication. This Act does not apply to state or federal governmental plans.

This bill expands upon the companion bill (House Bill No. 130 as amended of the 150th General Assembly) relating to the use of single-use plastic bags. This bill prohibits the use of single use paper bags and works to lessen consumption of single use bags in favor of having consumers utilize reusable bags. The purpose of the bill, as detailed in the preamble, is to further clean up Delaware’s communities and watersheds, reduce storm water and trash management costs to taxpayers, and promote the health and safety of watersheds, wildlife and humans, and the ecosystem’s food chain. On January 1, 2021 this bill enacts a ban on certain stores providing single-use paper bags at check-out.

This Resolution recognizes the young men participating in the 2019 session of Delaware's Boys State and commends its sponsor, the American Legion Department of Delaware.