This Senate Concurrent Resolution honors and recognizes the leadership and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and urges all citizens of the First State to participate fittingly in the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 18, 2021.
The bill makes any "police officer" employed by the State and its political subdivisions not currently under the jurisdiction of the Police Officers' and Firefighters' Employment Relations Act subject to it. The purpose of this bill is to render all police and firefighters employed by the State not currently subject to the Police Officers' and Firefighters' Employment Relations Act subject to it. Nothing set forth in this bill is intended nor shall be construed to effect the rights of police officers and firefighters currently subject to the Police Officers' and Firefighters Employment Relations Act. In addition, employees classified in bargaining units pursuant to §1311A(b)(10) and (11) are not covered by this Act.
This Act creates the crime of Aggravated Strangulation. A person is guilty of Aggravated Strangulation if the person is a law-enforcement officer, and while acting within the person’s official capacity as a law-enforcement officer, knowingly or intentionally uses a chokehold on another person. Under this Act, a chokehold is only justifiable when the person reasonably believes deadly force is warranted in order to protect the life of a civilian or law-enforcement officer. Aggravated Strangulation is a Class D felony unless the law-enforcement officer using a chokehold causes serious physical injury or death to another person thereby elevating the crime to a Class C felony. This Act also makes clear that if a person is charged under this section, such a charge shall not preclude or limit the State or any other prosecuting agency from bringing other criminal charges against the person.
Presently, a legal process does not exist for a Delaware hospital to seek the appointment of a guardian for a non-acute patient who has been a patient at the hospital for an extended period, after having been abandoned by family. This bill authorizes a hospital to petition for a court-appointed guardian for such a patient after providing two notices to the patient, the patient's surrogate, or the patient's family if there is no surrogate, of the need to seek a guardian for the patient.
This Act brings the Division of Motor Vehicles into compliance with federal law by allowing a commercial learner permit to be issued for a period of up to 1 year. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act ensures that the protections put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic related to marriage licenses do not cease immediately upon the lifting of the COVID-19 State of Emergency, but instead continue until June 30, 2021. This Act authorizes parties applying for a marriage license to appear together before an issuing officer via video-conference call and authorizes the issuing officer to witness the parties’ signatures on the marriage license application by video-conference call. This Act ensures that the General Assembly will have another opportunity to express its will on continuing this protection by including an internal sunset date.
This Act requires that individual, group, and State employee insurance plans cap the amount an individual must pay for insulin prescriptions at $100 a month and must include at least 1 formulation of insulin on the lowest tier of the drug formulary developed and maintained by the carrier.
This Act provides for voting by mail for the 2020 primary and general elections and special elections held under the provisions of Chapter 73 of Title 15 due to the emergency caused by COVID-19, a highly contagious virus. Voting by mail is an alternative to, and not a replacement for, in-person voting, which remains an available option to those electors not voting by absentee or mail ballot. This Act establishes procedures for voting by mail which mirror the procedures for absentee voting. The Act makes clear that, like in absentee voting, no ballots can be tabulated until Election Day. The authority to implement voting by mail stems from the Delaware Constitution. Article XVII of the Delaware Constitution mandates that in order to insure continuity of State and local governmental operations in periods of an emergency resulting from disease, the General Assembly shall have the power and immediate duty to adopt measures that may be necessary and proper for insuring the continuity of governmental operations including nonconformity with the requirements of the Constitution when in the judgment of the General Assembly to do so would be impracticable. With this Act, the General Assembly finds that due to the highly contagious nature of COVID-19, and the need to protect Delaware voters and polling workers from the virus, voting by mail is necessary and proper for insuring the continuity of governmental operations, and conformity with the constraints of Article V, § 4A would be impracticable.
This Bill amends Title 11 to require that custodial interrogations of children, at a place of detention, by a law enforcement officer, be electronically recorded. The Bill requires the law enforcement officer to prepare a written explanation if the interrogation is not electronically recorded. No electronic recording is required if the child refuses to be interrogated if the interrogation is recorded. The Bill contain an exception if the safety of the child, law enforcement officer or informant would be jeopardized. The prosecution has the burden of proving one of the Bill's exceptions for the admission of a child's statement that was not electronically recorded. Both law enforcement officer and agency have civil immunity for implementing and enforcing provisions of Bill. This Bill will become effective 6 months after enactment.
This Act mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to establish Maximum Contaminant Levels for specific contaminants found in drinking water in this state. Such contaminants include PFOA and PFOS, which are man-made chemicals that have been used in industries in this state. These chemicals were found to be associated with increased risks of chronic diseases. The Environmental Protection Agency, thus far, has not established a maximum contaminant levels, but only health advisories. The establishment of maximum contaminant levels is essential in order to protect the health and safety of all Delawareans from dangerous contaminants in drinking water.
