Rep. Eric Morrison

Enacted in 2015, Chapter 25A of Title 16, the Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment Act created a voluntary process and a document that can used by patients with serious illness or frailty to provide direction to emergency care personnel regarding the patient's preferences in regard to scope of care and treatment. This Act changes the name "Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (DMOST)" under Chapter 25A of Title 16 to "Delaware Portable Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)" to align with the national effort to create a uniform form. This Act contains a savings provision so that the name change under this Act does not affect the validity or effect of DMOST forms. This Act also revises Chapter 25A of Title 16 as follows: • Repeals requirements that conflict with the national model law regarding a patient’s ability to limit the future authority of the patient’s authorized representative to modify the orders in the patient’s POLST form. • Allows any health-care practitioner authorized under Chapter 25A of Title 16 to complete a POLST form to find that a patient lacks sufficient decision-making capacity to execute a POLST form. Under existing law, all practitioners who are licensed and authorized to write medical orders under Title 24 may complete POLST forms but only physicians can determine that a patient lacks sufficient decision-making capacity to execute a POLST form. This change is consistent with the capacity provisions under Chapter 25 of Title 16, the recently enacted Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. • Requires that a health-care practitioner document their finding that a patient lacks decision-making capacity in the patient’s medical record. • Clarifies the existing requirement that a patient’s authorized representative may not execute a POLST form for a patient unless the patient’s lack of decision-making capacity is documented in the patient’s medical record. Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including corresponding name changes to other Code sections that reference the DMOST form. In § 2718(c)(5) of Title 21, the name for an advance health-care directive under Chapter 25 of Title 16 is also corrected.

This Act clarifies that penalties associated with section 4512 of Title 21, relating to truck parking, are applicable to parking violations in both residence and non-residence districts. This Act further clarifies that truck tractors (with and without attached trailers) may be prohibited from stopping, standing, or parking on highways in the same manner as trailers and semitrailers.

