Rep. Kim Williams

This Act authorizes the Division of Motor Vehicles to issue special registration plates to commemorate the Delaware State Education Association centennial. It also allows the Division to collect a 1-time administrative fee of $15 to be deposited into a special fund and used by the Division for administrative costs.

This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2020 Bond and Capital Improvements Act.

This Act protects consumers from paying high prices for prescription drugs by ensuring competition in the marketplace by doing the following: 1. Prohibiting a pharmacy benefit manager from requiring or providing an incentive for an insured individual to use a pharmacy in which the pharmacy benefit manager has an ownership interest. 2. Requiring that a pharmacy must be owned by a pharmacist or by a majority of pharmacists if owned by an artificial entity. This ownership requirement is modelled on the same requirement in North Dakota law, enacted in 1963, which has kept North Dakota prescription prices among the lowest in the country and provides North Dakotans with more pharmacies per capita than the national average and a high level of care from locally owned pharmacies. This ownership requirement does not apply to current holders of a permit to operate a pharmacy or to hospital pharmacies that furnishes services only to patients and employees.

This Act establishes in-person early voting in Delaware beginning January 1, 2022. Registered voters will be allowed to vote in-person during at least 10 days before an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately before the election at locations determined by the State Election Commissioner. This Act also charges the State Election Commissioner with determining whether such voting should occur by voting machine or paper ballot. All other procedures relating to conducting voting are the same as for general election voting. Further, this Act requires that for statewide elections there must be at least 1 in-person polling place in each county, and an additional location in the City of Wilmington.

This Act establishes the Universal Pre-K Consortium to recommend a comprehensive plan for the implementation of a mixed-delivery, non-compulsory public pre-kindergarten program for all 4 year olds in this State.

This Concurrent Resolution acknowledges June as LGBTQA+ Pride Month and recognizes the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall.

The Department of Health and Human Services (“DHSS”) was established in 1970 by legislative enactment with a broad and crucial mandate: to supervise the health, well being, and life of Delaware citizens. In the decades since, the population of Delaware has increased, and the needs of Delaware citizens have required increasingly complex and costly medical interventions; particularly for those most vulnerable among us, such as the elderly and those suffering from addiction. To serve this broad array of individual needs, DHSS has adapted to provide personalized and individualized services to citizens at a level of direct care. Additionally, the broad language of DHSS’ authorizing statute has required it to maintain focus on other policy initiatives, such as promoting public health and administering healthcare through Medicaid while maintaining compliance with state and Federal laws and regulations, which themselves have grown in complexity. Given the advancements in both individualized care and the policy landscape, this Resolution creates a committee designed to investigate whether to reorganize or restructure the Department as a means to reaffirm its original purpose. Its goal is to ensure that Delawareans receive high-quality care on an individualized basis, and will recommit the Department to its important policy objectives, such as maximizing efficiency and reducing cost.

This act will allow a critical need reimbursement to be distributed directly to an institute of higher education or Secretary of Education approved Alternative Routes to Teacher Licensure and Certification program for an eligible teacher who is taking noncredit-bearing seminars or workshops or credit-bearing coursework in order to attain standard certification in a state-approved critical need area.

In addition to criminal background checks that are to be done upon application, this bill further permits SBI to release subsequent criminal histories of any individuals applying to public and private schools, including substitute teachers, and individuals applying to any private school or youth camp.

This bill requires criminal background checks for any current or prospective employees, contractors, and volunteers of the Division of Health and Social Services that visit families in their homes and in the community or have regular, direct access to children or adolescents under the age of 18. This background check includes fingerprinting for Delaware and national background checks as well as a check of the Child Protection Registry.