Section 716(a) of Title 24 prohibits annual or lifetime numerical limits on chiropractic visits for the treatment of back pain. The treatment of chronic back pain through chiropractic supportive care can prevent patients from requiring opioid pain medications or more expensive treatments. This Act prohibits the denial of insurance coverage under § 716(a) for chiropractic supportive care, which constitutes maintenance therapy. This requirement applies to policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2023. In addition, this Act clarifies, but does not expand, the insurance coverage subject to the requirements under § 716(a), states that the requirements under this subsection cannot be waived by contract, and requires that the regulations implementing § 176 establish utilization review standards. This Act also updates the definitions in Chapter 7 of Title 24 to be consistent with the current scope of chiropractic practice and makes corresponding revisions to the terms used in existing law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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At least 36 states allow for the medical use of marijuana. However, federal firearm laws have not kept pace and currently prohibit an individual who is “an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing or purchasing a firearm. It is still unlawful under federal law to use or possess marijuana. This Act makes clear that an individual is not disqualified under Delaware law from possessing a firearm because the individual is a registered qualifying patient under the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act, if the registered qualifying patient is not a person prohibited under § 1448 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code. This Act makes also clear that a registered qualifying patient may engage in a firearm transaction between unlicensed persons under § 1448B of Title 11 if the transaction is exempt under § 1448B(c) of Title 11 and the registered qualifying patient is not otherwise a person prohibited under § 1448 of Title 11. A registered qualifying patient’s purchase of a firearm through a federal firearms licensee (“FFL”) is still prohibited under federal law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act designates the Dryptosauridae as the official dinosaur of this State. Dryptosauridae bones have been found in the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The only other dinosaur bones that have been found in Delaware are those of a hadrosaurid, most likely Hadrosaurus foulkii, which New Jersey has already designated as its official state dinosaur. Students at Shue-Medill Middle School, in the Christina School District, researched and identified the Dryptosauridae as the best choice for the official state dinosaur for Delaware. The Delaware Museum of Nature and Science assisted the students with this research and the decision that the Dryptosauridae would be the best choice for Delaware’s official state dinosaur was reached through a school-wide vote. A reconstruction of a dryptosaurid skeleton, Dryptosaurus aquilunguis, will be on display in the new PaeloZone of the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science. Using their research, the students drafted the whereas clauses for this Act to explain the basis for their decision, which includes all of the following: 1. The Dryptosauridae was bird-like but was also a predator and is related to Tyrannosaurus rex. 2. Delaware’s state bird is the blue hen chicken, so it would be meaningful to have a bird-like state dinosaur. 3. Delaware is also home to the Dover Air Force Base, and this dinosaur relied on speed to escape from predators and was incredibly fast. 4. The Dryptosauridae went to the ancient shoreline, but feasted on land like Delaware’s shore birds do now, so it is a reminder of Delaware's ecosystems and how populations, birds, and sea life must be protected.
This Act caps the amount that an individual, group, or State employee plan may charge for diabetes equipment and supplies, other than insulin, at $35 per month. This cap does not apply to accident-only, specified disease, hospital indemnity, Medicare supplement, long-term care, disability income, or other limited benefit health insurance policies.
This Act provides nationally certified occupational therapists with a salary supplement for receiving national certification. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing language to the standards of the Delaware Drafting Manual.
This bill extends the dates in which the recommendation and plan of the Redding Consortium for Educational Equity must be reviewed and acted upon by the State Board of Education. The extension is necessary due to delays mostly caused by the COVID pandemic.
This Act prohibits minor parents from executing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative drafting Manual. This Act takes effect 180 days after enactment into law.
This bill clarifies House Bill 307 from 2018 by making it clear that a 6-month or 12-month mandatory commitment to Level 5 incarceration or institutional confinement for a juvenile only applies to adjudications of delinquency for the charge of Robbery First Degree or Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony if the offense was committed after the child’s 16th birthday.
House Bill No. 293 requires that meetings of public bodies that are open to the public must provide an opportunity for public comment. Meetings of a public body of the General Assembly are excluded from the requirement to provide an opportunity for public comment because under § 9 of Art. II of the Delaware Constitution, the rules of proceedings for legislative meetings are established by the Senate and House of Representatives of each General Assembly. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 293 differs from House Bill No. 293 by revising the limitations a public body may impose on public comment as follows: 1. It requires that the time for public comment provide a meaningful opportunity for the public to engage with the public body. 2. Allows a public body to impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on the length of the public comment period and the amount of time allotted for each person providing public comment. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a charter issued to a municipal corporation.
This Act prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant declaw a cat as a condition for entering into or renewing a rental agreement. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.