This resolution recognizes July 10, 2025, as "Black Women's Equal Pay Day" in the State of Delaware and encourages all Delawareans to join in recognizing the contributions Black women have made in every aspect of life, and the sacrifices they have made to champion equality.
This Act updates the law relating to the termination of utility services to a dwelling unit by adopting and expanding state regulations concerning the termination of heating and cooling services. Among other things, this Act does the following: 1. Prohibits a utility company from terminating any services outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday. 2. Prohibits a utility company from terminating any services from December 21 of each year to January 1 of the following year. 3. Prohibits a utility company from terminating heating services for nonpayment to a dwelling unit when the temperature is at or below 35 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. Prohibits a utility company from terminating cooling services when the Heat Index is equal to or exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 5. Requires 14 days written notice be given to a dwelling unit prior to termination of services for nonpayment of bills during the heating or cooling season. 6. Requires the utility company to make at least 3 attempts to contact the occupant of a dwelling unit by telephone, text message, or email prior to termination of services for nonpayment during the heating season, including one attempt that must be after 5 p.m. 7. Requires the utility to make at least 1 attempt to contact the occupant of a dwelling unit by telephone, text message, or email prior to termination of services for nonpayment during the cooling season. 8. Requires that the 14 days written notice include information about payment plans, government assistance programs, and other ways termination of services may be deferred. 9. Imposes a civil penalty of up to $1,000 in lieu of a misdemeanor. This Act also expands the scope of utility termination laws to include the termination of utilities run by municipal electric companies. Municipalities that use municipal electric companies will be responsible for adopting ordinances to enforce utility termination laws within the municipality. Among other things, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 62 differs from House Bill No. 62 by including additional times when shutoff of utilities is prohibited; removing the provision prohibiting shutoffs for occupants receiving certain benefits; and clarifying certain notice requirements.
This bill adopts an inmate mailbox rule similar to the federal inmate mailbox rule. If a pro se inmate files an appeal while incarcerated, the date of filing will be counted as the date that that the inmate gave the appeal to the DOC officials for mailing rather than the date that the Courts receive the appeal.
This Act is from the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee, to remove the provision that a committee member who participates virtually in a committee meeting is not counted toward quorum.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution commends the Food Bank of Delaware for its contributions toward ending hunger and resolving the root causes of poverty in the State of Delaware through its increased statewide impact.
This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes and commends Project New Start for its invaluable contributions to criminal justice reform, reentry support, and community empowerment. It also urges continued legislative and financial support for Project New Start and similar evidence-based reentry programs as critical tools for building safer, more equitable communities.
This Act permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual's life in a humane and dignified manner if both the individual's attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and a consulting physician or consulting APRN agree on the individual's diagnosis and prognosis and believe the individual has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily. This Act is the same as House Bill No. 140 (152nd) with 1 technical revision to include a definition of "physician" for consistency and to clarify that a physician must be licensed in Delaware. This Act provides the following procedural safeguards: 1. No one may request medication to end life on behalf of another individual. 2. An individual cannot qualify for medication to end life under this chapter solely because of the individual's age or disability. A mental illness or mental health condition is not a qualifying condition under this Act and a mental illness or mental health condition may be the reason that an individual does not have decision-making capacity and is thus, ineligible for medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner. 3. Both the individual's attending physician or attending APRN and a consulting physician or consulting APRN must confirm that the individual has a terminal illness and a prognosis of 6 months or less to live, has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily. 4. The individual's attending physician or attending APRN must also provide specific disclosures to the individual to ensure that the individual is making an informed decision, including the presentation of all end of life options which include comfort care, palliative care, hospice care, and pain control. 5. The individual must be evaluated by a psychiatrist or a psychologist if either the attending or consulting physicians or APRNs are concerned that the individual lacks decision-making capacity. 6. The individual must complete a witnessed form requesting medication to end life and there are limitations on who can witness the signing of the form. 7. The attending physician or attending APRN must offer the individual the opportunity to rescind the request for medication to end life before writing a prescription for the medication. 8. Two waiting periods must pass before the attending physician or attending APRN may prescribe the medication to end life. 9. The attending physician or attending APRN must provide the qualified patient with instructions about the proper safe-keeping and disposal of unused medication to end life in a humane and dignified manner under applicable state or federal guidelines. The United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines include using a medication collection site or a medication disposal pouch, that deactivates and renders drugs ineffective. 10. An insurer or health-care provider may not deny or alter health-care benefits otherwise available to an individual based upon the availability of medication to end life or otherwise coerce or require a request for medication to end life as a condition of receiving care. 11. A health-care institution may prohibit a physician or APRN from prescribing medication under this Act on the health-care institution's premises and a physician or APRN may to refuse to prescribe medication under this Act. 12. A request or prescription for or the dispensing of medication under this Act does not constitute elder abuse, suicide, assisted-suicide, homicide, or euthanasia. 13. People acting in good faith and in accordance with generally accepted health-care standards under this Act have immunity, but those acting with negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct do not have criminal or civil immunity. 14. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) must develop rules and regulations to collect information regarding compliance with this Act and require health-care providers to file a report when medication to end life in a humane and dignified manner is prescribed or dispensed. DHSS may review samples of records maintained under this Act. The information DHSS collects must include the information necessary to assess a physician's or APRN's compliance with their responsibilities under this Act and DHSS has explicit authority to share information with the Division of Professional Regulation if DHSS suspects that a health-care provider failed to comply with the requirements under this Act. 15. DHSS must complete an annual statistical report of information collected under this Act, similar to public reports available in other states such as New Jersey where this end of life option is available. This report has the following purposes: • To assist the DHSS in its oversight responsibilities for this Act. • To assist the public in learning how well this new law is operating. 16. The Department of State may also promulgate regulations or develop forms and protocols necessary under this Act. 17. Allows the Office of Controlled Substances to provide reports of data in the prescription monitoring program to DHSS to assess compliance with this Act. This Act takes effect when final regulations required under this Act have been promulgated or January 1, 2026, whichever occurs earlier. This Act is known as "The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law" in memory of Ron Silverio and Heather Block, who were passionate advocates that passed away without this option becoming available to them.
