Rep. Mara Gorman

This Act creates the Affordable Rental Housing Program (ARHP) within the Housing Development Fund. The ARHP is modeled on the federal Section 515 program and provides loans to increase the supply of affordable housing for families with very low-, low-, and moderate-incomes, individuals who are elderly, and individuals with disabilities.

This Act ensures that a public school employee may not work directly with students unsupervised without a valid permit or license issued by the DOE’s Professional Standards Boards or an approved license issued under Title 24. To that end, this Act creates a new permit requirement for any paraprofessional or student support and classroom position, including specialist interns, year-long residents, full time substitute teachers, substitute teachers seeking certification, student teachers, and classroom aides. The following employees are exempt from the permitting and licensing requirements: non-instructional administrators; nutrition staff; custodial staff; transportation staff; clerical staff; charter school heads exempt under § 507(c) of Title 14; and substitute teachers seriving for less than 12 consecutive weeks in a school. The same laws, procedures, penalties, and safeguards that apply to the issuance, suspension, and revocation of a license under Chapter 12 of Title 14, will apply to a permit. The DOE may require reimbursement of any funds disbursed to district or charter schools for an employee without a license or permit, who holds a position requiring a license or permit. The DOE may also require reimbursement for an employee that is working under an expired license or permit. Finally, this Act increases the maximum supplement amount an employee may earn for accepting additional responsibility assignments that impact student achievement. The supplement may be no more than $5,000, rather than $1,500. It also directs the Department to update the Department of Education PHRST code manual so that the position codes align to titles of positions that are currently used by educators, and outdated codes are deleted. The new system codes must be in effect by the start of the 2026-2027 school year. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act requires schools that receive federal funding ensure students, staff, and faculty are protected from sex-based discrimination and sex-based harassment. The Act further requires schools to communicate to students, through their website, the existence of Title IX administrators as required by federal law. The Act requires the school’s website provide information explaining the roles and duties of Title IX administrators, how to contact the appropriate Title IX administrator, and the school’s Title IX policy. The Act ensures that students have access to the appropriate forms to start a complaint and access to the FAQ link provided by U.S. Office of Civil Rights. The Act instructs the school to provide an explanation and examples of possible supportive measures for students who experience sex-based discrimination or sex-based harassment. The Act instructs the Title IX coordinator of every Title IX school to provide a written reminder to school staff and faculty at the beginning of the academic year, outlining the school’s Title IX policy regarding the reporting of sex-based discrimination, including sex-based harassment.

This Act requires that members of school boards, including charter school boards, receive training on all of the following: 1. Requirements for school board meetings under this title and the Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 100 of Title 29. 2. Best practices regarding the conduct of meetings, including the use of rules of order. 3. The State Employees’, Officers’ and Officials’ Code of Conduct, subchapter I. of Chapter 58 of Title 29. Most school boards already provide training that satisfies the requirements under this Act and the training and notices required under this Act may be combined with the training and notices already required under § 1803 of Title 14 for required financial responsibility training.

Maddy summaryHB 64 requires Delaware school boards to provide remote access for public participation in meetings, directly affecting school board members and community residents. The bill mandates that meetings include a functional online platform - such as live streaming or video conferencing - allowing the public to view proceedings and submit comments remotely. This change ensures that residents who cannot attend in person, including those with mobility challenges or during emergencies, can engage with school governance. The provision applies to all regular and special school board meetings under Delaware law. It focuses on practical accessibility without altering school policies or funding.

Under current law, both school board members who are elected and those who are appointed to fill vacancies until the next election are required to complete a background check. However, the statute is currently unclear as to how a background check gets done and who is responsible for reviewing the background check for an appointment. This Act makes clear that a person may not be appointed unless a background check has been completed and the Commissioner of Elections has determined the person is qualified for the seat, in the same manner the Commissioner completes that duty for candidates for school board elections.

