Rep. Earl G. Jaques Jr.

This legislation gives authority to the Executive Director of the Delaware Commission of Veterans’ Affairs to use the term “Delaware Office of Veterans’ Services” when carrying out the work of the Commission. This will enable the Executive Director and other staff of the Commission to conduct business under a banner that better describes their role as providers of services to Delaware veterans and their families. Applying the name “Delaware Office of Veterans’ Services” also serves to distinguish the office from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and will help alleviate confusion among members of the public. This legislation also removes outdated language.

This concurrent resolution recognizes the 100th anniversary of the American Legion Auxiliary in the State of Delaware.

This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations Act.

This Act appropriates $61,980,700 to provide one-time funded projects through the Office of Management and Budget.

This Resolution provides the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for Fiscal Year 2020.

This Resolution provides the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for Fiscal Year 2019.

The Department of Health and Human Services (“DHSS”) was established in 1970 by legislative enactment with a broad and crucial mandate: to supervise the health, wellbeing, and life of Delaware citizens. In the decades since, the population of Delaware has increased, and the needs of Delaware citizens have required increasingly complex and costly medical interventions, particularly for those most vulnerable among us, such as the elderly and those suffering from addiction. To serve this broad array of individual needs, DHSS has adapted to provide personalized and individualized services to citizens at a level of direct care. Additionally, the broad language of DHSS’ authorizing statute has required it to maintain focus on other policy initiatives, such as promoting public health and administering healthcare through Medicaid while maintaining compliance with state and Federal laws and regulations, which themselves have grown in complexity. Given the advancements in both individualized care and the policy landscape, the inevitable conclusion is that DHSS’ dual roles must be separated into two separate Departments with Cabinet-level representation. Doing so will ensure that Delawareans receive high-quality care on an individualized basis, and will recommit a separate agency to its important policy objectives, such as maximizing efficiency and reducing the cost associated with waste that arises when an agency’s functions become too manifold for the agency to be efficient and effective. This Bill establishes a committee of members from various state agencies, as well as the legislative and executive branches and individuals representing the healthcare industry and Delaware citizens. The strategic mission of this Committee is to implement a separation of DHSS’ current organizational structure into two separate cabinet-level Agencies. The Bill also establishes a timeline for action by the Committee that will encourage it to act quickly and with clear direction to maximize efficiency and reduce the costs associated with waste.

This Act requires the Department of Education ("Department") to administer the statewide program for services for students with autism spectrum disorder (“program”) and that the Department must hire the Director of the program.

This Bill clarifies language allowing for the direct deposit of child support owed and collected by employers from individuals under a support order from the Family Court. In addition, this Bill requires employers who have 50 or more employees to send payments to the Division of Child Support Services by electronic funds transfer and allows employers with less than 50 employees to do the same. Finally, the bill requires payments made via electronic transfer to be made before or at the time the employee is paid.

United States Supreme Court case law and scientific research has changed how we think about juvenile delinquency. We know now that an adolescent’s brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties which makes juveniles especially prone to poor decision-making. In the landmark case of Miller v. Alabama, in which the United States Supreme Court prohibited mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles on the rationale that children are inherently different than adults, the Court relied not only scientific research but on common sense and what any parent knows: kids will be kids. Children in Delaware have minimum ages set for many things: getting a driver’s license, enlisting in the military, applying for a loan or opening a credit card, using a tanning bed, drinking alcohol, and buying tickets to an R-rated movie. This legislation sets a minimum age at which a child may be prosecuted, except for the most extreme offenses. This Bill prohibits the prosecution of children under the age of 12. It also bars the transfer of juvenile prosecution to the Superior Court unless the child is aged 16 or older. The exception to the prohibition on prosecuting children under 12 and transfer to Superior Court for children under 16, is only for the most serious of charges: murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, rape in the first and rape in the second degree. However, the bill allows for the prosecution of children under 12 for title 11 violent felonies and misdemeanor crimes of violence until January 1, 2021, when prosecution of such children will expire and thereafter children under the age of 12 who are suspected of committing a Title 11 violent felony or misdemeanor violent felony will be referred to the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program.