Rep. Earl G. Jaques Jr.

This Act changes the term of a school board member from 5 years to 4 years. While longer board member terms enable school board members to have more years as experienced board members, this must be weighed against the goal of providing the community with sufficient opportunities to run for school boards, and to replace school board members. In addition, shorter board member terms can increase the number of candidates who run for office, as a longer term can prevent some individuals from choosing to run for this office.

This resolution proclaims January 21 through 27, 2018 as National School Choice Week.

The Delaware End of Life Options Act provides an additional option which terminally ill adults nearing their death can decide to select, to lessen their pain and suffering. The bill clarifies the procedures necessary for making the request, including 1) the presentation of all end of life options which include comfort care, hospice care, and pain control, 2) a physician’s evaluation, 3) medical confirmation by a second physician, 4) psychiatric/psychological counseling when indicated, 5) the passage of two waiting periods, and 6) the completion of a formally witnessed request for prescribed medication. The bill provides many safeguards to ensure the patient is making an informed decision, the right to rescind any request for medication, and immunity for persons participating in good faith compliance with the procedures. When the process is followed with its safeguards, the terminally ill patient is provided the right to receive medication to peacefully end the patient’s life in a humane and dignified manner.

This bill creates the Grant-In-Aid Committee. The Committee is a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives. The purpose of the Committee is to review requests for grant-in-aid and to develop the grant-in-aid appropriations bill.

This Act restores the Delaware Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Program which was eliminated in the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Appropriations Act.

This Resolution extends the due date of the final report of the School Consolidation Task Force from January 30, 2018, to May 15, 2018.

This Act allows professional licensing boards and commissions administered by the Division of Professional Regulation to recognize military education, training, and experience of all current and former military personnel when reviewing credentials and issuing licenses. This is a change from the current law, which only allows such boards and commissions to do so for active duty military, members of the National Guard, or military reserves assigned to a duty station in Delaware. This change would recognize the military education, training, and experience of individuals who are retired, a veteran, or are active duty individuals assigned to duty stations located outside this State.

This resolution honors our Gold Star Mothers and Gold Star Families by designating Delaware Route 202 to, “Gold Star Highway Honoring Families of Fallen Service Members.”

This bill creates a requirement that all public high schools, including charter schools, shall offer at least one computer science course at the high school level by the 2020-2021 school year. Also, this bill creates a requirement that, by the 2018-2019 school year, a computer science course may satisfy one year of the total credit requirement in mathematics, excluding Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II or the equivalent courses. The State Board of Education shall develop guidelines addressing how computer science courses can satisfy graduation requirements.

This Act requires health insurance policies to cover any medically appropriate drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of stage 4 metastatic cancer without requiring a patient to first prove that the patient failed to respond to a different drug or drugs. This Act is based on a similar bill in Georgia that was inspired by President Jimmy Carter’s recent battle with cancer.