This Act safeguards elections in this State by strengthening fairness and impartiality in both the conduct of elections and the enforcement of election laws. Election protections are strengthened because this Act updates Title 15 so that the terms and procedures reflect modern vocabulary, technology, and best practices. Most of the revisions in this Act are technical, clarifications, or conform existing law to current practices in regard to determining an individual’s place of residence, requirements for electronic voting system software, performing audits of election results, and adjudicating or curing deficient absentee ballots. Section 1 revises the terms and definitions for Title 15 as follows: • Repeals obsolete terms. • Revises current terms and definitions to accurately reflect the organization of the Department of Elections (Department), the use of electronic voting systems, and conform to drafting standards. • Adds additional defined terms that are already used in Title 15, to provide consistency and clarity in this State’s election laws. Section 1 also codifies how the Department determines residency for purposes of registering to vote and to be a candidate for office in a new § 103 of Title 15. This new section provides that an individual’s place of residence is fixed and is a place that the individual physically inhabits and requires that residence be broadly construed to provide all eligible voters with the opportunity to participate in the democratic process. This section specifically provides for all the following: • An individual’s place of residence when the individual’s sleeping area or place of habitation is not a traditional residence associated with real property. • An individual does not lose their place of residence if the individual intends to return after an absence, such as for education, military service, incarceration, or obtaining or providing medical care. • If an individual maintains possession of the individual’s place of residence, obtaining a secondary residence is not prima facia evidence of a change in residence. • An individual’s residence changes and the individual forms a new residence if the individual inhabits a new location with the intent to remain there indefinitely, registers to vote based on residence at a new location, or votes based on residence at a new location. • How a dispute regarding an individual’s place of residence is determined and appealed. Section 2 updates the requirements for electronic voting systems to incorporate best practices and increase the clarity of these requirements. The increased clarity provides transparency regarding both the Department’s compliance with these requirements and the accuracy of election results. The current requirements were enacted in 2019 (82 Del. Laws, c. 170) to provide a framework to use when the current electronic voting devices were first acquired. These voting devices have now been used in several election cycles so the requirements can be updated to reflect that experience and the ongoing improvements to voting technology. Specifically, these updates: • Transfers Chapter 50A of Title 15 to Chapter 50 of Title 15. • Provide for the designation of the software, which includes the version of that software, that must be installed on voting devices before each statewide general election. • Expands the criteria that must be considered when designating the software that must be used on voting devices, including the experiences of other jurisdictions that have already used the software. The expanded criteria also provides certainty and stability instead of relying on the continued existence of a federal certifying entity. • Requires that no later than July 1 of an odd numbered calendar year, the State Election Commissioner (Commissioner) must designate the software required for the next statewide general election and that this software can be used for elections held during the next 2 years. • Explicitly allows the Commissioner to change the designated version of voting device software if necessary to address a material security flaw in the previously designated software. • Transfers the requirements under § 4508 of Title 15 to § 5010(a)(1)b. of Title 15. • Consolidates notice requirements under § 5010 of Title 15 for when voting devices will be tested and repeals language about party designees that is obsolete because this testing is open to the public. • Revises current law that is confusing or imprecise, including dividing the current audit section into 4 sections. The first audit section, § 5014, provides the audit requirements that are applicable to all audits of elections results (audits). The following 3 sections provide the requirements for audits after elections for specific offices: § 5015 applies to state or county offices, § 5016 applies to City of Wilmington offices, and § 5017 applies to school district elections. • Repeals provisions that unnecessarily repeat requirements in other sections. Section 3 updates § 4972(b) of Title 15 to align with the use of modern scanning devices, to reflect that absentee ballots are the only hand-marked paper ballots that are used in all elections, and to use the updated defined terms in Section 1 of this Act. Section 3 also codifies the current procedure used to adjudicate votes on an absentee ballot if the ballot scanning device is unable to determine the voter’s intent and connects the rules under § 4972(b) with the procedures for tabulating absentee ballots under § 5510 of Title 15. Section 4 revises Chapter 55 of Title 15 to codify the procedures the Department currently follows under Regulation 200 of Title 15 of the Delaware Administrative Code when an absentee ballot is deficient. This procedure requires that the Department indicate on the ballot envelope that the ballot is deficient and to offer the voter an opportunity to cure certain deficiencies before the polls close on the day of the election, allowing the ballot to be counted. Section 4 also revises § 5510(d)(1)b. by adding a reference to the rules for adjudicating absentee ballots under § 4972(b) of Title 15. Sections 5 through 9 of this Act make corresponding changes to other sections in Title 15 to align with the revisions made under Sections 1 and 2 of this Act and modern election practices. Specifically, Section 5 makes corresponding changes to the defined terms regarding candidate residency in § 3114 of Title 15 to align with the revisions under Section 1 of this Act. Section 6 repeals the sentence in § 4508 of Title 15 because it is transferred to § 5010(a)(1)b. of Title 15. Section 7 aligns the language regarding an individual voter’s place of residence in § 4941 of Title 15 with the revisions under Section 1 of this Act. Section 8 revises § 4948 of Title 15, regarding provisional ballots, as follows: • Makes corresponding changes to the defined terms to align with the revisions in Section 1 of this Act. • Makes technical changes to be consistent with existing law, such as clarifying where a different procedure is followed for primary elections and repealing confusing language. • Repeals the requirement that provisional ballots are required when a court orders a polling place to be kept open beyond the normal time for closing so that people voting under that court order can vote for all offices on the ballot. Section 9 revises § 4980 of Title 15 to reference the transferred and revised audit requirements in Chapter 50 of Title 15. Finally, all Sections of this Act include technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act provides that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget must designate 1 or more reserved parking spaces for pregnant persons at certain designated state buildings and facilities. It also prohibits stopping, standing, or parking in the pregnant person’s space. Violations of this Act are exempted from the civil penalty for parking violations that exists in Title 21. This Act takes effect 6 months after its enactment into law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act adds any act that contains the characteristics of a hate crime to the definitions of crimes for the purposes of the Victims Compensation Assistance Program.

This Act prohibits the Department of Corrections from entering into contracts with any for-profit entity for the use of inmate labor. This Act does not apply to § 6533 of Title 11 relating to outside employment and work release.