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 Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission to redistrict Senatorial and Representative districts following each federal decennial census. The purpose of this Act is to establish more transparency in government, and to strengthen citizens' faith in the election and redistricting processes that serve as the foundation of democracy in this State. To achieve this purpose, this Act establishes the Independent Redistricting Commission (“Commission”). The Commission is responsible for drawing the boundaries of Delaware's Representative and Senatorial districts every 10 years, following each decennial census. The process begins with the selection of a pool of 24 potential Commission members by a bipartisan judicial panel from applications filed with the Commissioner of Elections. The pool must include 8 candidates from each of the State’s two largest political parties and 8 candidates that are not a member of either of the State’s two largest parties. Before the selection of Commission members from the pool of 24 potential Commission members, the following individuals each have the opportunity to strike one candidate from the pool: the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the House Minority Leader, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Senate Minority Leader. From the pool of remaining candidates, the Commissioner of Elections will draw by lot until the following conditions are satisfied: (1) The Commission has 5 members, with 1 member from each county, plus 1 member from the City of Wilmington, plus 1 member from anywhere in this State. (2) Two members of the Commission are members of the State’s largest political party, 2 members of the Commission are members of the State’s second largest political party, and 1 member of the Commission who is not a member of either of the State’s two largest political parties. Eligible candidates may not be, and may not have in the 5 years before appointment been, a federal or state lobbyist, an officer of a federal or state political party, an officer of a campaign committee, or an elected federal or state official. Commissioners are also prohibited from running for the General Assembly in the election following the redistricting and from registering as a federal or state lobbyist for 5 years following the term as a Commissioner. Once established, the Commission must prepare a preliminary redistricting plan and report for public distribution, and 4 public hearings must be held before a final redistricting plan and report is approved by the Commission. The Commission is to be guided in this task by standards and criteria established in this Act, including that the redistricting plan provide effective representation for all residents of this State, including racial, ethnic, and language minorities, and meeting the following criteria: (1) The districts are to be formed of contiguous territory. (2) The districts are to be nearly equal in population, with no more than 5% population deviation between districts. (3) The districts are to be bounded by major roads and streams or other natural boundaries. (4) The districts are to be created so as to not unduly favor any person or political party. (5) The districts are to comply with all standards mandated by federal law, including the federal Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1971 et. seq., or any successor law. (6) The districts are to comply with the criteria for counting incarcerated individuals for redistricting purposes, as established by an act of the General Assembly. (7) The districts are to be created to consider and preserve communities of interest. The Commission is to be advised in its efforts by 4 advisory committees, one for each county and one for the City of Wilmington. Each advisory committee is to consist of 12 members appointed by the Commission. The members must be diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and geographic location, and, to ensure that an advisory committee makes well-informed recommendations, expert members in the fields of election law, redistricting, demographics, political science, community organizing, and data visualization must be appointed through a transparent and inclusive process. For the Commission’s final redistricting plan and report to become law, the plan and report must pass both Houses of the General Assembly with the concurrence of a majority of all members elected to each House, but not presented to the Governor for action. If the General Assembly fails to pass the Commission’s final plan and report or revised final plan and report, the Supreme Court shall redistrict the Representative and Senatorial districts in compliance with the standards and criteria in this Act. If the Commission fails to adopt a preliminary, final, or revised final redistricting plan and report, the Supreme Court shall redistrict the Representative and Senatorial districts in compliance with the standards and criteria in this Act. The Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction to resolve challenges to the final redistricting plan and report enacted by the General Assembly or itself. If a redistricting plan and report adopted by the General Assembly is adjudicated unconstitutional or in violation of the law of this State or federal law, the Supreme Court shall redistrict the Representative and Senatorial districts in compliance with the standards and criteria in this Act. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly.
This Act adds a high school student to the AI Commission as a nonvoting member. The Chair of the Commission will appoint a student who is, or will be in the next school year, a tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade student in a public or private school in Delaware.