This House Substitute No. 1 provides that if a school board allows school board members to attend meetings remotely through electronic means, then permission to attend remotely must be granted in the case of any of the following: illness of the school board member; illness of an individual in the school board member’s family where that individual requires caretaking; a public health emergency; pregnancy or immediate postpartum care responsibilities of the school board member or the school board member’s spouse or partner; or military deployment of the school board member. This substitute for House Bill No. 83 differs from the original in that it does not require school boards to allow remote attendance. But if the school board does allow remote attendance, it provides the permissible reasons remote attendance may be allowed, allows a school board to limit the number of times permission to attend remotely may be granted, and indicates that a school board may not add to the statutory reasons for remote attendance. It also expands the permissible reasons from the original bill to include pregnancy or postpartum complications of a board member’s spouse or partner.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends Delaware law to give the Department of Public Health (DPH) authority to approve supervised clinical training for mental health providers at school-based health centers. It directly affects mental health professionals seeking training placements within school health centers. The key provision establishes DPH as the official body responsible for approving these training rotations. This creates a formal process for integrating mental health provider training into school settings without altering existing center operations.

This Legislation is the Delaware Pre-Authorization Reform Act of 2025. Section 1 of the Act applies to health Insurance Contracts regulated under Chapter 33 of Title 18. Section 1 provides that changes in utilization review terms for a health-care service, such as the clinical criteria used to conduct utilization reviews for a health-care service, will apply only upon re-authorization of the health-care service. Covered persons must be notified at least 6 months before any changes to utilization review terms, except in certain circumstances such as changes in clinical guideline status In addition, Section 1 sets qualifications for who may make determinations with regard to requests for pre- authorization of health-care services and appeals of adverse determinations; a timeline and required contents for the notification of an outcome of appeal of an adverse determination or a notification that additional information is necessary to make the determination of appeal; and requirements for any utilization review entity used to perform utilization review by an insurer, health-benefit plan, or health-service corporation. Section 1 also shortens the timelines for the determination of pre-authorization requests and notification to the health-care provider of the determination. For requests for pre-authorization of non-urgent health-care services not submitted electronically, the utilization review entity must notify the health-care provider within 5 business days of receipt of the request; for requests submitted electronically, notification must be given within 3 business days of receipt. For requests for pre-authorization for urgent health-care services submitted electronically, notification must be given within 24 hours of receipt. By January 1, 2027, insurers, health-benefit plans, health-service corporations, and utilization review entities must accept and respond to electronic pre-authorization requests through the same platform as the electronic request was submitted. In addition, Section 1 extends the time period that a pre-authorization is valid for from 60 days to 90 days. Finally, Section 1 provides that no more than 1 pre-authorization may be required for a single episode of care, and that if pre-authorization is granted as to a health-care service that is part of a group of services for which a bundled payment is charged, pre-authorization for the other health-care services included in the group is deemed to be approved as well. Section 2 of the Act applies to Group and Blanket Health Insurance under Chapter 35 of Title 18 and makes the same changes to pre-authorization standards and procedures that Section 1 of the Act makes to Health Insurance Contracts regulated under Chapter 33 of Title 18. Section 3 of the Act provides that the State Employee Benefits Committee established under § 9602 of the Title 29 of the Delaware Code must ensure that carriers administering plans for group health insurance comply with the requirements and provisions for pre-authorization set forth in Chapter 33, Subchapter II and Chapter 35, Subchapter V of Title 18. Section 4 of the Act provides that the Act will apply to health insurance policies, contracts, or certificates issued, modified, or renewed after December 31, 2026. Section 5 of the Act provides that the Department of Health and Social Services must, to the extent feasible, assure that contracts awarded to carriers providing health insurance relating to Medicaid assistance comply with the requirements and provisions for pre-authorization set forth in Chapter 33, Subchapter II and Chapter 35, Subchapter V of Title 18. Section 6 provides that this Act is known as the "Delaware Pre-Authorization Reform Act of 2025."

This Joint Resolution directs the Delaware State Housing Authority to create a pilot program for the purpose of providing technical assistance related to zoning ordinance reform to local governments in Delaware. The goal of this pilot program is to help participating local governments identify and implement zoning practices that increase the supply of affordable housing and support goals such as equitable development and economic growth throughout this State. By giving local governments the technical assistance needed to modernize zoning ordinances, this pilot program will help Delaware close its affordable housing gap while allowing local governments the flexibility to adapt best practices to meet their jurisdictional needs. If successful, this pilot program will establish model policies for local government zoning ordinance reforms that can be expanded across this State.