Rep. Paul Baumbach

This bill updates the State Bureau of Identification’s definition of “criminal justice agency” in two ways. First, by adding the Division of Management Support Services in the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families to reflect the shift in some criminal justice functions to that Division from the Division of Family Services. Second, by clarifying that the Office of the Child Advocate is a criminal justice agency. The Office of the Child Advocate provides legal representation to children in foster care, and the Investigation Coordinator, located within the Office of the Child Advocate, is a member of the criminal multidisciplinary response to child abuse and neglect.

This Act deletes from the Delaware Code a derogatory and highly offensive term for Italian-, Spanish-, and Portuguese-American immigrants.

This bill permits health-care providers who are licensed in a state other than Delaware to deliver health-care services by telehealth and telemedicine only if a health-care provider-patient relationship has been established in accordance with § 6003 of Title 24.

In 2016, Title 2, Chapter 19 was enacted to address the growing use of ride share applications also known as a Transportation Network Companies (“TNC”), which transport passengers for compensation. In 2016, the General Assembly acknowledged the importance of protecting TNC passengers as well as other drivers on Delaware roads by requiring that a TNC possess $1,000,000.00 in death, bodily injury and property damage insurance coverage when transporting passengers. Because many Delaware citizens do not use a TNC for transportation but use other forms of transportation, such as buses, taxicabs or limousines, this Act increases the death, bodily injury and property damage insurance coverage required for the Delaware Transportation Authority (i.e. DART buses) and public carriers as defined by Chapter 18, Title2 to that which is already required by a TNC. The Act also requires that public carriers, TNCs and Delaware Transportation Authority possess uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage to protect their passengers. The Act will take effect on July 1, 2022.

This Substitute Act requires all new and renewing rental agreements for a lot in a manufactured home community to contain the following: (1) For a manufactured home community that is supplied by potable water from a private water system, a provision requiring the landlord to have the water tested in compliance with the requirements applicable to a community water system and report the findings to those required for a community water system, including tenants, the Division of Public Health, and the Department of Justice’s Manufactured Housing Ombudsperson. (2) For a manufactured home community with an on-site wastewater treatment and disposal system, a provision requiring the landlord to have the system emptied, serviced, and inspected at least every 3 years and to report the findings to tenants, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the Department of Justice’s Manufactured Housing Ombudsperson, and the applicable county or municipal government. This Substitute Act differs from the original Act by better aligning the requirements for testing of a manufactured home community’s private water system and for emptying, servicing, and inspection of a community’s on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems to existing State regulatory authority.

This Act provides that the Department of Correction must provide a copy of all policies relating to the accrual and forfeiture of good time to inmates, as well as a quarterly written accounting of good time credit earned and/or forfeited. The requirement that all accrued time must be forfeited upon conviction of any crime within custody, the complete forfeiture will apply only to commission of felonies. Forfeiture of good times for rule violations is changed to apply only to Class I disciplinary violations. The Act also updates § 4322 of Title 11 to allow dissemination of Department of Correction policies and procedures to inmates and the public where such dissemination would not endanger safety or security of a correctional facility, corrections staff, inmates, or the public.

In cases where the Family Court finds that there are sufficient grounds to order the removal of a child from their home and the Family Court orders custody of the child to the Division of Family Service (DFS), DFS often partners with law enforcement to enforce the order. There have been rare cases where a parent or legal guardian refuses to respond to DFS and law enforcement’s attempts to enforce the order to take custody of the child, resulting in uncertainty and a heightened concern for the child’s safety. Currently, it is unclear under the Delaware Code whether law enforcement is authorized to enter private property to enforce a Family Court custody order, even after all other avenues and strategies have been exhausted by DFS and law enforcement. The Act clarifies that a law enforcement officer has the authority to enter private property to enforce a Family Court custody order. It also specifies that in private (non-DFS) custody cases, law enforcement has the authority to enter private property to take custody of a child when the Family Court custody order requests the assistance of law enforcement. The Act does not require that law enforcement enter private property to take custody of a child.

This Act renames the Claymont Regional Transportation at First State Crossing in Claymont, Delaware as the "Harris B. McDowell, III Transportation Center" after Senator Harris B. McDowell, III, the longest serving member of the Delaware General Assembly.

This Act provides school-base physical therapists who have graduated from an accredited college or university with the highest level masters or doctorate degree, and who have achieved a passing score on the national physical therapy examination issued by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, with base salaries of Master Plus 30 or Doctorate, and provides the ability to move forward on the salary schedule for additional credits earned. Since 2015, a doctorate degree is required in order to sit for the national physical therapy examination for licensure.

The Joint Resolution directs the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) and Division of Public Health (DPH) to conduct After Action Reviews to assess the State’s pandemic response. DEMA and DPH are also maintaining the ability to increase personnel and supplies as needed in response to future surges of COVID-19. Additionally, the Joint Resolution directs the Legislative and Executive branches to work together on initiatives to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.