Rep. James Johnson

This bill gives local school boards or charter school boards more discretion on a case by case basis to suspend students for the possession of a deadly weapon other than a firearm in a Safe School or Recreation Zone. This bill is the result of a case in the Brandywine School District.

This Act allows professional licensing boards and commissions administered by the Division of Professional Regulation to recognize military education, training, and experience of all current and former military personnel when reviewing credentials and issuing licenses. This is a change from the current law, which only allows such boards and commissions to do so for active duty military, members of the National Guard, or military reserves assigned to a duty station in Delaware. This change would recognize the military education, training, and experience of individuals who are retired, a veteran, or are active duty individuals assigned to duty stations located outside this State.

This bill will remove the requirement for signatures to be in pen and ink when provided for driver license, identification card, or registration application processes. Removing this provision enables the Division of Motor Vehicles to develop more efficient means of serving customers including expanding online services.

This Act requires health insurance policies to cover any medically appropriate drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of stage 4 metastatic cancer without requiring a patient to first prove that the patient failed to respond to a different drug or drugs. This Act is based on a similar bill in Georgia that was inspired by President Jimmy Carter’s recent battle with cancer.

This Act directs the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance, Division of Public Health, and Office of Management and Budget – Human Resources Management (“the Agencies”) to report to the General Assembly every 2 years the impacts and costs associated with diabetes. The first report is due by June 30, 2019. The report shall include: (1) Data reflecting the prevalence and burden of diabetes in Delaware. (2) Activities related to diabetes programs and initiatives throughout the State. (3) An estimate of the financial impact of diabetes on each of the Agencies. (4) The number of people impacted or served by each of the Agencies with regard to diabetes, including programs and initiatives designed to reach individuals with diabetes and prediabetes. (5) A description of each of the Agencies’ implemented programs and activities aimed at improving diabetes care and preventing the disease, and an assessment of the expected benefits and outcomes for each program and activity. (6) Current funding levels for each of the Agencies to implement programs and activities aimed at reaching individuals with diabetes and prediabetes. (7) Each of the Agencies’ individual plans, including recommendations to address the prevention and control of diabetes, the intended outcomes of the recommendations, and estimates of the funding and time required to implement the recommendations.

This bill dissolves the Human Trafficking Coordinating Council and reestablishes it as the Human Trafficking Interagency Coordinating Council. The bill establishes the members of the Council and the chair and vice-chair. The bill also requires that a public awareness sign must be displayed at locations designated by the Council.

This bill provides greater protection to correctional officers and other state employees who are assaulted in detention facilities by prohibiting assaults committed with a reckless state of mind.

This bill expands the list of felony-level contraband to include narcotics, prescription drugs, and items used to facilitate escape.

Criminal and administrative enforcement of laws and ordinances relating to the condition of real property and abatement of violations thereof is a significant expense of local governments. The growing number of vacant and abandoned properties has increased these costs to local governments. The owners of vacant and abandoned property routinely fail to respond to the issuance of violation notices, citations, and tickets. Thus, the local government, at taxpayer expense, is left to maintain the property in a condition that will protect the public health, safety and welfare and minimize the deleterious effect the unmaintained property has on the local community. When a property owner fails or refuses to maintain real property according to minimum code standards, the costs incurred by local government for enforcing its codes and abating violations thereof, should be borne by the property owner rather than the taxpayers. Thus, this bill is intended to clarify that costs associated with enforcement of local laws and ordinances relating to the condition of real property and abatement of violations of those laws and ordinances shall be a lien against the property subject to the enforcement action. Recoupment of costs associated with the enforcement of building, property maintenance, zoning, drainage, sewer, housing, or sanitation codes is a lengthy and expensive process for local governments. This bill clarifies that local governments may include the amount of the lien on the local tax billing of the property subject to the enforcement action may collect the lien in the same manner as other property taxes.

With the implementation of land banks in the State of Delaware, an increasing number of vacant and abandoned properties will be brought to sheriff’s sales. Many of these parcels will be dilapidated and require investment to render the house habitable. Blight will only be ameliorated if the bidders upon such property acquire it intending to invest in the property, thereby improving the housing in the neighborhood and eliminating blight. If bidders at a tax lien sale have failed to pay taxes when due and have failed to maintain the condition of other real property they own in the same jurisdiction, it is not likely that they intend to invest in and improve the condition of additional property they acquire. Instead they are speculating on a turnaround in the neighborhood based upon the investment and efforts of others. Under current law, New Castle County, or any municipal government, may disapprove of the winning bid for any tax lien sheriff’s sale, at the election of the governmental entity initiating the tax lien sale, for any public purpose or reason. This bill allows any county or municipality to additionally require that bidders at such tax lien sales certify, prior to bidding, that they do not have a record of failing to maintain other real property in which they own an interest, do not have outstanding liens owed to governmental entities in excess of $1,000 at such other property, and do not hold properties that have been vacant for 18 consecutive months unless there is active construction on the property.