Rep. Cyndie Romer

This Act requires the Division of Public Health (“Division”) to create a website where Delaware residents can find out the level of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” in their public drinking water systems. This Act also requires the Division to notify public water utilities if the PFAS in their water exceeds certain limits, known as maximum containment levels, or MCLs. Water companies receiving this notice from the Division must then notify their customers that the PFAS levels in their water exceed the MCLs. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that PFAS, which are a class of chemicals that do not break down naturally, are linked to certain cancers, liver problems, thyroid issues, low birth weights and birth defects, decreased immunity, and other serious health issues. Children may be particularly susceptible to negative health outcomes from PFAS exposure, with some research linking high PFAS levels in children to developmental problems and reduced effectiveness of vaccines. Although Delaware is currently working toward making PFAS information available to consumers as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal rule that requires water systems to report on PFAS does not require them to do so until 2027, and water systems will not face consequences for exceeding MCLs until 2029. By providing everyone who uses public drinking water systems with the ability to determine the level of PFAS in their water prior to 2027, and to be notified when levels exceed MCLs, this Act empowers Delaware residents to advocate for safer water. This Act takes effect 90 days after its enactment into law.

With 60% of U.S. households living paycheck to paycheck, 40% of Americans having less than $300 in savings, 33% of Americans having saved nothing for retirement, 95% of Americans having not saved enough for retirement, and 87% of American teens admitting not understanding their finances, financial literacy education in Delaware high schools is needed. This Act, which may be cited as “The Equity and Inclusion in Financial Literacy for All High School Students in Delaware Act”, requires high schools to provide, at a minimum, a 1/2 credit on financial literacy. And, beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2026 through 2027 school year, successful completion of the credit will be required to obtain a high school diploma. This Act requires the credit to include instruction which meets the financial literacy standards for high school students adopted by the Department of Education. This substitute corrects a reference from "course" to "credit" in the synopsis.

This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 10 states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and is currently pending in 10 states. The Act protects the public’s right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment without abusive, expensive legal retaliation. Specifically, the Act combats the problem of strategic lawsuits against public participation, also called “SLAPPs.” A SLAPP may come in the form of a defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, or other claim, but its real goal is to entangle the defendant of a SLAPP in expensive litigation and stifle the ability to engage in constitutionally protected activities. While Delaware has an “anti-SLAPP” law (see §§ 8136 through 8138 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the law received a score of “D-” from the Institute for Free Speech due to limited types of speech it protects and lack of basic protections provided by the Act.

This Act establishes the following principles in regards to public library material: (1) Library material is provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all persons the library serves; (2) Library material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a catalogue because of the origin, background, or views of a persons who created the material; (3) Material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a library because of partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval. This Act requires that public libraries adopt a library collection development policy consistent with the foregoing principles. The written policy must include the policy and procedure that libraries will follow when receiving and reviewing objections to library material. It further requires that all library material that is under review due to an objection must remain available for use by library patrons until the review process is concluded. It also prohibits the governing body of a library from suspending, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee of a library that acts in accordance with the State principles and media content policy. This Act also creates similar requirements for school libraries and requires that public schools create policies and procedures for reviewing objections to school library material that conform to the established collection development policy for school libraries. Within these policies and procedures, school libraries must include: (1) a uniform process to submit an objection to material in a school library; (2) a requirement that material under review due to an objection remain available for use by students and school personnel until the review process is concluded; and (3) a reasonable timeline to conduct and conclude the review process. An appeal of a decision determining whether school library material may remain in the school library may be made to the board of the local education agency. A final appeal from the decision of the board of the local education agency may be made to a School Library Review Committee, which is made up of the following individuals or the individual’s designee: (1) The President of the School Chiefs’ Association. (2) The State Librarian. (3) The Secretary of the Department of Education. (4) The President of the Delaware State Education Association. (5) The President of the Association of School Administrators. (6) The President of the Delaware Association of School Librarians. (7) The President of the Delaware Library Association.