This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to hold a special election when there is a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, unless that vacancy occurs between July 1 of the year in which the Lieutenant Governor is chosen and the date the Lieutenant Governor’s term begins. This Act is modeled after the process of holding a special election for a vacancy for a member of the General Assembly. As with special elections for the General Assembly, the details of the special election process for the Lieutenant Governor will be made part of Title 15 by separate legislation introduced along with the second leg of this constitutional amendment in the 154th General Assembly. 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 also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act makes various changes related to Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers employed by the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families (DSCYF) in the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services’ Serious Juvenile Offender (SJO) Unit. Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers in the SJO Unit are specialized staff who are responsible for monitoring the highest-risk youth. Unlike the majority of the Division’s Community Services staff monitoring youth on pretrial supervision or aftercare, the officers in the SJO Unit are sworn law enforcement officers authorized to carry a firearm and enforce warrants. This Act does not change the existing powers and duties of DSCYF Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers, but instead updates Delaware Code to align with their position classification. This Act adds Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers employed by DSCYF to the Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Employment Relations Act (POFERA). This will allow the officers in the SJO Unit to seek union representation under the Fraternal Order of Police like the Department of Correction’s Probation and Parole Officers, the DSCYF Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers’ closest state agency counterparts. This Act also adds DSCYF employees to the existing statute that enables Department of Correction employees to receive a service pension after 25 years if they internally promote after 20 years of credited service. This Act also changes references throughout Delaware Code to be consistent with the position classification name and makes technical corrections to existing code to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act strengthens procedural protections for pharmacies, pharmacists, and consumers related to regulation of a pharmacy benefits manager by doing all of the following: Adds definitions for the terms “chronic or long-term condition”, “net amount”, “purchaser”, “recoupment”, “similarly situated contracted pharmacy”, and “wholesale invoice audit.” Applies audit notice requirements uniformly and ensures access to an appropriate point of contact. Requires a pharmacy benefits manager to provide a list of records that the auditing entity seeks to audit at least 5 business days before an audit. Limits activities to once every 12 months and sets standards for wholesale invoice audits. Ensures audit costs are borne solely by the pharmacy benefits manager. Clarifies that a pharmacy can appeal the amount of any reimbursement and that a contracted pharmacy’s representative can take actions and receive notices related to appeals on behalf of a pharmacy. Extends pharmacies’ ability to appeal from 10 days to 40 days to account for entities that complete retroactive billing. When an appeal is denied, requires the parties to provide a detailed reason for the denial and specific information about how the pharmacy can appeal the denial to the Department of Insurance. Prohibits retaliation by a pharmacy benefits manager when a pharmacist or pharmacy discloses information to a government agency or during a proceeding if the person who disclosed the information had reasonable cause to believe that the disclosed information is evidence of a violation of a state or federal law. Requires that a pharmacy benefits manager must provide at least 60 days’ notice before amending a contract with a pharmacy or pharmacist. Clarifies that the prohibition against spread pricing applies to all purchasers contracting with pharmacy benefits managers. Changes the reporting requirements for rebates so that pharmacy benefits managers must file the required reports annually instead of quarterly. This change will reduce the amount of incorrect or unclear reporting because rebates are aggregated and reported at the end of the period of time under each contract. Amends national drug acquisition cost compliance to refer to the date of service. Prohibits pharmacy benefit managers from unit-of-use requirements inconsistent with smallest package size availability and manufacturer recommendations. Requires that pharmacy benefit managers may not require pharmacies to dispense therapeutically equivalent or alternative drugs that cost the enrollee more out of pocket than the prescribed drug except for medical reasons. Ensures that enrollee-identifiable or prescriber-identifiable information is not transferred to or shared with affiliated pharmacies for any commercial purpose other than those defined. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act provides limited immunity from prosecution for persons who seek to report a sexual offense. Under this Act a person who is a victim or witness or otherwise seeks law enforcement assistance in relation to a sexual offense may not be charged, arrested, or prosecuted, or issued a civil citation for low-level crimes relating to drug or alcohol use or possession. This Act also provides that a person’s probation or pretrial release status may not be revoked or changed based on an incident for which the person would receive the limited immunity from prosecution provided under this statute.