This resolution recognizes long-term care workers and facilities in Delaware and designates May 9 through 15, 2021 as Skilled Nursing Care Week in Delaware.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes Ramadan and Muslim residents of this State as they observe Ramadan.
This bill changes the relationship between physicians and physician assistants from supervisory to collaborative, in recognition of the evolving role of physician assistants and reflecting the education, training, and experience required for licensing, which emphasizes the team-based practice model. The bill retains a 1:4 ratio of physician assistants to physicians, unless a regulation of the Board increases or decreases the number. This limit of 1:4 does not apply to physicians and physician assistants who practice in the same physical office or facility building, such as an emergency department. This bill adds 2 physician assistants members recommended by the Regulatory Council for Physician Assistants to the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline in lieu of 2 public members. The bill authorizes physician assistants to participate as uncompensated volunteers in public or community events.
A 2019 study found the following: (1) Black women are 80% more likely to change their natural hair to meet social norms or expectations at work. (2) Black women are 50% more likely to be sent home or know of another Black woman sent home from work because of her hair. (3) Black women are 30% more likely to be made aware of a formal workplace appearance policy. Delaware law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in a variety of settings. This Act makes clear that race also includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and a protective hairstyle, which includes braids, locks, and twists. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill requires all public and charter schools which have students in grades 6-12 to provide free feminine hygiene products in 50% of the bathrooms used by students who can have a menstrual cycle. This bill also requires schools to publish on its website and post in its common areas the locations of the bathrooms where the hygiene products are provided. Finally, this bill provides that each school must consult with its school nurse regarding the products to be provided.
Delaware, like the rest of the country and the world, has been struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March of 2020. The worst outbreaks have occurred in facilities where people live and/or work in tight communal settings – long-term care facilities, prisons, and meat processing plants. There is no real way to prevent an outbreak and the spread of a highly contagious disease inside a prison where inmates share cells, communal recreation and dining spaces, and in some instances reside in large bunk rooms. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the operations of the prisons as they struggle with staff shortages due to illness and quarantines, and curtail activities to reduce opportunities for community spread within the prison. This bill seeks to address both the COVID-19 pandemic as well as any future public health emergency that impacts prison operations and conditions by creating a “public health emergency credit” that would automatically be awarded when a public health emergency is declared. Credits would be awarded at the rate of 6 months for every month served during the public health emergency up to a maximum reduction in sentence of 1 year. This has the practical effect of moving forward release dates for inmates whose release would come within the next year regardless of the emergency. This will reduce the prison population in an orderly and fair manner, relieving pressure on staff and creating better conditions for those inmates who remain incarcerated to socially distance and control the spread of infectious disease. By applying additional credit towards sentence completion, this legislation also recognizes that the conditions of confinement during a public health emergency like the current one can be considered significantly more punishing – since visitation, communications, programming, and recreation are all significantly negatively impacted by the emergency conditions and modifications to operations.
This Resolution recognizes April 2021 as "Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware.
This Resolution recognizes the week of April 11-17, 2021 as "Black Maternal Health Awareness Week" in Delaware.
This Act limits the use of certain Class B firefighting foams (“Class B foams”) in Delaware. Class B foams are used to put out fires caused by flammable liquids like gasoline, oil, and jet fuel, and can be divided into 2 categories: those with PFAS chemicals and those without. PFAS chemicals include a range of chemistries with differing properties, which have been widely-used for decades in products other than Class B foams, like food packaging, carpets, and other household items, and in firefighting foam. The use of firefighting foams containing PFAS chemicals, however, is an emerging public health challenge to avoid future contamination and reduce exposure to firefighters and Delawareans. Firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals can get into water wells and drinking water supplies and expose firefighters and others to the chemicals. More studies into the effects of PFAS chemicals are emerging; some of the health effects of exposure to certain PFAS chemicals include pregnancy complications, liver damage, and high cholesterol. The PFAS chemicals in firefighting foams must be weighed against their particularly-effective nature in fighting liquid fires when mixed with water. To that end, this Act prohibits the use of Class B foams containing intentionally-added PFAS chemicals unless the use is for fire prevention or emergency firefighting. Further, this Act permits the use of such foam for training and testing only if the facility in which the training or testing occurs has implemented containment, treatment, and disposal measures to prevent releases of Class B foams containing PFAS chemicals. This Act also makes technical changes to Part IV of Title 16, to reflect its current structure more accurately.
This resolution recognizes the importance of providing effective counsel to all who are accused, commends the important role played by the Office of Defense Services in fulfilling that mission, and recognizes March 18 as National Public Defense Day.