Delaware currently permits the nonprobate transfer of bank accounts, investments, and vehicles. This Act provides a mechanism for the nonprobate transfer of real estate without requiring the creation of a revocable trust. This is done by permitting an owner of an interest in real estate to execute and record a transfer on death (“TOD”) deed designating a beneficiary who will automatically receive the real estate on the owner's death. During the owner's lifetime the beneficiary of a TOD deed has no interest in the real estate and the owner retains full power to transfer or encumber the real estate or to revoke the TOD deed. This Act is a Substitute for House Bill No. 147. Like House Bill No. 147, this Act adopts the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act has been enacted in 19 states (including Virginia), the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a substantially similar law has been enacted in 10 additional states. The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act is pending before 6 state legislatures (including New Jersey and Maryland). In adopting the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, this Act, like House Bill No. 147, also makes the following changes to the uniform law and Delaware law: (1) Provides clarity that a transfer on death deed controls over any contrary instruction in a will to transfer the same real property. (2) Provides in the optional forms included in this Act, which may be used to create a transfer on death deed or revoke a transfer on death deed, that a transferor is a grantor and a beneficiary is a grantee. This change is made to assist the Recorders of Deeds in integrating the forms in their computerized databases. (3) Authorizes the Registers of Wills to adopt a form to be used by a beneficiary to provide notice of the death of a person whose real property has transferred to the beneficiary by a transfer on death deed. (4) Authorizes a beneficiary to file with a Register of Wills the death certificate of a person whose real property has transferred to the beneficiary by a transfer on death deed. (5) Makes abundantly clear that which is already permitted under the law of this State, that a person may obtain from the Office of Vital Statistics a death certificate to establish their legal right to real property and may disclose that death certificate to a Register of Wills to prove the person’s legal right to real property. This Act differs from House Bill No. 147 as follows: (1) By providing that an owner of real property may transfer the property only to an individual. (2) By making clear that a transfer on death deed, including all signatures required to execute a transfer on death deed, must be notarized. (3) By requiring a transfer on death deed be witnessed by 2 individuals, at least 1 of whom must not be a beneficiary. (4) By requiring a revocation of a transfer on death deed be witnessed by 2 individuals and making a conforming change to the optional form. (5) By making changes to the optional transfer on death deed form in this Act to do the following: a. Making clear a mailing address is required for a beneficiary. b. Making clear on the deed how the deed may be revoked. c. Bolding the acknowledgement related to the effect a transfer on death deed has on a contrary instruction in a will and rewriting this acknowledgement in plainer language. An owner’s transfer of real property to a beneficiary by a transfer on death deed controls over a contrary instruction in a will that is prepared before or after the transfer on death deed. d. Requiring printed names and signatures for owners and witnesses and updating the form to make clear 2 witnesses are required. (6) By making clear that the Court of Chancery has jurisdiction over challenges to the validity or revocation of a transfer on death deed. (7) By relocating Section 5 of this Act to another chapter in the Insurance Code and making other changes to conform the language to existing law.

This Act creates a special open enrollment period for persons who are already enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy or certificate to cancel their existing policy or certificate and purchase another Medicare supplement policy or certificate that provides the same or lesser benefits. Only persons who are already enrolled in a Medicare supplement policy or certificate are eligible for the special open enrollment period. The special enrollment period begins 30 days before an eligible person's birthday and remains open for at least 30 days following the eligible person's birthday. During this special open enrollment period, individuals switching from one Medicare supplement policy to another cannot be denied coverage and coverage and rates cannot be dependent upon the person’s medical history. The Act also obligates issuers to notify eligible persons who are enrolled in their Medicare supplement policies or certificates of the dates of the open enrollment period, at least 30 days before it begins, and of any modification to the benefits provided by the policy under which the person is currently insured. This Act also allows persons enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan to cancel their existing policy, enroll in Medicare during the annual Medicare open enrollment period and apply for a Medicare supplement policy. For individuals switching from Medicare Advantage to a Medicare supplement policy, the Act prohibits issuers of Medicare supplement policies from denying applications for such policies but does allow issuers to individually rate and apply a pre-existing condition limitation.

Like House Bill No. 15, this Act permits early childhood educators in the public schools to use and encourage play-based learning in their classrooms and in their curriculum. This Act permits local education agencies to provide early childhood professional development in play-based learning, which may include professional development programs developed by the Department of Education. This Act also permits the Department to promulgate regulations for purposes of implementing this Act. This House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 15 incorporates the changes from House Amendment 1 to House Bill No. 15 with respect to the definitions of early childhood education and early childhood educators encompassing education from prekindergarten through second grade, adding topics that may be included in materials developed to provide ongoing early childhood professional development in play-based learning, and making technical corrections for clarity. This House Substitute also updates the definition of “play” and “play-based learning” contained in House Bill No. 15 and adds a definition for “guided play”.

This Act enacts the Interstate Compact for School Psychologists (“Compact”), which is designed to facilitate the interstate practice of school psychology in educational settings. School-based mental health services are in high demand in Delaware, but workforce shortages can make it difficult to meet that demand. By creating an additional licensing pathway for school psychologists to obtain equivalent licenses to practice school psychology in any state that is a member of the Compact, the Act aims to increase the availability of school psychological services for students in this State. The Interstate Compact for School Psychologists must be enacted in 7 states to become effective. The Compact has been enacted in 2 states and legislation is pending in several others.

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.